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Correlates of children's responses to an affective television and print package designed to reduce sex-role stereotyping

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Correlates of children's responses to an affective television and print package designed to reduce sex-role stereotyping

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Content C o r r e l a t e s o f C h i l d r e n ’ s R e sp o n se s t o an
A f f e c t i v e T e l e v i s i o n and P r i n t Package Designed
to Reduce S e x - r o l e S t e r e o t y p i n g
by
Harvey A l b e r t Eastm an
A D i s s e r t a t i o n P r e s e n t e d t o t h e
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In P a r t i a l F u l f i l l m e n t o f th e
R equirem ents f o r t h e D egree o f
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(Communication Theory and R esearch )
June 1979
UMI Number: DP22339
All rights reserved
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U N IV E R SITY O F S O U T H E R N C A L IF O R N IA
TH E GRADUATE SC H O O L
U N IV ER SITY PA R K
LO S A N G ELES, C A L IF O R N IA 9 0 0 0 7
This dissertation, written by
Harvey Albert Eastman
under the direction of h.L § . . . Dissertation C o m
mittee, and a p p ro v e d by all its m em bers, has
been presented to and accepted by T h e G raduate
School, in partial fulfillment of requirements of
the degree of
D O C T O R O F P H I L O S O P H Y
Dean
D a t e ^ . O ^ . J . , 1 1 1 1 ........
-P h .l).
C m
/
E I 3
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To t h e c h i l d r e n and t e a c h e r s who s t o o d s t i l l long enough to
e n d u r e th e q u e s t i o n n a i r e lo ad im posed by t h e r e s e a r c h ,
To my c o l l e a g u e s , b o th s t u d e n t and p r o f e s s o r , who have
s t i m u l a t e d me to c o n tin u e in my p ro g ra m ,
To Monty f i r s t , and th e n F re d , f o r o c c a s i o n a l l y h o ld in g my
h a n d , b u t more o f te n p r o v id i n g me w i t h t h e KITA I l a c k ,
To C la u d ia f o r b ein g a so u n d in g b o a r d ,
To D ianne and P ro v id en c e f o r a l l o w i n g t h e o r a l exam to
p r o c e e d a lm o st as s c h e d u le d ,
To my com m ittee f o r a c c e p t i n g me a s a c o l l e a g u e ,
To Ed Lieb f o r b e in g t h e r e ,
To my p a r e n t s who have always w a n te d me t o be whoever I
w a n te d t o b e , so long as I e n jo y e d i t ,
To D iane who has s p e n t t h e b e t t e r p a r t o f our m arria g e
" p u t t i n g hubby t h r o u g h ," h as m a i n t a i n e d h e r s a n i t y ,
e q u a n i m i t y , and even p u rsu e d a f u l f i l l i n g c a r e e r ,
Thank You!
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................................ • ...................................i i
LIST OF TABLES.....................................................................................................iv
C h a p te r
I Problem ............................................................................................. 1
I n t r o d u c t i o n ......................................................................1
Research Q u e s t i o n s .....................................................3
Background...........................................................................5
Developing t h e V a r i a b l e s o f I n t e r e s t . . 15
Developing Models i n F o r m a tiv e Research 19
I I Program M a t e r i a l s and D a t a ......................................... 22
D e s c r ip tio n o f P i l o t P ro g ram s ..................... 22
D e s c r i p t i o n o f N o n - B r o a d c a s t M a t e r i a l s . 26
N a tio n a l S i t e s E v a l u a t i o n ................................ 27
I I I A n a ly s is and R e s u l t s ..........................................................55
Demographic V a r i a b l e s ........................................... 56
A t t i t u d e V a r i a b l e s ....................................................61
Teacher V a r i a b l e s ....................................................... 66
IV D i s c u s s i o n .....................................................................................75
Summary o f t h e S t u d y ..............................................75
P r a c t i c a l Use o f t h e R e s u l t s ........................78
T h e o r e t i c a l C o n t r i b u t i o n s ................................ 81
S u g g e s tio n s f o r F u t u r e R e s e a rc h . . . . 84
REFERENCES................................................................................................................86
iii
LIST OF TABLES
T a b le Page
1 F r e e s t y l e C u rric u lu m O b j e c t i v e s ................................ , 16
2 Segment Names and R e la te d O b j e c t i v e s . . . . . 23
3
S u b j e c t s by T r e a tm e n t, G r a d e , and Sex
by S c h o o l............................................................................................ . 31
4 Order o f P r e s e n t a t i o n o f P i l o t by S i t e . . . . 34
5 I n s t r u m e n t s ....................................................................................... . 36
6 P r e t e s t S cale I t e m s .................................................................. , 40
7
R e l i a b i l i t y (Alpha) C o e f f i c i e n t s f o r P r e t e s t . 42
8 C o r r e l a t i o n s of C h ild D em ographic
w ith Child P r e t e s t S c a l e s ................................................. . 43
9
T y p ic a l Schedule o f F r e e s t y l e A c t i v i t i e s . . . 46
1 0 V a r i a b l e S e t s ..................................................................................
