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TV VIOLENCE & CHILDREN.
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Research proposal to determine how Media Literacy Discussion Group might reduce effects of TV violence on first grade boys.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Research proposal to determine how Media Literacy Discussion Group might reduce effects of TV violence on first grade boys.
Paper Introduction:
INVESTIGATION OF A STRATEGY TO REDUCE THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF TELEVISION VIOLENCE ON YOUNG CHILDREN
I. Introduction
The proposed research will examine for the effects of a strategy (Media Literacy Discussion Group) designed to reduce the effects of tv violence on a sample of first grade boys. As to why such a study is needed, it can be noted that, if nothing else, the recent school shootings in Littleton, Colorado highlight the
fact that school violence has reached epidemic proportions in ~,
American Schools. According to the Center for the Prevention of School Violence (1998), research conducted from 1989 through
1998, revealed that during the period of the data collection:
1. Fifty seven percent of public school principals reported one or more incidents of crime/violence occurring in their school
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AndJones reported that children who prefer violent television shows when theyare young have been found to be more aggressive later on, and morefrequently in trouble with the law. As to why such a study is needed, it can benoted that, if nothing else, the recent school shootings in Littleton,Colorado highlight the fact that school violence has reached epidemic proportions in ~,American Schools. Also, attempts should be taken to use several different measures ofaggression. While psychometric studiesindicate the instrument is valid and reliable, there are other measures ofaggression in children, some of which have very different assumptions aboutthe nature and process of children's aggression. Forty-five percent of elementary schools reported one or moreviolent incidents compared with seventy-four percent of middle and seventy-seven percent of high schools. For example, future researcherscould explore the question of whether there is more of a reduction inaggression if children participate in these groups for an entire termrather than for just eight weeks? 2. Document available at www.cqcm.org. The primary characteristics of the pretest-posttest, equivalent groupsdesign, according to Best (1991) are that subjects are randomly selectedfrom the population and randomly assigned to the treatment groups(experimental and control). Rienhardt and S. Hogan, A. The analysis of variance is selected because it is amenable to thelevel of measurement provided by the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist;also, it is a powerful statistic which is to say that it can be used todetect even small differences between groups (Lapin, 199 ). According to Best, this is a particularlystrong design that has substantial control over many threats to a study'sinternal validity. III. Lann (eds.), Assessment and diagnosis inchild psychopathology, (pp. Further, theanalysis of variance is robust with respect to its underlying assumptions(Linton & Gallo, 1975; Lapin, 199 ). Further, it can be noted that the program to be developed for thisresearch will consist of one-half hour discussion groups held weekly for aperiod of two months. Implications and ConclusionsExpected Findings If the Media Literacy Discussion Group is effective in reducingaggression, it is expected that this will be shown by the followingfindings: 1. Fredrikson. Thoman, E. (1998). One educator's views about education, violence andschools. (12 July 1995) TV violence: "It's time to break the circleof blame." Summary of testimony to Commerce Committee/ United StatesSenate. After the end of the program, teachers will be asked toprovide new ratings for all subjects (both the experimental and the controlgroups). Psychometric characteristics ofbehavior rating scales: Definitions, problems, and solutions. (1987). 3. II. Statistics: Meaning and methods. Another limitation of the study is associated with its measure ofaggression, which relies on teacher ratings. Eron. (1991). The test is based on the general findingsthat for young school children, watching television violence increasestheir aggressiveness. & Bullock, L.M. (199 ). Rutter, A. According to Huesmann andEron (1986), the results of studies on the effects of televised violenceare consistent. These nullhypotheses are: Null Hypothesis 1 - Aggressiveness will not significantly differdepending upon whether or not students participate in the media literacygroup. (1989).Revised Behavior Problem Checklist: Stability, prevalence, and incidence ofbehavior problems in kindergarten and first-grade children. The authors state that substantial research has shown thatby watching aggression, children learn how to be aggressive in new ways andthey also draw conclusions about whether being aggressive to others willbring them rewards; this because they see TV characters getting what theywant by hitting. 