The content analysis method was employed in the present study to assess and
evaluate English and Chinese award-winning picture books in the last decade in terms of
gender stereotyping. The first part of the chapter described the adoption of the research
method. Later in this chapter, the materials used for the analysis were reported, followed
by the instruments adopted in the current study. The last part of the chapter explained the
procedures to analyze the data.
Research Methods
The content analysis method employed by other researchers, namely Weitzman et al.
(1972) and Gooden & Gooden (2001) was adopted to identify whether gender stereotyping
still existed in English and Chinese award-winning picture books in the last decade.
According to Berg (2001), the content analysis process is to select and classify the data by
the utilization of an objective coding scheme. In addition, the content analysis is a useful
method to decode manifest and latent contents by systematically and objectively
scrutinizing the messages contained in written documents and social communication, such
as children’s books, television programs, or pictures (Berg 2001). Manifest content refers
42
to elements in the message that can be counted accurately; latent content requires the
researcher to examine the symbolic meaning embedded in the message and write out
summaries of the findings. It is the method that is used to explore deeper structural
meaning and is more difficult to achieve (Taylor, 2003). In this study, both quantitative
and qualitative methods were used.
Research Materials
In children’s literature, there are various types of books, such as picture books,
storybooks, or poetry anthologies. Picture books were chosen to constitute the sample for
this study because they have a significant place in early childhood life. Weitzman (1972)
explained the impact on children’s growth and development:
Picture books are read to children when they are most impressionable, before
other socialization influences (such as school, teachers, and peers) become more
important at later stages in the child’s development. (Weitzman, 1972, pp.1126)
The purpose of this study was to focus on picture books to investigate whether
English and Chinese award-winning picture books have improved in portraying gender
equality from 2003 to 2012. Books receiving awards are the most widely read by children,
parents, and teachers in the countries. Moreover, awarded books have deep social and
cultural influence (Joels, 1999). The researcher selected picture books from two prestigious
43
awards for literature：Caldecott Medal and Honor in the U.S. as well as Hsin-Yi Children
Literature Award Books in Taiwan.
The research materials for this study consisted of the 40 CMWH books between
2003 and 2012, 30 Hsin-Yi Children Literature Award Books between 2003 and 2012, for
a total sample of 70 books (see Appendix A for the list of all books).
English Award-winning Picture Books－－－－Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal is the most prestigious and highly coveted honors in the United
States. The Caldecott award, given by the American Library Association, has been
presented annually since 1938 for the best in picture books. As noted by the Association
for Library Service to Children (2005), the rules set by the Caldecott committee reveal that,
"A picture book for children is distinguished from other books with illustrations, is one that
essentially provides the child with a visual experience. A picture book has a collective
unity of story-line, theme, or concept, developed through the series of pictures of which the
book is comprised." Award winners and honorees are selected on the basis of “excellence
of execution in the artistic technique employed,” and “excellence of pictorial interpretation
of story, theme, or concept; of appropriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme or
concept; of delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting mood or information through the
pictures.” (See Appendix B for Complete Rules and Regulations of the Caldecott Awards
44
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottterms/caldecottt
erms)
Chinese Award-winning Picture Books-The Hsin-Yi Children Literature Award
The prestigious Hsin Yi Children's Literature Award, which was initiated in 1987,
held by The Hsin-Yi Fundation every year. Chang Sing-ju, CEO of Hsin Yi Foundation,
the award’s organizer says, “scout for more original talent to create original picture books,
mainly for children.” The aims of The Hsin Yi Children’s Literature Award were to affirm
the importance of childcare literature, to support locally created children’s books, and to
create a generation of book-loving children.
Picture books receiving The Hsin Yi Children's Literature Award are assessed by a
number of children's literature, aesthetics, and the education sector professionals who pick
out a comprehensive source of media related to the life experiences and learning needs of
young children. The Hsin-Yi Children Literature Award picture books are well received
and regarded as the child’s favorite masterpieces in Taiwan. Chang Sing-ju pointed out that
the company focuses on books for readers under the age of 10 (See Appendix C for
Complete Rules and Regulations of the Hsin Yi Children's Literature Award
http://www.hsin-yi.org.tw/index.asp).
