RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN TELEVISION USAGE AMONG LOWER -CLASS URBAN TEEN -AGERS Thesis for the Degree of M. A. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY JOSEPH R. DOMINICK ' 1968 mail ”1. l .mu «.6 . v ‘ Rf {'1 u ‘- .d" w " 3’ Evan‘am a! 5i.» 1-90 -‘ é; SW aflflf'z‘f ’7“. HF “iri‘il'h "' (I | A“? “- .V‘ * E52 '. r-{f‘rt} I“ “ {'é‘; ,».:/: —_ E; 3; "I; v \2 \.‘~ . -| l 1 .-_l‘('.' ,V‘_‘ ,‘ .1 ‘3 .' .."~. '91,. $ : J ’4‘. ;v: ' rl' ' g. i ‘ J -’ _ . .. - q . ‘ u." KP." flux.) 3'." \a—f‘ ,. o'- h~_ ' -_ .. .. . _. - - - ~ 4. b... 1. .r. “5.5.“1‘fl MSU LIBRARIES “ RETURNING MATERIALS: PTace in book drop to remove this checkout from your record. FINES wiII be charged if book is returned after the date stamped beTow. RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN TELEVISION USAGE AMONG LOWER-CLASS URBAN TEEN-AGERS By Joseph R. Dominick A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Communication 1968 Accepted by the faculty of the Department of Comunication, College of Communication Arts, Michigan State University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree. Guidance Committee: mg / , Chairman ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express his thanks and appreciation to his adviser, Dr. Bradley S. Greenberg, for his continued guidance and assistance throughout the writing of this thesis. The author also wishes to express his appreciation to the other members of his committee, Dr. Thomas Baldwin and Dr. Vincent Farace. For their assistance in collecting the data and in giving useful suggestions, the author wishes to express his gratitude to Miss Karen Woodson and to Miss Brenda Dervin. The author would also like to thank Dr. John Hayman and Mr. Alan Solomon of the Philadelphia Board of Education and numerous members of the administrative and teaching staff of South Philadelphia and George Washington High Schools for their co-operation in collecting the data. Finally, the author wishes to eXpress Special thanks to Mrs. Shirley Sherman fOr the typing of this thesis and for her valuable assistance in its final preparation. ii Data for this thesis were gathered as part of a project Sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters in a grant to the thesis adviser. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . II METHODS O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Respondents and Procedure . . . Operational Definitions . . . . Social Status . . . . . . . . . III RESULTS 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O Perception of Reality . . . . . Television Viewing . . . . . . . Leisure-time Activities . . . . Control Systems . . . . . . . . Iv DISCUSSION 0 C O O O O O O O O O 0 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . Imp li cati 0118 O O O I O O O I O 0 Research Extensions . . . . . . BIBLIOGRAPM O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 iv 18 18 19 22 23 23 25 27 3O 35 35 37 41 an LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1 Mean Scores of Reality Items . . . . . . . . 2 Television Viewing . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Favorite TV Programs . . . . . . . . . . . u Leisure-Time Activities . . . . . . . . . . 5 Influence of Parents on TV Viewing Behavior 6 Rules Concerning TV Watching . . . . . . . . 28 29 32 an APPENDIX A: APPENDIX B: APPENDIX C: APPENDIX D: LIST OF APPENDICES QUESTIONNAIRE O O O O O O O O C O O O O O COMPARISON OF LOWER—CLASS AND MIDDLE-CLASS RESULTS 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o DEMOGRAPHIC DATA . . . . . . . . . . . . INTERJUDGE CODING RELIABILITIES . . . . . vi H6 69 72 7Q ABSTRACT RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN TELEVISION USAGE AMONG LOWE R-CLASS URBAN TEEN-AGERS by Joseph R. Dominick This study attempted to examine the effects of racial discrimination on the mass media usage patterns of a group of lower- class Negro teen-agers in comparison with white teen-agers from the same socio-economic class. It was hypothesized that two defense mechanisms--reality distortion and psychological escape--would.be functioning to a greater degree among the Negro teen-agers. Specifically, it was predicted that this group should see more congruence between the world portrayed on television and the way they believe the world actually is and that this group should spend more time watching TV than their white counterparts. The conditions of life in the ghetto was also posited as the basis for further hypotheses about leisure time activities and control systems regulating TV viewing. The specific hypotheses were that Negro teen-agers should report that they usually read books or did homework instead of watching TV more often than should white teen-agers. Also, Negro teen-agers should report they usually watched TV instead of going out with their friends. Finally, it was predicted that Negro teen-agers should report less instances of control systems limiting TV watching. Joseph R. Dominick Questionnaires were administered to two groups of 10th and 11th grade Philadelphia public school students. One group consisted entirely of Negroes from lower socio-economic families. The second group Izonsisted of whites from similar families. The hypothesis that Negro teen-agers should see a greater degree of congruence between life as portrayed on TV and the way they believe life to be was supported. The second hypothesis-~that there should be more TV viewing among the Negro sample--was also supported. More Negro youths reported they usually did their homework instead of watching TV and more reported they usually watched TV instead of going out with friends. There was no difference between the two groups in their choice between reading a book and watching TV. There were no significant differences between the two groups with regard to the existence of control systems that dealt with television watching . CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Social science research has recently begun to examine closely the social and psychology consequences that result from a life spent in a social system characterized by a substantial degree of racial and ethnic discrimination. The first such study to gain wide-Spread attention was that done by Kenneth B. Clark and reported in the now famous Appendix to the Supreme Court's 195a decision concerning segregation (Clark, 1965). Other researchers have also turned their attention to this area. (See, for example, Kardiner and Ovesey, 1962; Pettigrew, 196u; Liebow, 1967). Clark, himself, has enlarged his work into two books (Clark, 1963 and 1965). The most recent addition to these works is the Report of the National Advisory Committee on Civil Disorders, (1968), chaired by Governor Otto Kerner. Most of these works have surveyed the broad social, cultural, and psychological effects of life in a segregated society that confronts the American Negro. Another body of literature has developed concerning racial differences in marriage, child rearing, and family life. (Bernard, 1966; Davis l9u3; and Maccoby and Gibbs, l96u). As far as communication research is concerned, probably the area given the most attention is differential language development and language behavior among Negro and whites. (e.g., Barth 1961; Carson, 1960). While several mass communication researchers have examined the effects of socio-economic status on mass media related behaviors (See, for example, Lyle, 1962; Merrill, 1961; Schramm, Lyle, and Parker, 1963; and Albert and Meline, 1958), few studies have systematically examined differences in mass media usage that may be associated with racial or ethnic differences. Some of the studies which have fecussed on different racial groups were Carey's (1965) study about ethnic differences in television program preference and Allen's (1967) inventory of mass media usage by residents of the Pittsburgh ghetto. The Kerner Commission (1967) report included a chapter on Negro views of the mass press and in