Master´s Thesis Evaluation by the Supervisor
Title of the Master´s Thesis:
Meat Consumption: Is our Free Choice Actually Free?
Author of the Master´s Thesis:
Ayla Sattar-zada
Goals of the Master´s Thesis:
The goal of the paper is to uncover how the symbolism of meat is created with the help of marketing communication, thus shaping the relationship of consumers to meat consumption.
Evaluation:
Criteria Description Max.
points Points
Content 70%
Output Quality The author has carried out semiotic analysis of several advertisements, in order to describe in what way is meat symbolism constructed. While the analysis is interesting, it is somewhat descriptive and would benefit from a better and more conceptual structuring. That would allow to make it clearer in what way do the results contribute to the theoretical debate and/or are useful in practice.
20 15
Goals The goals are specified in the introduction, where the author argues their importance. The goal described here is understanding how meat is portrayed in advertising. This is somewhat different from what is in the abstract, which points to an overarching slight problem of the thesis, which is a slightly shifting focus, and also differ slightly from the research questions. This represents an issue for the focus of the thesis.
10 7
Methodology: The author used semiotics as a methodological approach. This was a good choice and required a great deal of further study. I do appreciate that the student delved into it. In describing the methodology, it would benefit the paper if more sources were used and if it was more linked to the overall goals. Similarly the report of the findings would benefit from a better focus and less description.
20 15
Theory/
Conceptualization: The author delves into meat and the conflicting attitudes it inspires. She explains several theories, which may help to explain the issue. She uses a wide range of good quality theoretical sources. What I’m missing is a more straightforward argumentation line, which would lead towards the research question and which would make it clearer in what way does the research contribute to the literature.
20 15
Formal requirements 15%
Structure: While overall, the structure is more or less logical and follows the traditional requirements, it also suffers slightly from the lack of focus. There are thus
some parts that are not clearly linked to the work’s objectectives. 3 2
Terminology: Linguistic and terminological level is adequate. 4 4
Formalities: The thesis has adequate format, extent, includes all requirements. The
abstract could reflect the whole work better. 4 3
Citing: Citations are adequate, no plagiarism was detected. List of references is not
in APA style. 4 3
Delivery 15 %
Presentation
document: Is the presentation itself structured in a clear way? Is it appealing and easy to
follow? Does it convey the message efficiently? 5
Presentation
skills: Are you conveying the message efficiently and timely? Do you use
appropriate words, speed, tone of voice, gestures, movement etc. to express
your thoughts in a clear manner? 5
Argumentation: Are you able to readily and briskly react to questions or comments? Are you able to explain unclear parts and connect comments to relevant places in your presentation or parts of particular analyses? How well are you able to
defend to your ideas and recommendations? 5
100 0
Other comments:
This is quite interesting paper, which could have been even better, if more focused. The lack of focus and clear line of argumentation is its biggest weakness, as also transpires from the evaluation of its various parts. The central line of argumentation is hidden there between the lines, but a reader must make effort to imagine it. The lack of focus also contributes to the analysis being more descriptive. Had it been more focused, the discussion also could have been more consequential. Yet, the student embarked on quite a difficult journey in the application of semiotic analysis and I appreciate that.
Questions or comments to be discussed during the thesis defence:
What would be your advice for a hypothetical organization that wants to reduce meat consumption in the US through advertising?
What is the main new finding of your analysis related to the literature?