45 Instruments
The methodology employed for this study comprises: 1) applying a predetermined
coding scheme to the data corpus, the same instrument that Hamilton et al. (2006) used in
their study, 2) a list of activities adopted from Kortenhaus and Demarest (1993), and 3) a
coding sheet based on the "masculine" and "feminine" stereotyped personality traits
described by Evans and Davies (2000).
To answer each research question, an analysis protocol was developed. The
protocol included three sets of coding, executed for analysis of English and Chinese
award-winning picture books. The first set of coding was the frequency count of pictures
and titles of gender roles showed on the covers, the numbers of gender role appearances as
well as occupations engaged by central characters in illustrations and written texts.
The researcher followed a code sheet as reported in Hamilton et al. (2006). The
Hamilton et al. (2006) combined a number of prior studies (Clark, Guilmain, Saucier &
Tavarez, 2003; Oskamp et al., 1996; Tepper & Cassidy, 1999, and etc.) and produced a
comprehensive coding schema. There were four pages including 100 checklist questions
about the characters and texts in children’s picture books. (Only the first 25 questions were
applicable to the present study and modified them into 24 ones by the researcher.) The
types of responses were circling yes/no, writing frequency counts, and listing occupations
of both genders (see Appendix D, Code Sheet). A eight-page annotated code sheet (see
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Appendix E, Annotated Code Sheet) was to further explain succinctly and clarify confusing
checklist items. The next set of data to be assessed was replicated from Kortenhaus and
Demarest (1993). Activities were depicted and classified to two categories: nine
instrumental-independent activities and nine passive-dependent activities (see Appendix F,
Code Sheet and Appendix G, Annotated Code Sheet). The illustrations and written texts for
the activities engaged in the central characters were examined for the present study. The
last set of data to be coded was categorizing gender characteristics of the primary
characters (see Appendix H, Code Sheet and Appendix I, Annotated Code Sheet). The
researcher made use of Evans and Davies’s (2000) framework for categorizing gender
personality traits. The Evans and Davies’s (2000) instrument was a list of eight masculine
and eight feminine traits based on the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) (Bem, 1974).
Research Procedures
In this research, English and Chinese award-winning picture books were examined
by the method of content analysis. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were adopted
to analyze the data.
Quantitative analysis included numerical counts of male and female central roles as
well as characters mentioned in the title and illustrations of each picture book. Furthermore,
the numbers and categorizations of male and female occupations and activities were noted
47
in illustrations and written texts. In addition, primary characters in each picture book
possessed a given trait were coded.
On the other hand, qualitative analysis included the exploration of occupation roles
and activities of males and females as well as central characters possessing a trait in
illustrations and written texts. For the examination of the activities, following Kortenhaus
and Demarest (1993), the researcher placed activities in two categories－instrumental
independent activities and passive dependent ones and discussed them. As for analysis of
occupations, the full range of those occupations attributed to each gender was listed. The
researcher also used the approach by Evans and Davies’s (2000) that classified personality
traits into masculine and feminine stereotyped personality traits and discussed them. The
organization of this research was shown in Figure 2.
48
Figure 2: An Example of quantitative and qualitative strands in a mixed-method study Gender Title
Coding scheme
Cover information Illustrations and Written texts
Gender type on cover illustration
Occupation Appearance
Activity
Trait Quantitative strands
Qualitative strands
Analysis of the occupational roles in illustrations and written texts
Analysis of the active and passive activities in illustrations and written texts Analysis of the personality traits in illustrations and written texts
49
In the current research, the researcher read and coded 70 English and Chinese
award-winning picture books in the study published from 2003 to 2012. According to the
annotated code sheet given, the researcher circled yes/no, wrote frequency counts, listed
occupations and activities of both genders, as well as determined the sixteen gender
characteristic traits of the main characters.
The Procedure of Collecting Cover Information
Frequency Counts of Male and Female Central Characters in Each Book’s Title
and Cover Illustration
The gender of central roles in title and cover illustration of each book were recorded
as did Weitzman et al. (1972) and LaDow (1976). Jennings (1975) suggests that children,
as popularly boys, prefer the story where the characters display behavior consistent with an
appropriate gender role. Besides, the title delivers the main idea that each book addresses.
