Research Problem Research Method Data Collection

SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013 Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the procedures and steps in conducting the study. It consists of research problem, research method, data collection, data analysis and data presentation.

3.1 Research Problem

This study is geared toward answering the following research questions: 1 How are heroines and their alter egos portrayed in American superhero comic books published by DC Comics and Marvel in year 2012? 2 What does the portrayal signify?

3.2 Research Method

As what has been stated in the previous chapter, this study is a qualitative descriptive study. It employs a qualitative descriptive method and textual analysis since the data are in the form of images and verbal text, which are rich descriptions and context to be explored. In answering the research questions, there are several frameworks used. To analyze the images in the comics, Kress and Van Leeuwen‟s theory on reading images 2006 has been applied as the main framework, along with Van Domelen‟s visual analysis coding sheet 1998. SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013 Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu Furthermore, to analyze the verbal text accompanying the images, systemic functional linguistics opposed by Halliday 2004 has been applied. It is employed to reveal what the verbal text means. The verbal texts accompanying the images are in the speech balloons. Finally, the discussion section applies Brannon‟s theory on gender stereotype 2004. All approaches used for this study is aimed to reveal how women are portrayed in superhero comic books published by the most two famous publishers DC Comics and Marvel in year 2012.

3.3 Data Collection

The data were collected from the online comic book downloaded from www.comicsall.com, www.indowebster.com and www.filecrop.com on May 2012. The collected data are four different comics that come from two different categories: independent heroine and heroine in a team. Below is a brief description of the comics. 3.1 Comics‟ Description No. Comic Title Publisher Category Year of the Comic Published 1. Phantom Lady and the Doll Man DC Comics Heroine in a team 2012 2. Catwoman DC Comics Independent heroine 2012 3. The Defenders Marvel Heroine in a team 2012 4. Black Cat Marvel Independent heroine 2012 SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013 Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu The data in the form of images were collected by noticing two aspects: women when they play the character as a heroine and when they play their character as an ordinary woman alter ego. After that, the images were then cut and pasted and stored in a folder to ease the visual analysis. While the data in the form of verbal text were selected by noticing each sentences found in the speech balloons then listing particular sentences that can support how women are portrayed in comic books.

3. 4 Data Analysis The selected scenes are first identified in terms of what are there on them

then they are analyzed by using the main framework, Van Leeuwen‟s 2006 theory on reading images and Van Domelen‟s visual analysis coding sheet 1998. Additionally, the data in the form of verbal text are analyzed by using systemic functional linguistics opposed by Halliday 2004. In conducting the study, the following steps were taken:  Selecting four series of heroine online comics published by Marvel and DC Comics; 2 comics were taken from Marvel and two other comics were taken from DC Comics. Two comic from the different publishers feature independent heroines, two other comics feature heroines in a team.  Analyzing the collected data from 2 main points: images and verbal text. To analyze the images, there are two main steps highlighted; identification that covers all the signs found in the comics by using Van Domelen‟s visual analysis coding sheet 1998. The second main point is analysis that SANI SATYA PRATIWI, 2013 Women’s Portrayals in the Comic Books Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu interprets the identified signs by using Van Leeuwen‟s 2006 theory on reading images.  Analyzing the verbal text by using Halliday‟s theory on systemic functional linguistics 2004. It covers the written text in the speech balloons and the comments of the text.  Interpreting and making conclusion of the analyzed data.

3.5 Data Presentation