9. Null Hypothesis 2 - The posttest measures of aggression observed forthe group of students participating in the media literacy group will notsignificantly differ from their pretest measures of aggression. ED 376 4 7). TV heroes: Theimpact of rhetoric and deeds. Prior to beginning the Media Literacy Group discussion program, allsubjects will be rated by their teachers for their levels ofaggressiveness. Thoman (1995) provides some guidelines for thesediscussion groups but since there have been no well-controlled studies, itis really not known how long it takes before the effects of discussing TVviolence really begins to affect or influence children. Papalia, D.E. NY: Harcourt Brace. K. 113-149). According to Thoman (1995), most investigations for the effects ofmedia violence on children and youth have reduced the issue to a singlequestion (does television violence cause children to kill) which is to missthe real complexity of the issue. And one of the factorsproducing high levels of aggression is television violence. While it is not theintention of this research to test any particular theory of the influenceor contribution of media violence to children's aggressive or violentbehavior, it can be noted that the general conceptual views guiding theresearch are related to notions that school violence is complex. Unfortunately, there have not been any well-controlled, systematicstudies of Thoman's (1995) recommended strategies for reducing the negativeeffects of watching violent television programs. Lapin, L. and L.D. For those participating in the discussion groups, posttest measuresof aggression will be significantly lower than pretest measures ofaggression. For this reason, allhypotheses formulated for testing were worded as null thesis. 5will rise no high than . Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole. She states that it doesn't mean they will neverwatch Power Rangers (or similar shows) again but it does mean that theywill never watch such shows passively, without thinking about the what theyare watching and how it might be affecting them. & Olds, S.W. Regarding the boundaries of the research, it is important torealize that the subjects in the study are all first grade boys attendingthe same elementary school. One study, no matter how significant its findings, is really aninsufficient basis from which to springboard to practice recommendations. However, at minimum, significant findings indicating the effectivenessof media literacy groups to reduce young children's aggression, could besaid to show that this is a fruitful area for future research. Manual for the revised behaviorproblem checklist. It is arespected and popular instrument (Daugherty & Shapiro, 1994), and is usedin clinical, educational, correctional, and research settings (Hogan, Quay,Vaughn, & Shapiro, 1989). E., Quay, H. The practical statistician:Simplified handbook of statistics. Recommendations for Future Research In general, if this study's findings are significant, futureresearchers should attempt to determine findings basic generalizability.This would take the form of replicating the study using girls rather thanboys, and/or students or different grade levels, students attendingdifferent schools, and so forth. Therefore, it wouldbe of great benefit if future researchers examined whether findings ofmedia literacy discussion groups differ in relation to the differentintervals of time these groups are held. It is held thatthe latter violence can be remedied by curbing or reducing these earlyaggressive tendencies. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. Child behavior rating scales and checklists. V. Selected researchfindings on school violence. Fifty-seven percent of public school principals reported one ormore incidents of crime/violence occurring in their schools. Quay, H.C., & Peterson, D.R. Liss, M.B., L.C. H. Also, Jones (1994) reports that strongidentification with a violent TV character and believing that the TVsituation is realistic are both associated with greater aggressiveness.However, in general, boys are more affected by violent shows that girlsare. Indeed, according toLinton and Gallo (1975), even if there are extreme violations of theunderlying assumptions of the analysis of variance, an alpha level of . InM. C., Vaughn, S., & Shapiro, S. It is recommended here that suchinvestigations also be undertaken. Also, the teachers rating students' levels of aggressiveness couldwell find out the hypotheses of the study, making them susceptible todemand cues when they rate students' aggressiveness at posttest. IntroductionThe proposed research will examine for the effects of a strategy (MediaLiteracy Discussion Group) designed to reduce the effects of tv violence ona sample of first grade boys. The 3 boys in the control group will also be brought together ingroups but will simply discuss their feelings about school and other non tv-violence-related subjects. Specifically, the proposed study will examine whetherparticipation in a media literature group operates to reduce the level ofaggression in a sample of first grade boys. A. The parents of these boys will becontacted; the researcher will explain to them the basic nature of thestudy. Hypotheses As just noted, there really has not been any systematic researchexamining for the effectiveness of media literacy discussion groups onreducing aggression in elementary school children (Thoman, 1995). 