particular, the media's conduct in covering the 1967 disorders in the cities. Frazier's book (1957) contained a discussion of the Negro press. With the exception of Carey's study, none of the above research made any hypotheses about racial or ethnic differences in mass media usage patterns or effects. The present study is an attempt to combine some of the approaches and concepts postulated by Clark, Pettigrew and Kardiner with some of the ideas suggested by the mass media researchers. This paper will examine racial differences in television usage among respondents from a single socio-economic class. The hypotheses will utilize, in part, a dynamic model suggested by Kardiner and Ovesey (1962) and draw on the data presented by Clark, Allen, and the Kerner Commission. In hypothesizing "racial" differences, there is no suggestion of any underlying genetic factor which differentiates Negro behavior from white behavior or vice versa. The main consideration is one of environment. A difference in race leads to a difference in environment. This different environment and the particular eXperiences that are linked with it are posited as the determinants of the predicted differences. The antecedent variable, then, is race. Socio-economic status will be held as constant as possible. The dependent variables are four aSpects of television viewing: 1) Perception of reality--This area deals with the perceived congruity between the world as portrayed on television and the reSpondents own idea of the "real" world. The items ask the reSpondent how much he perceives the programs, people, and situations pictured on TV to be similar to what he eXper- iences in real life. 2) Leisure-time activities--These items examine whether or not a respondent usually watches television or Spends his time in some other activity. 3) Control systems in the household—-This area examines which members of the family have the most influence in determining what shows are watched in the home. Other items ask about the existence of rules concerning how late the reSpondent can stay up watching television and whether or not deprivation of tele- vision privileges is used as punishment in the household. u) Television viewing--This section. is a gauge of how much time the reSpondent spent watching television on a particular day. The population under consideration has three distinct features. The respondents are all teen-agers; they all live in an urban area; and they all come from families whose social background can be categorized as belonging to the "lower" class. Each of these factors, the re8pondents' age, where they live, and how they live, will have a bearing on the develOpment of hypotheses. The ghetto The hypotheses presented below are directly dependent on the different environments that surround a lower-class urban Negro and a lower-class urban white. The most obvious difference between the two is, of course, the discrimination that confronts the young Negro. The most striking manifestation of this discrimination surrounds the Negro teen-ager and influences him all of his life. This is the ghetto. The ghetto is not an exclusively Negro phenomenon. Other minority groups--Irish, Jews, Poles—-have come to the large cities and have chosen to live in clustered city areas. For the most part, however, these groUps were able, over time, to disperse and to be assimilated into the larger population. But unlike the earlier immigrants, the Negro failed to diSperse among the population. The earlier white ethnic groupswere typically absorbed into the larger sciety. Many left their predominantly ethnic area and moved to outlying areas to obtain better housing and better schools. Others scattered over the suburban area. Still others established new ethnic clusters but these rarely contained only one ethnic group. As a result, most middle-class neighborhoods have no distinctive ethnic character-except that they are white. The expansion of America's urban Negro population has not followed this pattern. Most Negro families have remained in primarily Negro areas because racial discrimination has effectively excluded them from white residential areas. Another form of separation which isolates the Negro population is "white flight"--withdrawal from or refusal to enter neighborhoods into which large numbers of Negroes are moving or already residing. Thus, Negro settlements expand almost entirely through racial transition at the edges of existing all-Negro neighborhoods rather than by a gradual disPersion throughout the metrOpolitan area. I Residential segregation is generally more prevalent with reSpect to Negroes than for any other minority group, including Puerto Ricans, Orientals, and Mexican Americans. Moreover, it varies little from city to city and between center city and suburbs. Nor can this pattern of discrimination be explained by solely economic factors. Analysis of 15 representative cities by the Kerner Commission found that white upper and.middle-class households are far more segregated from Negro upper and middle-income households than from white lower-income households. The fact of social discrimination is also brought out fer the Negro youngster in the schools that he attends. Generally, Negro children go to schools near the ghetto area which are predominantly Negro. In Cleveland, for example, 60% of the elementary schools and 58% of the high schools are segregated--white or Negro. In the central city of Detroit, more than no% of the public school children are Negro. In Philadelphia, the figure is 50%; in Washington, D.C., 75%. In Harlem, virtually all of the schools in the area are composed of Negro students. The trend is increasing. According to a report issued by the Civil Rights Commission (cited in Clark, 1965), by 1975, if the present policies continue, 8096 of all Negro students in the 2) largest cities will be attending schools with enrollments consisting of 90 to 100% Negro students. Perception of reality» All these factors emphasize to the young Negro his isolation from white society. Research has shown (sunmarized in Clark, 1965) that this physical separation has an effect on the personality of the , ghetto residents. One effect, documented by Clark and others (Clark, 1965; Henry, 1965) is the difficulty among Negroes in establishing an accurate perception of reality. Research done by Clark and others suggests that a child's personality is influenced by racial considerations at the relatively early age at which he learns about racial differences and racial preferences. As early as the second _ grade, children from minority groups have already developed negative feelings about themselves and personal conflicts concerning identification with their racial or religious groups. As children develop an awareness of racial differences and of their own racial identity, they also develop an awareness of and acceptance of the prevailing social attitudes and values attached to race and skin color. Studies have shown that Negro children, when asked to choose a skin color that is closest to their own, frequently reject the color brown and may choose a lighter shade. This early rejection of skin color is part of the combination of attitudes and beliefs of the child who knows that he must be identified with something that is being rejected by society as a whole-—and something that he himself may reject. This pattern introduces early in the formation of the personality of these children a fundamental conflict about themselves and a tendency to resolve this conflict by distorting their con- ception of reality to conform to a more favorable situation. Clark (1965) and Henry (1965) both contain references to examples of Negro children and adults who attempt to resolve this conflict in two ways: 1) by escaping either physically or psychologically from the situation. 