OrientationObservationIn-depth interviewsDocument analysis and semiologyConversation and discourse analysisSecondary Data
SurveysExperimentsEthicsResearch outcomes
Conclusion
5.12.5 Semiotic analysis of images Semiology is one form of analysis that, as well as words, has been addressed to images and even to fashion (See Section 5.10). Semiological analysis of images is principally iconological rather than the iconographical approach embodied in ethnographic contextualisation and interpretation.
In semiotics, a specific signifier (such as a word) is not a thing but a mental image. Roland Barthes (1967, p. 43), for example, contends that the signified of the word 'ox' is not the animal ox but its mental image. Thus a semiotic analysis can be applied to any signifier whether verbal or iconic. Roland Barthes' analysis of the black soldier saluting the French flag is a well-known example of the approach.
(See Section 5.10 for more detail on semiotic analysis.)