2. (1995). INVESTIGATION OF A STRATEGY TO REDUCE THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF TELEVISIONVIOLENCE ON YOUNG CHILDREN I. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology,4, 175-187. Therefore, in order toexpand the existing knowledge base, the proposed research consists of aresearch design to test the validity of Thoman's notions regarding medialiteracy groups for children. MethodologyResearch Design The proposed research will consist of a pretest-posttest equivalentgroups design in which there are two IndependentVariables: (1) the Participate in Mediate Literacy Discussion Groupvariable with two levels: participated and did not participate; and (2) theTesting variable with two levels: pretest and posttest. Theterm will be operationally defined in terms of teacher ratings of students'levels of aggressiveness using the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist (Quay& Peterson, 1987). Television and the aggressivechild: A cross-national comparison. NY: McGraw-Hill. Linton, M. Media literacy education groups, Thoman states, are valuable andcritical tools for teaching young children how to evaluate the violencethey see on television. And since there are a number of studies thatsuggest that television violence produces or enhances aggression in veryyoung children (Papalia & Olds, 1995), the investigation of a strategy toreduce the contribution of media violence to children is an important partof the effort to reduce campus violence. 5. In his discussion of the research on school violence, Jones (1994)reported that studies have shown that children become significantly moreaggressive two years after television is introduced into their homes. 7 to . Approximately 6, 93 students were expelled for bringing firearms orexplosives to school; 56 percent of these were high school students, 34percent were junior high school students, and9 percent were elementary school students. It is, therefore, possiblethat findings might be different if a different method of measuringaggression were used; in other words, findings might be test-specific. In this way, it will be possible to rule out test-specificityas an explanation for findings. 1986. Whether findings would be generalize to girls,or to students at different grade levels, or to students attending adifferent elementary school cannot be known on the basis of the findings ofthe proposed research. When the media discussion group students are compared to thecontrol group students, it is expected that the aggression levels will besignificantly lower for the media discussion group than for the controlgroup.Limitations There are certain limitations placed on the proposed research as afunction of both its boundaries (parameters) and problematic aspects of itsmethodology. There will be six boys per teacher-leddiscussion group. BehaviorDisorders, 14(3), 186-2 . The dependent measure is aggressivenessconceptually defined by Papalia and Olds (1995) as a tendency to engage inhostile actions intending to hurt somebody or to establish dominance. Inagreement with the views of Jones (1994), it is assumed that violence inschools arises from a combination of family-related issues, the media,hatreds and phobias. To theextent that this occurs, findings would be invalid. Background Does watching television violence cause and/or contribute toaggression and violence in children and youth? Huesmann, L.R. Thoman (1995) offers a strategy for effecting areduction in that aspect of aggression associated with television violencewhich is why a medial literacy group was selected as the independentvariable of the study. Research in education (6th ed) Boston: Allyn &Bacon.Center for the Prevention of School Violence. The sample is restricted to boys because existing research indicatesthat boys are more affected by TV violence than girls (Center for thePrevention of School Violence, 1998) making it more imperative to studymales than females. Tuma, & I. With respect to the foregoing, it can be noted that the IndependentVariable is Participation in the Media Literacy Group with two levels:Participated (experimental group) and Did NotParticipate (control group). If a parent declines participation, another boy's name will berandomly selected from the list so as to maintain a total of 6 firstgrade boys who will serve as subjects in the study. In general,these groups will consist of discussions of violence in the media that areguided by the teacher asking students several questions about TV violenceand how they think it affects them and other students. Document available: www.ncsu.edu. Human development (5thed.). 