2) by denying the conflict exists through a process of reality distortion until the situation is seen as more favorable than it really is. Everyday life in the ghetto should remind the young Negro of his position in a group which is the target of social discrimination. We should eXpect to find, therefore, evidence of both defense mechanisms mentioned above. Evidence of the first is easy to find. Many forms of escape exist for th ghetto resident. Drug usage is disproportionately high there. The "numbers racket", providing an easy way out if you win, makes substantial profits. Fortune tellers, dream books, and other mystical items are common. Bars, liquor stores and other such establishments are numerous. These forms of escape, however, may be too extreme for the Negro teenagers. It is at this point that television must be taken into consideration. It seems that TV plays a unique role in the functioning of both these defense mechanisms. In the first place, it offers a means of fbrgetting, even though temporarily, the life of the ghetto. This seems to indicate that there should be more TV viewing done by the ’ghetto residents. More will be said of this later. What is being suggested at this point is that the young Negro teen-ager watches TV as a means for escape from ghetto life, and that television presents to him a false ideal of the way life should be. Further, he uses this false depiction as a model for viewing his own surroundings. The end results of this process is that reality becomes distorted to conferm to the world that is pictured on TV. What we are suggesting is some evidence of a reaction against negative racial status by the Negro adolescent operating in the way he views reality. The social pressures of discrimination which have kept the teen-ager confined to the ghetto should prompt the Negro youngster into some kind of behaviors which will attempt to minimize the negative effects of belonging to a minority group. Escape is postulated as one of these behaviors. Television watching is an example of one of many forms of escape. Further, television plays a part in the operation of another defense mechanism which we are calling reality distortion. This mechanism operates even after the TV set has been turned off. Negro youngsters should show more of a tendency to escape the ghetto by cistorting the reality of the world around them into a world that correSponds closely to that presented on television. It is not asurprising that the TV world would appeal to the Negro youngster. The Negroes he sees there, though few in number, are portrayed as successful. The whites who inhabit this world seldom show any discrimination or rejection toward Negroes. The TV world does not possess the ugliness of the ghetto. It seems likely that a kind of "wishful-thinking" on the part of the Negro teen-ager occurs which distorts his perception of the world around him into a form that is more compatible with the appealing world shown on television. Thus, some of the unpleasant feelings generated by life in the ghetto are relieved. This rationale is similar to one suggested by Kardiner and Ovesey (1962). The model presented below is based on a modification 10 of one suggested in their earlier work. Diagrammatically, what is postulated is this: Discrimination \ Undesirable situation for a member of the discriminated group \ Desire to alleviate the pressures of the situation Escape behavior (Drugs, alcohol, interest in the occult, TV viewing) Reality distortion (Unwillingness to identify skin color as proper shade. Denial that life is any different from television.) This model should not hold for whites of the same social class. They are not restricted by skin color into living in a ghetto. They are not members of a minority group and are not subject to the dis- crimination that is encountered by the Negro youngster. There should be less evidence of the defense mechanisms of escape and reality ll distortion at work since the pressure caused by discrimination is absent. Further, lower-class white youngsters are more apt to have more contact with middle-class society. They would probably have friends or schoolmates who are from middle-class backgrounds since they would more likely have attended a school where the middle-class is represented. They would also be more likely to be living in or near sections of the city where they would have middle-class families as neighbors. In sum, their range of eXperience should be greater than that of the Negro youth concerning middle-class life. With this increased amount of contact, they should be more likely to perceive discrepancies between the middle-class world of television and the middle-class world they have seen in person. Thus, it is hypothesized: H1: Within the lower socio-economic class, Negro teen-agers see a greater degree of congruity between the world portrayed on television and their own perceptions of the world than white teen-agers. Television viewing, Television has penetrated the walls of the ghetto and now permeates them. In January, 1967, for example, 88% of all Negroes in the 0.8. had at least one television set. A 1967 study of low- income Lansing, Michigan, Negroes found that 98% of the persons interviewed had TV. A 1967 study of a New York poverty area found 95% of the sample with television. Allen's 1967 study of the Pittsburgh ghetto reported that 95% of the residents had at least one TV. 12 This hypothesis derives from a combination of factors. The first is the pressure to escape the life of the ghetto. Television is a handy and inexpensive way to escape momentarily from the surroundings of the ghetto. There is less social sanction placed on TV viewing than on the usage of drugs or alcohol. Secondly, the restricted range of recreational activities (see below) and the lack of suitable areas for recreation outside the home should mean that more Negroes spend more time in or near the home and thus have easy access to a television set. Further, even among the lower class, there is an economic differential present. The Kerner Commission reports that the salaries of urban Negroes are still below those of poor, urban whites. This economic difference means that Negro families would have less to Spend on other leisure-time activities and would Spend more time with TV simply because it costs little. Finally, the larger family size among Negro families and the lack of adequate housing in the ghetto suggests that more people would.be in a Negro household at any one time. This condition would create more of'an opportunity to have someone in the house turn on the TV set. The Kerner Commission, fer example, found that 25% of urban non-white households were over—crowded according to the guidelines set clown by the Census Bureau compared with only eight per cent of the white households. In a Chicago census tract, among dwelling units with the same rent, almost four times as many non-white dwellings were found to be overcrowded. Moreover, the houses rented by non-whites tended to be almost one room smaller than those rented by whites. 