1 1
2
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change
o f R eg ressio n o f Demographic V a r i a b l e s
on L ik in g o f T hree P i l o t s ................................................. . 57
1 2
2
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change
o f R eg ressio n o f D em ographic V a r i a b l e s
on F a c tu a l Comprehension o f T hree P i l o t s . .
00
L T i
•
13
2
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change
o f R eg ressio n of Demographic V a r i a b l e s
on O b je c tiv e Com prehension o f T h ree P i l o t s . . 59
1 4 Means and S ta n d a rd D e v i a t i o n s o f Dependent
V a r i a b l e s by Sex o f C h i l d ................................................. 60
1 5
2
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change
o f R eg ressio n o f A t t i t u d e V a r i a b l e s on
L ik in g of Three P i l o t s ....................................................... . 62
16
2
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change
o f R eg ressio n o f A t t i t u d e V a r i a b l e s on
F a c t u a l Comprehension o f T h r e e P i l o t s . . . . . 63
17
2
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change
o f R eg ressio n o f A t t i t u d e V a r i a b l e s on
O b j e c t i v e Comprehension o f T h re e P i l o t s . . . . 64
iv
T a b le Page
18 Means and S tan d ard D e v i a t i o n s o f
In d ep en d en t V a r i a b l e s by Sex o f C h i l d ................... 65
2
19 Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change
o f R eg ressio n o f T e a c h e r V a r i a b l e s on
L ik in g o f Three P i l o t s ............................................................ 67
2
20 Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change
o f R eg ressio n o f T e ach er V a r i a b l e s on
F a c t u a l Comprehension o f T h re e P i l o t s ...................69
2
21 Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change
o f R eg ressio n o f T e ach er V a r i a b l e s on
O b je c tiv e Comprehension o f T h ree P i l o t s . . . . 71
22 Means and S ta n d a rd D e v i a t i o n s o f Teacher
In d ep en d en t V a r i a b l e s .....................................................................73
C h a p te r I
PROBLEM
I n t r o d u c t i o n
T h is r e s e a r c h was d e s ig n e d t o exam ine s o u rc e s o f
v a r i a n c e in l i k i n g and c o m p re h e n sio n o f ETV m a t e r i a l s . A
se c o n d i n t e r e s t was t o d e t e r m in e t h e e f f i c a c y o f ex ten d ed
m u l t i v a r i a t e models in p r e d i c t i n g t h e outcom es of an
a f f e c t i v e - g o a l p r o j e c t . T y p i c a l p r e d i c t i v e models u t i l i z e
d e m o g ra p h ic , o c c a s i o n a l l y c l a s s r o o m v a r i a b l e s . There i s
e v i d e n c e , however, t h a t when t h e g o a l s a r e a f f e c t i v e , and
e s p e c i a l l y in th e p r e s e n t c a s e , w here sex r o l e s were
i n v o l v e d , t h a t a d d i t i o n a l s o u r c e s o f v a r i a n c e may be
p r e s e n t . The c u r r e n t r e s e a r c h i n c o r p o r a t e d t r a d i t i o n a l
m e a s u re s o f sex and g r a d e , p l u s m e a s u re s o f c h i l d s e x - ty p e d
a c t i v i t i e s and a t t i t u d e s , a g re e m e n t w i t h p r o j e c t o b j e c
t i v e s , and te a c h e r r a t i n g s o f m a t e r i a l s and agreement w ith
o b j e c t i v e s t o d e te rm in e what a d d i t i o n a l v a r i a n c e , i f any,
c o u ld be accounted f o r in c h i l d r e n ’ s l i k i n g and compre
h e n s i o n o f a t e l e v i s i o n and p r i n t p a c k a g e d esig n e d to
r e d u c e s e x - r o l e s t e r e o t y p i n g as i t a f f e c t s c h i l d r e n ’ s
f u t u r e c h o ic e s of c a r e e r s .