4. Statistics such as those just delineated clearly indicate the urgentneed for both determining those factors that cause and/or contribute to thelikelihood of violence on public school campuses, and for reducingaggression in students as early as possible. This means that if the data violatethe analysis of variance's assumptions that it is at least at the equal-interval level, normally distributed, and that there is homogeneity ofvariance between groups, theoverall alpha (significance) level remains stable. Because American families have become increasinglyfractured and dysfunctional while violence on television and in videos ison the rise. During the period of data collection, there were over 19 , incidents of physical attacks or fights without a weapon. (1983). Jones, E.H. & Gallo, P.S. New York: Guilford Press. These boyswill then be randomly assigned to the experimental or controlconditions. Miami, FL: University of Miami. Even if the TV character has a socalled good reason foracting violently (as when a police officer is shown shooting down acriminal to protect others), researchindicates that this does not make young children less likely to imitate theaggressive act (Liss, Reinhart & Fredrikson, 1983). The benefits to be gained byconducting research that investigates strategies for reducing aggressionearly on are related to the fact that they allow schools to take effectiveaction to reduce violent incidence on campus (Center for the Prevention ofSchool Violence, 1998). (1975). The dependentmeasure consists of teacher ratings of children's aggressiveness. One of Jones' (1994) key conceptual postulates (supported by thereviewed research) is that the tendency to commit violent acts in schoolduring adolescence is signaled by high aggressiveness levels of thesechildren during their elementary school years. (1988). Key Concepts and Variables The major concepts that are studied in the proposed research are:television violence, aggression, and media literacy groups as a strategyfor reducing the aggressiveness engendered inchildren as a function of watching violence on TV. According to Wilson and Bullock (1989), theRevised Behavior Problem Checklist can be considered to have good validityand good reliability.Data Collection Based on Thoman's (1995) delineation of the Media Literacy Discussiongroup, a program of group discussion about television violence and itseffects on students will be developed and implemented at the school fromwhich students were drawn. The Revised Behavior Problem Checklist is one ofthe most commonly-used child rating scales (Barkley, 1988). Thoman (1995) believes that a good deal of the negative effects oftelevision violence could be eradicated by a verysimply strategy, a strategy she refers to as "media literacy." In general,this strategy consists of giving children's discussion of violence ontelevision so as to enable them to attain a fuller and more realisticpicture of the negative effects (pain, suffering, grief) of violence onpeople. The overall design is graphically depicted below. The 3 boys in theexperimental group will participate in this program which will last consistof one-half hour long discussions provided weekly for eight weeks (2months). Wilson, M.J. According to the Center for the Prevention of SchoolViolence (1998), research conducted from 1989 through1998, revealed that during the period of the data collection: 1. (1989). Further, only first grade students are used in order tocontrol for any variance in aggression that might be due to maturationaldifferences in students.Measurement The study's measure of aggression will be teacher ratings of eachchild's aggressiveness level using the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist(Quay & Peterson, 1987). References Barkley, R. Ratings will then be analyzed using a two-way, mixed analysis ofvariance in which aggressiveness levels are analyzed at the two levels ofParticipation in Media Literacy Discussion Group and the two levels ofTesting. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence ErlbaumAssociates. Jones holds that many young children learn violence fromwatching in on television and witnessing it in their homes, on theirneighborhood streets, or both. PsychologicalAssessment, 1, 1 3-111. Ten percent of public schools experienced one or more seriousviolent crimes (murder, robbery, rape, other types of sexual battery,suicide, and physical attack or fights using weapons). Thoman reports that longitudinal studiesconducted by the American Psychological Association have shown that thelong term effects of viewing media violence result in children and youthevidencing: (1) Increased aggressiveness and anti-social behavior; (2)Increased fear of being or becoming a victim; (3) Increased desensitizationto violence and victims of violence; and (4) Increased appetite for moreand more violence in entertainment and real life. Thismeans that the existing knowledge base does not provide a firm foundationfor the formulation of directional hypotheses. S. In otherwords, such findings would indicatehope for eventually using the media literacy discussion group strategy as atool for remediating some of the negative effects of TV violence on youngchildren. Important of Expected Findings Because this strategy for reducing the aggression in children that isassociated with their watching TV violence has not been subjected to priortesting, there is not going to be a strong foundation for speculation as tothe meaning of even significant findings for service delivery, practice orpolicy. PARTICIPATED IN MEDIA LITERACY GROUPTESTING Yes No Pretest Posttest Sampling Plan A list of all first grade boys attending a large, local elementaryschool granting the researcher permission to conduct the study will bedeveloped and numbered. Best, J.W. A random numbers table will be used to select atotal of 6 boys from the list.
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