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Type of Document Thesis Author Kurpe, Shanna Tiffany Michelle URN etd-07092008-172232 Title The Prevalence, Coverage, & Emphasis of Serious Health Risks: A Content Analysis of Women's Magazines Targeting Minority Populations Degree Master of Arts Department Communication, Department of Advisory Committee
Advisor Name Title Gary Heald Committee Chair Juliann Cortese Committee Member Stephen McDowell Committee Member Keywords
- Women's Health
- Colorectal Cancer
- Cervical Cancer
- Breast Cancer
- Cancer
- Lung Cancer
- Stroke
- Cirrhosis
- Liver Disease
- Infant Mortality
- Serious Health Risks
- Minority Populations
- Health Communication
- Communication Theory
- Communication
- Women's Magazines
- Magazines
- Content Analysis
- Essence
- Self
- Vanidades
- HIV/AIDS
- Diabetes
- Colon Cancer
- Heart Disease
- Tuberculosis
- Hepatitis B
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
- African American
- Blacks
- Hispanics
- Latinos
- Latinas
- African-American
- African Americans
- Health Status
- Health Gaps
- Inequalities
Date of Defense 2008-07-02 Availability unrestricted Abstract Inequalities exist between the health statuses of the general population compared with minority sub-groups in the United States. Researchers suggest one environmental factor potentially effecting such inequalities is the uneven coverage of health information in the media. The following study is a content analysis of the health articles available in three popular women’s magazines, which target audiences across sub-populations. The magazines used in this study are Self, targeting U.S. women in the general population, Essence, targeting U.S black/African-American women, and Vanidades, a Spanish-language magazine targeting Latina/Hispanic women.A total of 934 articles across a sample of 64 magazines were content analyzed. Articles featuring health-related information within the sample of 64 magazines were selected and coded for their coverage and emphasis of 13 serious health risks. Following the data collection, analyses were used to answer a series of research questions.
The results indicate that health information in both Self and Vanidades is strongly correlated with the prevalence of the 13 serious health risks, while the correlation for Essence is weaker. Although the relationship between prevalence and coverage is generally high, all three of these magazines devote less than 5% of magazine space to the 13 serious health risks. However, despite their race or ethnicity, women will discover a greater number of stories, and a greater amount of space devoted to those stories, when they consult Self magazine.
This study offers valuable information regarding the availability of health information in these three women’s magazines. The study also identifies the diseases that the three magazines should focus on if they want to address the high-risk causes of morbidity and mortality among their target audience.
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