13 All of this suggests that in a small, crowded dwelling, the Negro youth has more of a chance of being in the same room with an active TV set. In fact, it seems likely that most youths would have to leave the house in order to escape the set. These factors lead to the hypothesis: H2: Among the lower-class, Negro teenagers spend more time watching television than white teen-agers. Leisure-time activities The next dependent variable has to do with how much TV is a part of the reSpondents' Spare time activities as opposed to other alctivities. The Specificactivities under consideration are: TV watching vs. reading a book TV watching vs. doing homework TV watching vs. going out with friends. Again it is the ghetto which is the major influence in postilating differences in these activities. Concerning the first two--TV watching vs. book reading or doing homework, the current emphasis on social referms and educational programs geared to alleviate _ ghetto conditions hasjan influence on predictions. One of the roads to obtaining "upwardV mobility and escaping the ghetto is for a youth to stay in school and to get a good education. Advertising campaigns and local actions programs have taken an active role in urging all youths, particularly the Negro, to stay in school and to"lsarn, baby, learn." The Haryou program in New York, with its Reading Mobilization In Campaign, is an example of this emphasis on the local level. The probable results of this campaign should be an increased awareness on the part of the Negro youth of the importance of staying in school and getting an education as a way to escape the ghetto. The same campaigns would not be as relevant to lower-class white youths, who, as pointed out by Clark (1965), still believe that they can achieve economic success and have no barrier caused by skin color to overcome. .Further, the particular sample of teen- pagers under consideration are predominatly 10th graders with an average .age of about 16--the age at which it becomes legal to drop out of school. Given the large differential drop-out rates between Negroes and whites at all economic levels, (In New York, for example, in 1962, only one-seventh of the students in Harlem received academic diplomas compared with about one-half of the other students in the city), we would expect to find that only those Negroes who are serious about their education and.who have ambitions to better themselves would have come this far. The saliency of education and all that goes with it should have a greater degree of relevance for this group of Negro youths. This means that reading of books, even though scarce in the ghetto, and doing homework, both activities related to education and self-enrichment, would be more highly regarded among this group. It is hypothesized, among the lower-class: H3: There should be a greater tendency among Negroes to report that they usually read a book instead of watching television. 15 and: HR: There should be a greater tendency among Negroes to report that they usually do their homework instead of watching television. The third spare-time activity, going out with friends, has to be considered within the context of the ghetto environment. Teen- ~agers in the ghetto have less to do when they go out with friends. The ghetto is usually ugly with dirt and refuse. Parks, if there are any, are usually seedy from lack of care and are unsafe after dark. The streets are crowded with people and cluttered with trash. They, too, are dangerous. Crime rates in the ghetto are much higher than in white neighborhoods. Recreation facilities are meager. In all of Watts, for example, there are no movie theaters and only three small swimming pools. The Kerner Commission found that the complaint of inadequate recreational facilities was a major one in 15 cities. This should not be so much the case for the lower-class white teen-agers. This group should have access to the parks, theaters, and athletic fields of middle-class society. Their neighborhoods would be generally cleaner and more attractive and more safe for them to travel in. With this background, it is hypothesized: H5: Among the lower class, there Should be a greater tendency for Negro teen-agers to report that they usually watch television instead of going out with their friends. 16 Control Systems The last dependent variable has to do with whether or not there are rules in the home about TV watching and the amount of active participation engaged in by members of the re3pondents' households in restricting television viewing. Specifically, the abandonment of the home by Negro fathers should affect the presence or rules in the house- hold in general and rules about television watching in particular. The exodus of Negro fathersfrom their families is a well- documented fact. According to the Kerner Commission, the proportion of households with female heads is much greater among Negroes than among whites at all income levels, and has been rising in recent years. From 1950 to 1960, the increase in the preportion of households with females as their heads rose 0.2% among whites and 5.2% among Negroes. This disparity between white and non-white families is far greater among the lowest income families--those that are most likely to reside in disadvantaged big city areas--than among higher income families. In 1966, among families with income less than $3,000, the proportion with female heads was 92% fer Negroes but only 23% for whites. The problems of fatherless families are intensified by the tendency of Negroes to have large families. This is characteristic of poor families.in general, but Negro families still tend to be larger. The average poor, urban, non-white family contains 14.8 persons as compared with 3.8 for the poor, urban whites. 17 As a result of this condition, many mothers must work to provide support far the family. The percentage of women in the labor force is higher at all ages among non-whites. With the father absent and the mother working, the household is left without an authority figure for large parts of the day. It seems likely that this condition should affect whether or not there are rules about watching television in the household. Specifically, we should expect less parental control among the Negro families Since one or both parents is absent from the household for greater lengths of time than are white parents. This lack of control should manifest itself in three ways: H6: There Should be a greater incidence among Negro families of children having a greater influence over what programs are watched by the family. H7: There should be fewer instances of rules con- cerning how late a respondent can stay up watching television in Negro households. H8: There should be fewer reports of punishment by being deprived of television-watching privileges by the Negro teen-agers. CHAPTER II METHODS Respondents and Jarocedure The questionnaire was administered to eight English classes of tenth and eleventh graders attending South Philadelphia High School on May 6, 1968. The administration was done during regular morning class periods of #5 minutes. All respondents finished the questionnaire in the allotted time. Classes in the lowest ability level in the high school were not interviewed since the school system felt that they had insufficient reading Skills to complete the questionnaire. South Philadelphia High School is located on the outskirts of a Negro ghetto from which it draws almost all its Negro students. It is also located near a low-income white residential area which contributes a large prOportion of its white enrollment. The racial distribution in the entire school is about 60% white and N0% Negro. Completed questionnaires were obtained from 206 teen-agers. Of these, 60% were from white students and no% from Negroes. 0n the next day, the same questionnaire was administered to 100 middle-class, white teen-agers attending George Washington High School in north Philadelphia. While no hypotheses were made in this present study concerning social-class differences, comparative data from this sample are in Appendix B. 18 19 The percentage of males vs. females in each of the three samples was approximately 50-50. These data are contained in Appendix C. Interjudge coding reliabilities are in Appendix D. Operational definitions Four main variables were the focus of this study. These are Operationalized below. Perception of reality; Three items were constructed to measure the variable labelled "perception of reality." These were: 1. "The programs that I see on TV tell about life the way it really is." 2. "The peOple I see in TV programs are just like peeple I meet in real life." 3. "The same things that happen to people on TV often happen to me in real life." The reSponse categories were a modification of the conventional Likert reSponses: _I agree (scored 3) ___l'm not sure (scored 2) I disagree (scored 1) The items intercorrelated significantly with one another. Subsequently, item scores were summed for each respondent, yielding a single score on