Project
#1 Psychology 412
Commercials on Children's TV
Do a literature review on the topic. A computer search will be
necessary. Look specifically for
research studies rather than opinion papers or commentary.
This
project will look at commercials on TV using systematic observation. Rather than recording ads verbatim, as
paragraph descriptions, a tabulation of specific topics and gender role-related
behaviors will be the basis of analysis.
A sample recording chart is provided.
Observers note the topic of each ad and will simply count behaviors of
any characters using hatch marks or check marks. To
begin, you must first decide how it will define the terms used in the recording
chart, and what will be included. How
will you decide what is "nurturant" or
"problem solving", for example?
What will you count as "aggression", etc. Write
out each definition before you begin analysis of any commercials. Make sure you are clear on what to count.
Videotapes of Saturday morning programming
for children from the past, from Fox, CBS, NBC, or ABC will be provided for you
to analyze. You must also make a tape of
this year's Saturday morning children's shows to view as a comparison. At
least two people should watch the ads embedded in each show on both of the
tapes, doing the same analysis, so that their records at the end can be
compared, to see how closely they agree.
You may have to view these tapes more than once to get the information
you need. Feel free to stop re-wind,
etc.
For each show, record
the name. Identify it as animated or
not. Categorize it as comedy, drama,
action-adventure, etc. Tell how long it
was, half-hour, hour-long, etc. Then...
A.
Identify each of the commercials
by product being sold For each commercial that has animated or human characters
identify each character by their name and by their gender. Make a chart listing them as in the example
provided. If there is a voice-over with
these commercials, identify the voice as male or female. For those commercials with no actual
characters, i.e. those which only show the product, listen to the voice-over
and identify the voice as male or female.
B.
Characterize the activities of each character or voice-over, including
at least the following;
aggression, nurturance, problem solving, conformity, advice
giving, advice seeking, physically exertive behavior, passive observing,
joking/clowning, being the butt of a joke.
(Feel free to add further categories here if they interest you.) The same character may show examples of more
than one of these categories during the ad, so you must try to count each time
a particular behavior occurs and get a
total for each behavior, for each character or voice-over.
When
at least two observers have recorded the behaviors of each ad on all of the
shows on the tape, you are ready to analyze the data.
A.
First look for inter-observer agreement.
Compare the records of each observer and note the differences. The two people who made the observations may
want to talk over the disagreements to see if they can resolve their
differences. Was there any
misunderstanding of the category definitions, for example, that might explain
discrepancies? Then count the number of
agreements and the number of unresolved disagreements and calculate a percent agreement score for all the ads
together. ( #
of times you agreed / total # of observations)
B.
Second, look at the pattern of behaviors on the charts for the
characters for each show. Consider first
the total number of male characters versus female characters and
voice-overs. Then look for patterns of
behavior. Are the behaviors gender role
stereotyped, or is some other pattern the case?
C. Finally,
look at the topics of the ads for each show.
Try to group them into categories such as toys, fast food, cereals,
etc. Then report the percentage of the total number of ads
that fit into each of your categories.
What sorts of products are most commonly sold to children? ( # of ads in a
specific category / total # of ads)
Compare your results with those from the
research studies you found in your review of the literature. Are your results similar? Has there been any change in the pattern
since 1998? Draw some overall
conclusions. Type up
the whole project APA style.
Year ____.Show _______________________.
Type ___________.Time _____
Commercial Product _______________________.
Voice
or Gender Behaviors
Character M/F Aggression Nurturance Problem Solving etc...
Commercial Product ________________________.
Voice
or Gender Behaviors
Character M/F Aggression Nurturance Problem Solving etc...
Commercial Product ________________________.
Voice
or Gender Behaviors
Character M/F Aggression Nurturance Problem Solving etc...
Continue
for each commercial...
Project #2
Psychology 412
Aggression on Children's TV
Do a literature review on the topic. A computer search will be
necessary. Look specifically for
research studies rather than opinion papers or commentary.
This
project will look at aggression on TV using systematic observation. Rather than recording actions of characters
verbatim, as paragraph descriptions, a tabulation of specific behaviors will be
the basis of analysis. A sample
recording chart is provided. Observers
will simply count behaviors of various characters using hatch marks or check
marks. To begin, you must first decide how it will define the terms used in
the recording chart, and what will be included.
How will you decide which are central characters and which are
minor, for example? What will you count
as "verbal aggression", etc. Write
out each definition before you begin analysis of any shows. Make sure you are clear on what to count.
Videotapes of Saturday morning
programming for children from the past, from Fox, CBS, NBC, or ABC will be
provided for you to analyze. You must
make a similar tape of this Fall's Saturday morning
programming for comparison. At least two people should watch each
show on both of the tapes, doing the same analysis, so that their records at
the end can be compared, to see how closely they agree. You may have to view these tapes more than
once to get the information you need.
Feel free to stop re-wind, etc.
For each show, record
the name. Identify it as animated or
not. Categorize it as comedy, drama,
action-adventure, etc. Tell how long it was,
half-hour, hour-long, etc. Then...
A.