Therefore, a gender title of a book may give a salient clue for selection of the book. Gender
referents in each book’s cover were classified as male if names or referents were
commonly seen as masculine used in the book’s cover, and vice versa. Similarly, if the
animal was clearly recognized as male or female, it was counted.
50
Figure 3: Examples of the use of gender referents or female name in the title
The Procedure of Collecting Illustrations and Written Texts in Each Book
Frequency Counts of the Appearance of Males and Females
Engel (1981) proposes that “the total number of male and female images a child
receives from a book may be more influential on the child’s developing concepts of sex
roles than just the number of different characters” (p. 648). Therefore, the illustrations and
written texts of each book were examined. The appearances of male and female central
roles and characters mentioned in the title and illustrations of each picture book were
tallied to see if male central roles and male characters outnumbered female central role and
female characters. Turner-Bowker defined the central characters as ‘the character who was
the main focus of the text’ (1996, p. 468).
51
Analysis of the Occupational Roles in Illustrations and Written Texts
The occupational roles of the main characters were depicted in illustrations and
written texts of each picture book. An occupation of each main character was classified as
having a traditional, non-traditional, gender-neutral occupation, or no occupation (see
Appendix D, Annotated Code Sheet). In addition, qualitative analysis was done to list the
full range of occupations.
Figure 4: An example of occupations
Analysis of the Activities in Illustrations and Written Texts
The activities engaged in by male and female characters in each picture book were
analyzed. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted on the activities
appeared in illustrations and written texts. Male and female central characters were
portrayed as instrumental independent activities and passive dependent activities, as did
Kortenhaus and Demarest’s research (1993). The researcher counted the number of scenes
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where a main character was active or passive. Then, activities were classified as
instrumental independent or passive dependent activities. Table 4 (Original from “Gender
role stereotyping in children’s literature: An update,” by Kortenhaus and Demarest, 1993)
showed the list of nine instrumental independent and nine passive dependent activities.
Besides, qualitative analysis was discussed.
Table 4
Instrumental-Independent and Passive-Dependent Activities
Instrumental-Independent Passive-Dependent
Playing ball Playing house
Riding bike/horse Picking flowers
Running Housework
Climbing Caring for siblings
Swimming/fishing Caring for pets
Helping others watching others play
Making something Needing help
Solving a problem Causing a problem
Active outdoor play Quiet indoor play/activity Note. Original from “Gender role stereotyping in children’s literature: An update,” by C.
Kortenhaus, & J. Demarest, 1993, Sex Roles.
Coding Frame for Analysis of the Central Character Possessing a Trait
Like Evans and Davies (2000), the present study examined the central characters
possessing a trait in illustrations and written texts of each picture book. Evans and Davies
(2000) produced a list of 16 traits; eight were regarded as masculine and another eight as
feminine. Operational definitions for those 16 traits were provided by Evans and Davies to
53
aid in the consistency of the coding. 16 traits were listed in Table 5 (Original from “No
sissy boys here: A content analysis of the representation of masculinity in elementary
school reading textbooks,” by L. Evans, & K. Davies, 2000, Sex Roles). Categorizing traits
via the written texts was the more difficult coding task because traits were often implied
rather than mentioned expressly. The researcher needed to match the main characters’
traits with 16 gender characteristic traits. Consequently, if a character possessing a
particular trait was an unclear indication, the researcher judged it by the description
provided in the texts and placed the trait to fit most closely with one of the categories.
54 Table 5
Gender Personality Traits with Definitions
Personality Traits Definition
Masculine traits Aggressive Actions and motives with intent to hurt or frighten; imparts hostile feelings Adventurous Actively exploring the environment, be
it real or imaginary
Argumentative Belligerent; verbally disagreeable with another
Assertive Taking charge of a situation, making plans and issuing instructions Competitive Challenging to win over another
physically or intellectually
Decisive Quick to consider options/situation and make up mind
Risk-taker Willing to take a chance on personal safety or reputation to achieve a goal Self-reliant Can accomplish tasks or handle
situations alone with confidence Feminine Traits Affectionate Openly expressing warm feelings;
hugging, touching, holding
Emotionally expressive Allowing feelings to show, including temper tantrums, crying, or laughing Impetuous Quick to act without thinking of the
consequences; impulsive
Nurturing Actively caring and aiding another’s development, be it physically or emotionally
Panicky Reacting to situation with hysteria;
crying, shouting, running
Passive Following another’s lead and not being active in a situation
Tender Handling someone with gentle sensitivity and consideration Understanding Being able to see and comprehend a
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situation from another person’s perspective; showing empathy Note. Original from “No sissy boys here: A content analysis of the representation of masculinity in elementary school reading textbooks,” by L. Evans, & K. Davies, 2000, Sex Roles.
