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situations), the face elements contained, the level of personalities (individual or collective) involved as well as the specific Games (Olympics, Asian Games ... etc).
TABLE 4. The Coding
23
*
Factors
Of...
O'R to:
Attributes
Of ...
1 S Athletes Athletes Honour Athletes 2 IN Team Team Influence Team 3 M People People Deference People 4 S & M Country Country H&I Country 5 S & P Gov't Gov't H & D Gov't 6 P & M Others Others I & D Others 7 All AllLegend: O'R=others' reactions; $=status; P=performance; M=moral behaviour; H=honour; I=influence; D=deference; Gov't=government; *=codes given to the factors and attributes of face as well as the level of personalities involved.
The coding would therefore include a matching of the level of personality involved in the situation, whether it is an individual athlete or a nation, with the various factors and attributes of face. The degree of individuality and collectivity of each of the factors and attributes and all of them as a whole could also be calculated.
These sentences so coded could be analysed to see if the nation's face exists in the press (as in the example given in the above paragraph); if so, how this face exists and how it works. Furthermore, the sentences coded would be counted to form an idea of how positive/negative the aggregate is. They could also help to postulate whether the face of China, and the face of her rivals in the Games, as well as her friends in the event are being enhanced or threatened.
Aside from straightforward counting, the relation between a face-enhancing situation and the factors being put forward; the relation between a face-threatening situation and the arguments provided or the treatment given would be searched in a second reading of the articles. These could