this variable. The higher the score, the greater the degree of 2O agreement with the statements. A score of nine indicated the highest possible agreement with the items while a score of three meant total disagreement. Leisure-time activities The reSpondents were given the fellowing items: In your spare time--when you don't have anything special to-- Do you usually: ___watch TV or ___read a book? Do you usually: ___do your homework or ___watch TV? Do you usually: watch TV or go out with your friends? A respondent was assigned a score of "1" if he checked "watch TV," and a score of "0" if he checked the alternate activity. Control Systems Three separate items were used. The first was an attempt to isolate which family member had the most influence in determining what television programs were watched. The item was: 21 Who in your family has the most say-so about what prOgrams you get to watch on TV? (CHECK ONE) My mother My father Myself My brothers or sisters The second item concerned staying up watching television. Are there rules in your house about how late you can stay up watching television? Yes No The last item in this section was an attempt to measure the respondent's perceptions of whether or not television was being used as a means of punishment. Are you ever punished for something by not being allowed to watCh TV? Yes No Television viewing The respondents were given a reproduction of the television schedule for Sunday, May 5, 1968, the day before the interviewing. They were asked to go through the schedule and circle all the shows they had seen on Sunday. If they had not watched television at all on Sunday, they left the TV schedule blank and proceeded with the rest of the questionnaire. Viewing time was tabulated by adding the time encompassed 22 by all programs the respondent had circled. Credit was given for viewing the entire program if it was circled. This might lead to a slightly inflated total viewing time. A respondent who circled a movie, fer example, was given credit for watching the entire movie, unless his schedule indicated he had switched channels befbre the movie was over. While this method may lead to larger absolute time estimates, viewing times were determined the same way for all respondents. Social Status A check was made of the relative socio-economic status of our respondent groups. The index of social status used was the Troldahl occupational prestige scale. (Troldahl, 1965). To use the scale, coders judged whether the reported job of the main wage earner had the same or more prestige than 12 standard jobs. The standard jobs, with the prestige level in parentheses, are: more prestige than a lawyer (l2), lawyer, (ll), assistant public school superintendent (10), consulting chemical engineer, (9), sales engineer fer an electronics parts company (8), soil conservation worker (7), credit manager for an advertising service (6), rate clerk for a transportation company (5), auto mechanic (u), boiler Operator for a pickle factory (3), waitress (2), bean and berry picker (0). The mean values of occupational prestige for the samples were: Negro sample, South Philadelphia High School, ”.18; white sample, South Philadelphia High School, n.07; white sample, George Washington High School, 6.5a (See Appendix C). CHAPTER III RESULTS The results are divided into four major sections: (1) the respondents' perception of reality; (2) television viewing time; (3) leisure-time activities; and (AI) the presence or absence of systems that regulate television viewing. Perception of reality It was hypothesized that Negro teen-agers would see a greater degree of correspondence between life portrayed on television and their own idea of the way life is. The results of this analysis are contained in Table l. The range of possible responses across the three items was from three (perfect disagreement) to nine (perfect agreement). The results support the hypothesis. At test for uncorrelated means yielded a significant difference between the two groups in the predicted direction.* The Negro youths showed a greater degree of agreement with the items than did the white youths. One possible criticism is that the results can be explained by an acquiescent response set operating in the Negro sample. It might be claimed, for example, that they tended to agree with all the items, regardless of content. This criticism cannot be ruled out fully, since *p (.001 (two-tailed) . 23 24 Table 1. Mean Scores of Reality Items Lower-class Negro Lower-class white Sample Sample Mean 6.08 5.08 Variance 3.30 3.23 N 83 12M t value 3.76*, df = 206. Critical t (p = .001) is 3.29 *p (.001 25 the items were worded in such a way that an "agree" response indicated greater perceived correSpondence between television and reality. There is, however, some refutational evidence. First, the frequency of response for each category Shows that the distribution among the Negro sample was almost equal. About one-third of the sample fell into each of the three reSponse categories. There was no piling up in the "agree" reSponse. Further, in areas where the same bias could be expected to Operate, the scores of the Negro sample were the same as or less than the white sample (e.g., the section on control systems, below). Television viewing More television viewing was predicted for Negroes than for whites. This hypothesis was supported. The Negro youngsters watched an average of 6.26 hours of television on Sunday (Table 2A). The white teen-agers reported watching 8.58 hours on the same day. A t test yielded a result of 2.75 (p 4.01, two-tailed). The Negro teen-agers were more apt to be watching during all parts of the day. Table 23 includes the percentages of the sample who reported watching TV during the Specified times. Large differences exist during the morning and both early and late evening hours. A Negro teen-ager was almost twice as likely to have watched television after midnight. 26 Table 2A. Television Viewing Mean Variance Negro sample White sample 6.26 “.58 20.9 15.0 8H 124 t value is 2.75; df Critical t value (p 207; p4.01 (two-tailed test) .01) is 2.62. Table 2B. TV watching by time of day (% of sample 6A.“.‘N00n Noon " GPOM. 5P.M.-mi¢light who reported watching during this time) Negro sample White sample 52% 31% 61% set 86% 70% 26% 14% 27 While no hypotheses were made concerning differences in the content of what was watched, data were collected concerning this tOpic. Respondents were asked to name their three most favorite TV shows. The list of the t0p ten Shows named by each group is contained in Table 3. The top five showslbr each sample are nearly alike with the exception of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In." This Show was named as a favorite by about 18% of the white sample but only two Negroes listed it as one of their favorites. Others that made the Negro tap ten but received less than four mentions among lowerbclass whites were "Big Valley," "Garrison's Gorillas," and "The Doctors." Leisure-time activities Three hypotheses were made concerning the relative usage of television versus other activities. Specifically, it was predicted that the Negro teen-agers would eXpress more of a tendency to read a book and to do homework than watch television. This same group, however, Efilould express more of a preference to watch TV than go out with their friends. Tables AA, AB, and NC contain the results of this analysis. There was no Significant difference between the samples in their choice between watching TV and reading a book. Among the Negro sample, 21% chose book-reading over TV. The corresponding percentage among whites was 13%. While the difference is in the right direction, the Chi square value was 1.92 (p (.20). 