The models f o r t h i s r e s e a r c h w ere d ev elo p ed th ro u g h
l i n e a r m u l t i p l e r e g r e s s i o n o f d a t a g a t h e r e d from 1636
.1
c h i l d r e n and 60 t e a c h e r s as p a r t o f a n a t i o n a l p i l o t
e v a l u a t i o n o f P r o j e c t F r e e s t y l e . P roduced by P u b lic
B r o a d c a s t i n g S t a t i o n KCET in Los A n g eles in c o n ju n c tio n
w i t h o t h e r co nsortium members, F r e e s t y l e was d esig n e d to
" e n c o u r a g e every p e rso n t o l i v e up t o h i s o r her p o t e n t i a l
w i t h o u t b e in g r e s t r i c t e d by s e x - r o l e s t e r e o t y p i n g ” (TV CAP
C u rric u lu m S tatem ent 1977, p. 2 . ) . The p r i n t and t e l e
v i s i o n package was in t e n d e d f o r b o t h c la s s r o o m and home
v i e w i n g . T e le v is i o n m a t e r i a l s were t h r e e h a l f - h o u r p i l o t
p ro g ram s shown in f i f t e e n - m i n u t e seg m e n ts in c l a s s and
i n t a c t f o r home v ie w in g . The t h r e e p i l o t s d i f f e r e d in th e
ways in which th e p r o j e c t o b j e c t i v e s were t r a n s l a t e d i n t o
s e g m e n ts , which v a r i e d from a Sesame S t r e e t magazine fo rm at
t o l o n g e r d ra m a tic se g m e n ts. C la ssro o m u se was s u p p l e
m ented by a School Guide which c o n t a i n e d a c t i v i t y m a t e r i a l s
f o r u s e by t e a c h e r s and home v ie w in g a c t i v i t i e s were
s u g g e s t e d by a Home G uide. A Comic Book produced in two
a r t s t y l e s was a l s o u t i l i z e d . C l a s s e s were d iv id e d i n t o
two t r e a t m e n t c o n d i t i o n s : f u l l t r e a t m e n t groups r e c e i v e d
b r o a d c a s t and n o n b r o a d c a s t m a t e r i a l s w h i l e p a r t i a l
t r e a t m e n t groups o n ly viewed t h e t e l e v i s i o n shows. The
f i n a l s e r i e s , aimed a t f o u r t h t h r o u g h s i x t h grade boys and
g i r l s c o n s i s t e d o f t h i r t e e n h a l f - h o u r program s shown in
f i f t e e n m inute segm ents f o r c l a s s r o o m u s e , and i n t a c t f o r
home v ie w in g . The f i n a l form o f t h e s e r i e s , h a l f - h o u r
2
d r a m a tic se g m e n ts, was d e te rm in e d as p a r t o f th e n a t i o n a l
s i t e p i l o t e v a l u a t i o n d e s c r i b e d h e r e i n .
R e s e a r c h Q u e s tio n s
Given t h e d a t a d e s c r i b e d b r i e f l y above, t h e f o l l o w i n g
r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n was a d d r e s s e d :
To what d e g r e e , and w ith what g e n e r a l i t y
a c r o s s s t i m u l u s m a t e r i a l s , a r e e v a l u a t i o n
and c o m p re h e n sio n o f a f f e c t i v e - g o a l ETV
m a t e r i a l s p r e d i c t e d by:
a. C h ild d e m o g ra p h ic v a r i a b l e s ?
b . Child p s y c h o l o g i c a l v a r i a b l e s ?
c. Teacher v a r i a b l e s ?
Given t h a t a r e l i a b l e p r e d i c t i v e model c o u ld be
c o n s t r u c t e d , two a d d i t i o n a l q u e s t i o n s were t o be a d d r e s s e d :
a . Of what p r a c t i c a l use i s t h i s
a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n in p ro d u c in g
a f f e c t i v e e d u c a t i o n a l m a t e r i a l s ?
b . What do su ch models c o n t r i b u t e t o
t h e o r y in t h e a r e a o f com m unication
e f f e c t s ?
The F r e e s t y l e m a t e r i a l s e x i s t e d in a narrow w orld
somewhere betw een p u re pedagogy and pure e n t e r t a i n m e n t .