Identify the characters by name and determine whether they are central
characters or minor characters in the episode you are watching. Can some be identified as heroes, some as bad
guys? Make a chart listing them as in
the example provided.
B.
Count the aggressive activities of each character, including physical as
well as verbal aggression. (Feel free to
add further categories such "physically exertive behavior",
or "assertive behavior" here if they interest you.) The same character, particularly a central
character, may show examples of all of these categories more than once during
the program, so you must try to count each time a particular behavior occurs
and get a total for each behavior, for
each character.
C. For
each behavior you record note whether or not there was an observable
consequence. Was that behavior rewarded,
punished, or was there no observable consequence?
When
at least two observers have recorded the behaviors of each show on the tape,
you are ready to analyze the data.
A.
First look for inter-observer agreement.
Compare the records of each observer and note the differences. The two people who made the observations may
want to talk over the disagreements to see if they can resolve their
differences. Was there any
misunderstanding of the category definitions, for example, that might explain
discrepancies? Then count the number of
agreements and the number of unresolved disagreements and calculate a percent agreement score for each
show. ( # of
times you agreed / total # of observations)
B.
Second, look at the pattern of behaviors on the charts for the central characters for each show. Consider first the total number of male
central characters versus female central characters. Then look for patterns of behavior. Are the behaviors gender role stereotyped, or
is some other pattern the case, such as animal vs. human, or machine vs. human,
etc.? Are villains more violent than
heroes?
C. Then
look at the minor characters for each show.
Consider the number of males and females, etc., and again look for
patterns of behavior.
Compare your results with those from the
research studies you found in your review of the literature. Are your results similar? Has the pattern changed since 1998? Draw some overall conclusions. Type up the whole project APA style.
Year
_____ Show ______________________ Type_____________ Time_____
Central Gender Villain/ Aggressive Behaviors Consequences
Characters M/F Hero Verbal Physical etc. Plus/Minus/0_
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Minor Gender Villain/ Aggressive
Behaviors Consequences
Characters M/F Hero Verbal Physical etc. Plus/Minus/0_
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Project
#3 Psychology
412
Sex Roles on Children's TV
Do a literature review on the topic. A computer search will be
necessary. Look specifically for
research studies rather than opinion papers or commentary.
This
project will look at gender roles on TV using systematic observation. Rather than recording actions of characters
verbatim, as paragraph descriptions, a tabulation of specific gender
role-related behaviors will be the basis of analysis. A sample recording chart is provided. Observers will simply count behaviors of
various characters using hatch marks or check marks. To
begin, you must first decide how you will define the terms used in the
recording chart, and what will be included.
How will you decide which are central characters and which are
minor, for example? What will you count
as "aggression", etc. Write
out each definition before you begin analysis of any shows. Make sure you are clear on what to count.
Videotapes of Saturday morning
programming for children from the past, from Fox, CBS, NBC, or ABC will be
provided for you to analyze. You must
make a similar tape from this Fall's Saturday shows
for comparison. At least two people should watch each show on all of the tapes,
doing the same analysis, so that their records at the end can be compared, to
see how closely they agree. You may have
to view these tapes more than once to get the information you need. Feel free to stop re-wind, etc.
For each show, record
the name. Identify it as animated or
not. Categorize it as comedy, drama,
action-adventure, etc. Tell how long it
was, half-hour, hour-long, etc. Then...
A.
Identify the characters by name and by their gender, and determine
whether they are central characters or minor characters in the episode you are
watching. Make a chart listing them as
in the example provided.
B.
Count the activities of each character, including at least the following; aggression,
nurturance, problem solving, conformity, advice giving, advice seeking,
physically exertive behavior, passive observing, joking/clowning, being the
butt of a joke. (Feel free to add
further categories here if they interest you.)
The same character, particularly a central character, may show examples
of all of these categories during the program, so you must try to count each
time a particular behavior occurs and get a
total for each behavior, for each character.
When
at least two observers have recorded the behaviors of each show on the tape,
you are ready to analyze the data.
A.
First look for inter-observer agreement.
Compare the records of each observer and note the differences. The two people who made the observations may
want to talk over the disagreements to see if they can resolve their
differences. Was there any
misunderstanding of the category definitions, for example, that might explain
discrepancies? Then count the number of
agreements and the number of unresolved disagreements and calculate a percent agreement score for each
show. ( # of
times you agreed / total # of observations)
B.
Second, look at the pattern of behaviors on the charts for the central characters for each show. Consider first the total number of male
central characters versus female central characters. Then look for patterns of behavior. Are the behaviors gender role stereotyped, or
is some other pattern the case?
C. Finally,
look at the minor characters for each show.
Consider the number of males and females, and again look for patterns of
behavior related to gender roles.
Compare your results with those from the
research studies you found in your review of the literature. Are your results similar? Has the pattern changed since 1998? Draw some overall conclusions. Type up the whole project APA style.
Year
_____ Show _______________________. Type ___________.Time _____
Central Gender
Behaviors
Character M/F Aggression Nurturance Problem Solving etc...
Minor Gender Behaviors
Character M/F Aggression Nurturance Problem Solving etc...