28 Table 3. Favorite TV prOgrams "What are the names of your three most favorite TV Shows?" Negro sample Program name % of sample naming Show 1. Mission Impossible 30% 2. Dark Shadows 29% 3. It Takes a Thief 22% 4. Movies 18% 5. Big Valley 17% 6. Garrison's Gorilla's 11% 7. Lost in Space 10% 8. The Doctors 8% 9. Star Trek 8% 10. (Tie between the Invaders, 7% The Untouchables, General Hospital, and HY Lit--a local teeneage dance program) Lower-class white sample 1. Mission Impossible 30% 2. Dark Shadows 2n% 3. Rowan-Martin Laugh-In 18% n. It Takes a Thief lu% 5. Movies 13% 6. Star Trek 13% 7. That Girl 11% 8. Peyton Place 10% 9. Carol Burnett Show 9% 10. (Tie between Hy Lit and 6% Smothers Brothers Show.) 29 Table 4A. Leisure-time activities Negro sample White sample Total read a book 16 In 30 watch TV 66 108 174 Total 82 122 20R Chi square (corrected) = 1.92; df = l; p (1.20 Table 4B. Negro sample White sample Total do homework an M2 86 watch TV 38 77 115 Total 82 119 201 Chi square (corrected) = 5.96; df = l; p<.02. (p = .02) is 5.ul. Critical Chi square Table uc. Negro sample go out with friends 57 watch TV 25 Total 82 Chi square (corrected) = n.60; df = l; (p = .05) is 3.8M. White sample 100 20 120 Total 157 as 202 p< .05. Critical Chi square 30 There was a Significant difference concerning whether or not the respondents usually did their homework or watched television. Among the Negro sample, 55% reported they usually did their homework while 38% of the whites reported the same behavior. (Chi square = 5.96, p (.02.) The third hypothesis was also supported. Seventy per cent of the Negroes and 8N% of the whites said they usually go out with their friends instead of watching television. The percentages in both groups who usually go out with friends are large in the absolute sense, but the difference between the two groups is significant. (Chi square = LI.60, p<.05). In summary, there was no difference between the two samples in the relative frequency with which they chose book-reading over television watching. The Negro teen-agers, however, were more apt to report that they usually did their homework instead of watching television. They were also more likely to choose watching television instead of going out with their friends. Control systems Three hypotheses were made concerning the amount of control exerted over the television viewing of the respondents. The first predicted a greater degree of influence exercised by the Negro youngsters over what programs are watched by their families. Table 5A contains the results of this analysis. Respondents who answered "my mother" or "my father" were included in the first category--parents having the most influence. All those who reSponded "myself" or 31 "my brothers or sisters," were included in the second category-- children having the most influence. A Chi Square test yielded no difference between the two samples. Among the Negro teen-agers 39% reported that their parents had the most influence while 52% reported that they or their brothers or sisters had the most say-so. Nine per cent named some other member of the family or did not answer the question. Among the lower-class whites, u2% reported that their parents had the most influence and 52% named themselves or their brothers or sisters. Six per cent did not answer or named someone else. While the hypothesis was not supported there is some evidence available to suggest a difference between the samples concerning which parents has the most to do with determing viewing. If those respondents who named a parent as having the most influence are examined (those in the first category in Table 5A), there is an indication of the effects of the absence of the father in the Negro families. Only 33% of these Negro teen-agers credited their father with having the most influence while 55% of the lower-class whites named their fathers. The results of this analysis are in Table SB. The Chi square value was 2.93, significant at the .10 level. The other two hypotheses concerned Specific instances of regu- lations placed on TV viewing. The first had to do with whether or not some rules existed in the household that set up a time after which no television viewing was allowed. It was predicted there would be fewer such rules in the Negro sample. Table 6A contains this analysis. 32 Table 5A. Relative influence of parents in TV viewing Negro sample White sample Total parents having most influence 33 51 8# children having the most influence nu 6A 108 Total 77 115 192 Chi square = .ou; df = 1. Not significant. Table SB. Influence of particular parent in TV viewing Negro sample Mother has most influence 22 Father has most influence 11 Total 33 Chi square (corrected) = 2.93; df = l; p<.10. White sample 23 28 51 Total us 39 8'4 33 Forty-Six per cent of the lower-class whites reported some rules in this area while 35% of the Negroes reported the same thing. While this difference is in the predicted direction, it is not significant. (Chi square = 1.88, p<.20). The second hypothesis predicted that the Negro teen-agers would report less instances of punishment whereby they were deprived of their television viewing privileges as a penalty for something they did. The results of this analysis are in Table 6B. In fact, the Negro youngsters reported slightly more instances of punishment than did their white counterparts. Twenty per cent said they were punished for something by not being allowed to watch TV. The correSponding percentages among whites was 12%. This difference was not significant. (Chi square = 1.06). on Table 6A. Frequency of rules concerning how late a respondent can stay up watching television. Negro sample White sample Total Rules exist 29 56 85 No rules exist 5M 56 110 Total 83 112 195 Chi square = 1.88 (corrected); df = l; p U I ' . "\ I. t ’ 1.-— r'. . |~ . '.r. ....v ' . I 1"“(4 {-‘1’\. I "r I, ...—. ..-'9 -, me;- -~. . ,.. . ‘ ' , ‘ - . ’. .\’ ~' I. flu... - H . _ ' ‘« in." ‘t' .. . ‘ .1. '. ;»_- - 1': -. 1‘. , ' ' x SUNDAY PROGRAMS (con't) 6:30 17--Flipper 10-News, Weather and Sports l2-World Press Review u8--McHale's Navy 7:00 10--Lassie l7-Hollywood and the Stars 29o-Wilburn Brothers #8--Perry Mason 3-News and Sports 7:30 3--Walt Disney's World lO-Ed Sullivan 12--NBT Festival 17-Suspense Theatre 8:00 6--FBI 29--Bill Anderson 8:30 3-Mothers-In-Law l2-—PBL-News and the Arts 17-Char1ie Chaplin 29-Gospe1 Jubilee 9:00 3-Bonanza 6--Movie, "Ships of Fools" lO-Smothers Brothers l7--Movie, "The Outriders" 9:30 29--Conversation 10:00 3:15 3--High Chaparral lO--Mission: Impossible 29--Harry Bristow Show uB—-Joe Pyne lO--News 10:30 l2--Creative Person 11:00 3--News, Weather and Sports lO--News 17--Movie, "The Lucky Stiff" 29-—Ca1ifornians 11:30 3--Movie, "Diplomatic Courier" 10--Movie, "This Earth is Mine" 29--Stryker u8--Firing Line 12:15 6--Movie, "Girls Town" 12:30 #8--N. J. Roundup 1:10 3--News l:#5 lO--Movie, "Smuggler's Island" 2:15 6--News 2:30 6--Peter Gunn ““0.“- ... Q“ I-.. w-c—v-oc . I; .u- -- j"" S < . .: ... s. .l L .J r. .u .. .07. . . 5;. o . I. .I. I a 3 . «so. V . u . c , a ,r N! . .\ . .1 "I'- . u c WE'RE INTERESTED IN WHY TEEN-AGERS HATCH TV. BELOW ARE SOME REASONS THAT OTHER TEEN-AGERS GAVE FOR WATCHING TV. WE WANT TO KNOW HOW MUCH EACH REASON IS LIKE YOU. HERE IS THE FIRST REASON: l. I watch TV because it gives me a thrill. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 2- I watch TV because it keeps my mind off other things How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 3. I wa1rh TV because with TV I can learn a lot without working very hard. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 4. I watch TV because some of the TV characters are examples of what I wish I was. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me | 5. I watch TV because I can understand things better when I can see as well as hear them. