Page 123 - Smart Thinking: Skills for Critical Understanding and Writing, 2nd Ed

11 0 SMART THINKING: SKILLS FOR CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING & WRITING

think in these terms is to be implicitly analysing the world. Let us consider an
extended example of the analysis that lies behind this classification. Imagine we are
investigating the way in which nationalism is used in Australian television adver-
tising (think, for example, of the QANTAS television commercials with the 'I still
call Australia home' theme or Telstra advertisements that emphasise 'We are
Australian'). Here are some examples of what we might find when we are guided by
the five classes above. 3
First, we need to gather material on the specific topic itself. While we might well
find material written in advertising magazines (such as Ad News), we would first
watch numerous television commercials that use images of Australia. We could
interview other viewers; we could talk to advertising agencies. We could compare
nationalistic and other advertisements. This class of knowledge is what is usually
established by the regular research activities of various scholars and investigators.
So, in our own investigation, it is the principal category of knowledge that we are
creating.
Second, we should turn to material on the specific background, which is usually
found in the writings of other researchers. For example, Paul James's article,
4
'Australia in the Corporate Image: A New Nationalism' discusses in detail the use
of Australian nationalism in marketing campaigns in the 1970s.
Third, we need to know about other specific topics with relevant insights. Ruth
5
Abbey and Jo Crawford's 'Crocodile Dundee or Davey Crockett?' does not tell us
anything about television advertising. But, in its discussion of the nationalist
elements of the film Crocodile Dundee, we can find some relevant insights.
Fourth, we need to understand the broad background of the topic, which
would involve developing our knowledge of advertising and nationalism. Benedict
Anderson's Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of
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Nationalism includes very little discussion specifically about Australia or adver-
tising but does provide a sophisticated discussion of nationalism. Equally, Stuart
Cunningham and Graeme Turner's edited collection The Media in Australia:
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Industries, Texts, Audiences provides a good general background to the 'television'
side of our investigation.
Most significantly, we need to gather some information about theoretical
perspectives. These perspectives provide a particular way of investigating and
thinking about issues. Different theories lead researchers and thinkers to different
approaches and to different understandings of what makes premises well founded,
relevant, and strong. In particular, theoretical perspectives establish the topic as a
topic and set the parameters of investigation. Remember, there are many different
ways of understanding the world, which are usually related to various academic
disciplines. It was not, for example, until the 1970s that cultural studies (of the
popular media) became common. Each theoretical perspective will have different
ideas about what exactly is an appropriate topic for investigation and how we
should go about it. In broad terms, then, we could think about whether our interest
in the topic is, for example, psychological or sociological. We could also think
about whether we are developing, for example, a feminist or Marxist critique of this