The Pilot Test of the Analytical System
Before the formal analysis and categorization of the chosen texts, a pilot test was
conducted for the researcher to draw the inter-validity of notions and evaluate the
employment of the newly-generated system of content analysis. The participants with
varied backgrounds consisted of two university professors, one junior high school teacher,
three elementary school teachers, two cram school teachers, and four graduate students in
the Department of English at the National Pingtung University of Education. One of the
professors had professional knowledge of English literature and the other had an interest in
English children’s literature. Most of thses teachers often employed picture books as a
source of supplementary materials for their English courses.
It took about thirty minutes for participants to answer the questionnaire. The survey
consisted of seven questions which participants were typically asked whether they would
agree or disagree with the statements related to gender stereotyping. Two books were
chosen for the pilot test, i.e. the recipient of the 2002 Caldecott Honor Book, The Stray
Dog written by Marc Simont, and the recipient of the 2010 Hsin-Yi Children Literature
Award Book, Spirit of the Earth and Twelve Sons written by Wang, Jing. During the pilot
56
test, the questionnaire sheets (See Appendix J) were distributed to the participants. The
procedure was: first, the researcher showed the tentative system and explained the
definition of each item; second, she read written texts aloud while the picture book texts
and illustrations were presented on the screen at the same time. After that, each participant
checked every item as “agreement,” “disagreement with comments”.
The response rate for this survey was 100%, and all questionnaire data were clear
enough to be analyzed. The results of the pilot test are presented in Table 6 according to
the questionnaires.
57 Table 6
The Result of the Questionnaire
Questions Agree Disagree
1. Was the story of “Spirit of the Earth and Twelve Sons” with gender bias?
91.7% 8.3%
2. Was the main male character in the story of “Spirit of the Earth and Twelve Sons” in traditional male-dominated occupations?
66.7% 33.3%
3. Did the main male role in the story of “Spirit of the Earth and Twelve Sons” have sex-linked male traits?
58.3% 41.7%
4. Was the main male character in the story of “The Stray Dog” dominant in the instrumental independent activities?
91.7% 8.3%
5. Was the main male character in the story of “The Stray Dog” dominant in the passive dependent activities?
91.7 8.3%
6. Did the main male role in the story of “The Stray Dog”
have sex-linked male traits?
83.3% 16.7%
7. Did the main male role in the story of “The Stray Dog”
have sex-linked female traits?
58.3% 41.7%
The first three questions about the story of “Spirit of the Earth and Twelve Sons” are
discussed as follows. An analysis of responses to Question 1 revealed that majority of the
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respondents (91.7%) agreed with the story of “Spirit of the Earth and Twelve Sons” about
gender bias while 8.3% ones disagreed and gave the comment that the story theme talked
about time of year and did not specifically focus on gender issues. In terms of Question 2,
the results of the questionnaire indicated that 66.7 percent of the respondents agreed that
“the main male character in the story of ‘Spirit of the Earth and Twelve Sons’ in traditional
male-dominated occupations”. However, 33.3% disagreed with the statement and said that
they could not compare whether the main male character in the story in traditional
male-dominated occupations because the story did not depict female characters in
occupations. In addition, the finding showed that more than half of the respondents (58.3%)
agreed that the main male role in the story of “Spirit of the Earth and Twelve Sons” had
sex-linked male traits. Other responses (41.7%) disagreed and hold the opinions that some
males engaged in feminine traits like mild nature and the question was restricted by the
topic.
Similarly, the responses concerning Questions 4 to 7 on the story of “The Stray
Dog” were discussed below. According to Table 7, it indicated that respondents generally
agreed with all statements of the story of “The Stray Dog”. Majority of the respondents
agreed that main male character in the story was dominant in the instrumental independent
agreed that main male character in the story was dominant in the instrumental independent