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 6. I watch TV because it shows me how other people solve the same problems I have. How This is: 7. I watch school. liow This is: 8. I watch How This is: 9. I watch How This is: 10. I watch How This is: much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me not much like me not at all like me 1 TV because I learn things on TV that I don't learn in much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me not much like me not at all like me TV because it excites.me. much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me. not much like me not at all like me | TV because it keeps me from arguing with my family. much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me not much like me not at all like me TV because it's almost like a human companion. much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me not much like me not at all like me ‘~ I , A I . ' s '. — I ”an-H . O f . ' Nye-J . . .H . . ‘ . . . ' ’ ."‘ I I H . I 5 . ‘ ' ' I ' ' .2 O. . . ‘V‘v .. " v ‘ - ' o I .' D. I‘, ~ . .- . u" ' . . ‘ . I I . . 7‘ u -)‘nn“ 4 ,V' " I. .o . , ":‘ -..— - ‘. . — . . . .. ._{ -- ‘ ... ... I ~0- '. -‘ “- . ‘v - I . . ll. I watch TV because it shows what life is really like. How muCh is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 12. I watch TV because I can just sit back and watch and not think. How much is this like you? (CHECK.ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 13. I watch TV because it helps me learn about myself as a human being. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 1H. I watch TV because I have nothing better to do. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me I 15. I watch TV because I get to know all about people in all walks of life. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me -7- 16. I watch TV because without it I wouldn't know much about the world. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 17. I watch TV because it's something to do instead of doing homework. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 18. I watch TV because I get to see what people are like. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 19. I watch TV because it's free. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 20. I watch TV because it stimulates my emotions -- it makes me laugh or cry. How much is this like you? (CnECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me ., J _ 3' :1 ‘> I ' - ' . .. .. L l .I.; -.‘-..- ~ - -‘ ’I ' " h . '. \ - \, Vt " L— . “ ‘. A lu , ' ' .- . ‘ ' Mr . . . . n... . . I I, -- “‘ -‘ ‘ J. - .. ‘ . ‘ t. . .. L- . ' . .1 .r ‘ ' I . ‘ A u' . - h h .. .—.A .. --. i’ ' .I.-‘U . . 0‘s- , - VI ‘ . A. .“; .‘v. ‘ . .1 . -‘- I ' _ "_‘ . --. .' '. ‘.'. L - . . 1,..4 . .l ' m". .I. . '. 'l "l ,. 4» " ~ 1.! .. 'J . h ' .4 . -‘1 . _ . . , “' l. . ' rt. 1‘. :; ' ~‘ ._,-_ .u.)..¢ ‘. . _ .. JUL ‘~ 'h-C. 1| -, f x v' ‘ ‘ .'... - 9.” ....._ up" 9.3. .- :‘Ju‘i: I ....-. .‘ ' I‘- ’ .ll — '. ' . C m .- . . ) x . ‘r L .I. ' .. .I r- '6 l ‘ I- I _ “ «- u'l - '. * -3- 21. I watch TV because you can learn from the mistakes of others. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 22. I watch TV because it relaxes me. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 23. I watch TV because when I'm alone it helps me forget that I'm alone. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 24. I watch TV because it's entertainment I don't have to leave home for. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 25. I watch TV because it lets me forget my problem. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me . 1 - v j o. ‘. ' t- . ‘ t . ; ,. _|' . . v , ~ 3A.. . " " . < 'u I. t >‘ .- . .. . . i u ' ' .-l_-., - .L' ‘x, .... . . . ' *- v \. l' ‘ ‘ l l . I ',-‘ r .4‘ n J h l . .' I . . ‘ a r ‘- 9" ~11 . ’. .. - .. v ‘I > I ' l'. ‘ .. .. .I. . '~ I ' " I ' . . ‘ II- , . . . J' A‘ I ' “ ‘ _.. _. . .. .I‘. . .. . .. l . a -. A .y... . 9 n I . i. . .‘ .- .. . o'l - ." C I ‘ ‘ -.....-- I ' I . :-- x -9- 26. I watch TV because it's a habit. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like you a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 27. I watch TV because it brings my family together. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me l 28: I watch TV because I need to know what's on TV in order to talk to my friends. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 29. I watch TV because I like to forget everything and live in a different world. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 30. I watch TV because it calms me down when I'm angry. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me L- .‘ -10- 31. I watch TV because I want to know what's going on in the world. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 32. I watch TV because the programs give lessons for life. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) __a lot like me __a little like me This is: __pot much like me __pot at all like me 33. I watch TV when I'm bored. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me 34. I watch TV because it keeps me out of trouble. How much is this like you? (CHECK ONE ONLY) a lot like me a little like me This is: not much like me not at all like me . I U C — I l ._ .. ., O U . - u . _ . . c a .4 I 14 . vI " u .I. . . I . . . - fl . u ‘1 |. up .. J . r . _. c u I) 'n i. .1 .0}. .. I ~ .‘ w u. .~ J 1. n . v . .v-. . .I. 1‘1 o . a . M O _. n In A .. I tr . . . ‘ . . . .u -1! .2 . . i. a: .1 i - .. t 3. LI ._ I .l .. (o I D . .11. NEXT, WE'D LIKE TO ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT NEWSPAPERS, RADIOS, AND MOVIES..... 1. On Sunday, how many hours did you listen to the radio? (CHECK ONE ONLY) more than H hours H hours 3 hours 2 hours 1 hour or less I didn't listen In the last week, how many magazines have you read or looked at? (CHECK ONE ONLY) more than 3 IJMU none In the last month, how many times did you go see a movie? (CHECK ONE ONLY) more than 3 |FJNJQJ not at all About how often do you read a newspaper? (CHECK ONE ONLY) not at all less than once a week once a week 2 times a week I l I 3 times a week 4 times a week 5 times a week 6 times a week Everyday On Sunday, how many hours did you listen to a record player? (CHECK ONE ONLY) more than 3 hours 3 hours 2 hours 1 hour or less not at all i l . 1.4. -. .- a.. .. u -Dl—-" u-.. u -. a .-.. . -- ..—.g -. . -.. l. u. .- r...- ‘1- -12- NOW WE WANT YOU TO READ SOME THINGS THAT OTHER TEEN-AGERS HAVE SAID ABOUT TELEVISION. WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH WHAT THEY SAY. HERE IS THE FIRST ONE: 1. "The programs that I see on TV tell about life the way it really is." What do you think about that? (CHECK ONE) I agree I'm not sure I disagree 2. "The people I see in TV programs are just like people I meet in' real life." What do you think about that? (CHECK ONE) I agree I'm not sure I disagree 3. "The same things that happen to people on TV often happen to me in real life." What do you think about that? I agree I'm not sure I disagree .\ . O o .I . ,- . , . . . . _ . . . k t » . _ . . . . . o . A . , o .. . y . r . l .. L. . . -1. . v. . . O. y .c E v . . ex . .. I .- L C. .y. t . a . n - . f n. .. 70. . , . . . . .i .. .I. . .u. L1. . l - . . .\ . 1. . . . . . . 7. n . . I . It .I. C .. -13- NOW HERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT TELEVISION AND YOUR FAMILY... 1. Who in your family has the most say-so about what programs you get to watch on TV? (CHECK ONE) My mother :My father Myself -——Ny brothers or sisters -——Eome other person in my family 2. Are there rules in your house about how late you can stay up watching television? Yes No v 3 Does anyone in your home ever tell you there are some kinds of TV shows that they wish you wouldn't watch? Yes No u. Are you ever punished for something by not being allowed to watch TV? Yes No ”~— - .o-.. . -.... . -14- NEXT WE'D LIKE TO ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT WATCHING TELEVISION... In your spare time--—when you don't have anything special to do-- 1. Do you usually: watch TV or __read a book? 2. Do you usually: listen to the radio or watch TV? 3. Do you usually: do your homework or watch TV? u. Do you usually: watch TV or go out with your friends? -5. h... 0 I‘-.. HERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT TELEVISION, RADIO, AND NEWSPAPERS... -15- Suppose you got different stories about the same thing from radio, television, and the newspaper. Which one would you believe? (CHECK ONE ONLY) . I'd believe: the radio the newspaper the television Let's say you could keep only one of these things: radio, television, newspapers. Which one of them would you keep? (CHECK ONE ONLY) radio television newspaper INK) do you think does his job the best? (CHECK ONE ONLY) the reporter for the newspaper the news announcer on television the news announcer on radio _ w. ‘J .‘ ' I v i ,, .- , I . "‘ \A n ‘ ) . \ . I v‘ V . ". . o I v ‘ K —. - “’3... -—.a - o-.. n . -w...” . no. .1 -15- HERE ARE SOME WAYS THAT OTHER TEEN-AGERS- SAY THEY WATCH TELEVISION. WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW YOU WATCH TELEVISION. HERE IS THE FIRST STATEMENT: 1. "I usually turn on the TV set whenever I feel like it and change channels until I see something I like.V Is this the way You watch TV? (CHECK ONE ONLY) ___always what I do ___psually what I do This is: sometimes what I do :never what I do 2. "I usually watch programs that are recommended to me by my friends or by grownups in my family." Is this the way you watch TV? (CHECK ONE ONLY) .___always what I do usually what I do This is: ——_sometimes what I do ___never what I do 3. "I usually just turn on the TV set and watch whatever is on." Is this the way you watch TV? (CHECK ONE ONLY) ___always what I do usually what I do This is: _——sometimes what I do ___pever what I do u. "I usually read TV Guide or the TV listings in the newspaper and see if there'ssome program I want to watch." Is this the way you watch TV? (CHECK ONE ONLY) _always what I do ___psually what I do This is: sometimes what I do :never what I do 5. "I usually watch whatever programs other people in my home are watching or want to watch." Is this the way you watch TV? (CHECK ONE ONLY) always what I do usually what I do This is: sometimes what I do never what I do V". I .at' o . ... ..., .I.. .. _.. III . . . u . I . . . I . . . e . u fl . a . ,. . . I . _ _ . ..w u . i ._ .._.. . . _ L . “ .. . -.. v . . u n I. u . O I. .I. . q. . \ .-. . .... . \ ... q . 7. . u ... . .. . . . _ . . (I. .r r\ 1 .. . . .1. . . . .2 I) "I. . V. L ... .l p . .A .. . t . I: v; .I. A u I o o. . ,I.., I» L. . . «L L. .I. -0 r. “h .\J. II. I J H1 .... . I .x . ... .. .. ...J . L . . 3.; I-” . N NL o. .. . .I.... "ls. - o. ‘ I . . . . . . r. v/ .I.. a I... . . I v to . . .\ I v u . . In! .xd. I. y n. .H r! _... v. T . . .) I x .U ... 7.; ...d FF. 3 \ . f. .. a up. *0. ... ... .D n 4. . r~o . ..r. .. -. v.. . n (“I .l . .. y I . . . ... . . ... .1 . . —. . . v . e . ~ .. guy. I u o . I. V . . . 3 . ... JO . . .. .\r I f ..I: \r . a. . .1. . . {w . . ‘ \II. ”I. ) ‘I/ .n. A V.-Q I A . , at... x . . . .. . ... .. . I. . . I. I- r . ..-. I. . \J n. a. . ..k . . . .. L . p . .. . . V a e I . c. . r \ I O I . l. I. x I. ‘4 --o.~. ... o—.... .-... ‘9'. .- -‘o.--~p<' .....- -_.—. . . ‘ I -17- FINALLY HERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT YOU... 1. 2. 5.0 6. How often do you go to church or synagogue? ___every week ___3 to 3 times a month ___pnce a.month I___less than once a month never DO YOU think you will graduate from high school? “no maybe yes Do YO“ think 'you will ~go--to*college? no maybe _yes Compared to the rest of the kids you know, do you think you worry more about school work, less, or about the same? I think I... worry more about school work than the other kids I know worry about the same amount worry less In most things you try to do, do you usually expect to come out as a winner or a loser? I expect to come out... a winner “.I'm'not sure “ a loser Please tell us whether you're a girl 7. 8. 9. 10. ll. 12. 13. -18- How many clubs or groups (like band, choir, neighborhood clubs, and so on) do you belong to? CIRCLE THE NUMBER OF CLUBS YOU BELONG TO 0 l 2 3 4 5 6 7 or more DO you have a best friend?-' no :yes Compared to the rest of the kids you know, would you say you have more friends, less, or about the same number? I think I have... fewer friends than the other kids I know about the same number of friends more friends Would you say your family generally knows where you are when you're not home? __always sometimes never When you are going out, does your family generally ask you where you are going? ' always sometimes never Does your family keep tabs on whether you've got your homework done? always sometimes never When you have money to Spend does your family keep track of how you spend it? always sometimes never l“. 15. 16. 17. -19- Do you have any brothers or sisters? No Yes Are you the oldest child in the family, youngest, or in the middle? I'm the oldest I'm in the middle I’m the youngest What kind of job does the adult in your family have who earns the most money? What does he or she exactly do? On an average day, how much time do the adults in.your family spend watching television? 6 hours or more 5 to 6 hours 3 to u hours 1 to 2 hours less than an-hour I When you have a problem, how easy is it for you to talk with some grownups in your family about it? very difficult somewhat difficult somewhat easy very easy .Ia ...... 0‘ '3‘? HERE IS THE LAST QUESTION WE'D LIKE TO ASK YOU... 1. If you were the person in charge of all television in the United States, what changes would you make? (WRITE YOUR ANSWER BELOW) APPENDIX B COMPARISON OF LOWER-CLASS AND MIDDLE-CLASS RESULTS IF‘* 70 Comparison of Lower~Class and Middle-Class Results Reality Index Mean Standard Dev. N Television Viewing Mean hrs. Standard Dev. N Control Systems "Who has the most say-so about TV programs..." Mother Father Myself Bros. 8 sis. Other person NA "Are there rules. . . about how late you can stay up watching television?" (% yes) Lower-Class Negroes 6.08 1.80 8H Lower—Class Negroes 6.26 n.57 84 Lower-Class Negroes (N=84) 26% Lower-Class Whites 5.08 1.81 12% Lower-Class Whites 4.58 3.87 12% Lower—Class Whites (N=12u) 19% 23 35 17 46% Middle-Class Whites u.u7 1.70 98 Middle-Class Whites 3.67 3.10 98 Middle-Class Whites (N=98) 1H% 20 “0 19 u7% Control Systems "Are you ever punished for something by not being allowed to watch TV?" (% yes) Leisure-Time Activities Do you usually watch TV or --read a book --do homework --go out with friends (% choosing TV) 71 Lower-Class Negroes 20% Lower-Class Negroes (stu) Lower-Class Whites 12% Lower-Class Whites (N=l2u) Middle-Class Whites Middle-Class Whites (N=98) APPENDIX C DEMOGRAPHIC DATA 73 Occupational Prestige LOW Income Low-Income Middle-Income Negro (%) White (%) White (%) 12 high prestige O 0 0 11 1 0 2 10 0 O 3 9 3 3 15 8 l 3 16 7 u.5 3 16 6 9 u 1n 5 13.5 22 1n n 25.5 33 in 3 18 18 5 2 12 10 l 1 7.5 1 0 0 low prestige O O 0 Mean 4.18 ”.07 6.5“ §e§_ Male u9% WB% 52% Female 51 52 #8 7” APPENDIX D INTERJUDGE CODING RELIABILITIES To measure agreement between coders, a 25% random subsample was drawn from both samples. Eight different coders completed the first coding. Two different coders independently receded the reliability check subsamples. Interjudge reliabilities were computed from the following index: # of times 2 coders agreed Percentage Agreement Index = Reliability sub sample size In most cases, the criteria for agreement was a "point agreement" or agreement on the actual code. The criteria was relaxed, however, where a great deal of judgment was involved. The criteria for "amount of TV viewing" was agreement within one-half hour of viewing time. The agreement criteria for occupational prestige was agreement within 1 point on the occupational prestige scale. Interjudge Coding Reliabilities Variable Low-Income Low-Income Negro Sample White Sample Reality perception 100% 97% Leisure time activity Watch TV vs. read a book 100% 100% Watch TV vs. do homework 100% 97% Watch TV vs. go out with friends 95% 100% Control Systems Program determination 100% 100% Rules about staying up 100% 100% Punishment with TV 100% 100% Television viewing 91% 9M% Occupational prestige 95% 9u%