3j
A lthough t h e m a t e r i a l s were d e s ig n e d t o change a t t i t u d e s ,
or a t l e a s t to t e a c h c h i l d r e n t h a t t h e r e a r e a l t e r n a t i v e s
t o t h e t r a d i t i o n a l sex r o l e s g e n e r a l l y r e i n f o r c e d in
s o c i e t y , th e y a l s o n e e d e d t o be be a t t r a c t i v e enough t o be
a t t e n d e d t o , and to com pete w i t h , netw ork t e l e v i s i o n
o f f e r i n g s , s i n c e t h e p a c k a g e was a l s o d e s ig n e d t o be shown
f o r p a r e n t and c h i l d home v ie w in g . T h e re f o re r e s e a r c h
lo o k ed a t what would make t h e p ackage 'w o r k , ' b o th in te r m s
o f a t t r a c t i n g c h i l d r e n t o w atch , and in te rm s o f a c h i e v i n g
t h e c u r r ic u lu m o b j e c t i v e s .
4
Background
Recent t h e o r i s t s in b o th e d u c a t i o n and com m unication
have p o in te d o u t t h e complex n a t u r e o f th e view in g
en v iro n m e n t f o r e d u c a t i o n a l media and have urged
r e s e a r c h e r s t o c o n d u c t e x p l o r a t i o n s to d e te r m in e th e
im p o rta n c e o f t h e v a r i o u s com ponents (K eeves, 1972; S t e r n
& K e i s l e r , 1977; W i t h a l l , 1969). Some c o g n i t i v e g o al
p r o j e c t s have examined some o f t h i s c o m p le x ity , n o t a b l y
Sesame S t r e e t ( P a lm e r , 1 9 7 4 ).
Sesame S t r e e t was in t e n d e d p r i m a r i l y f o r home v i e w i n g ,
so d a t a on many home v a r i a b l e s were g a th e r e d f o r a n a l y s i s ,
such as home c o n d i t i o n s and p a r e n t a l e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r t h e i r
c h i l d r e n . S u b j e c t s w ere t h r e e - to f i v e - y e a r - o l d c h i l d r e n
in m iddle and low er c l a s s urban and r u r a l f a m i l i e s , a t home
and in day c a r e c e n t e r s , p l u s a s p e c i a l S p a n i s h - s p e a k i n g
g ro u p . R e s u l t s were fe d back i n t o p r o d u c tio n a f t e r e ach
i t e r a t i o n o f m a t e r i a l s , a ll o w i n g t h e p r o d u c e rs t o a c h i e v e
a b e t t e r a p p r o x im a tio n o f t h e p r o j e c t g o a l s . R e s u l t s o f
t h e Sesame S t r e e t a n a l y s e s i n d i c a t e d t h a t view in g f r e q u e n c y
was a s s o c i a t e d w ith h i g h e r v iew er g a i n s , th o u g h o t h e r
v a r i a b l e s such as c h i l d p r e t e s t s c o r e , and e d u c a t i o n and
income l e v e l s o f p a r e n t s a l s o c o n t r i b u t e d t o th e s i g n i f
i c a n t r e s u l t s . Even w i t h such w id e ly p u b l i c i z e d
e x p e r i e n c e s , how ever, many a f f e c t i v e g o al p r o j e c t s c o n t i n u e
5
t o be e v a l u a t e d o n ly in te rm s o f t h e numbers o f c h i l d r e n
who a c c e p t or a g r e e w i t h t h e p r o j e c t g o a l s .
For exam ple, in a p r o j e c t c a l l e d V e g e ta b le Soup (M ays,
H enderson, S eid m an , & S t e i n e r , 1975), d e s ig n e d to a t t a c k
r a c i a l i s o l a t i o n and a c h i e v e r a c i a l a c c e p t a n c e , a p o s t t e s t
o n l y , c o n t r o l group d e s i g n was u s e d . Four hundred 6- t o
1 0 - y e a r - o l d c h i l d r e n o f f i v e r a c i a l gro u p s p a r t i c i p a t e d .
S i x t e e n h a l f hour p ro g ra m s were viewed over a p e r i o d o f
e i g h t weeks. "R e a l t i m e , " i n c l u d i n g v e r b a tim , r e s p o n s e s
were re c o rd e d by t h e e x p e r i m e n t e r s d u r in g program v i e w i n g .
F o llo w in g v ie w in g o f a l l shows, each c h i l d was i n d i v i d u a l l y
t e s t e d in a 2 0 -m in u te i n t e r v i e w . The i n t e r v i e w i n s t r u m e n t
used p i c t u r e and s c e n a r i o t e c h n i q u e s to e l i c i t r e s p o n s e s
from th e c h i l d r e n .
In r e p o r t i n g t h e r e s u l t s , t h e r e s e a r c h e r s compared
e x p e r i m e n t a l and c o n t r o l g r o u p s , f i n d i n g s i g n i f i c a n t
d i f f e r e n c e s ; in a l l c a s e s , c h i l d r e n who had seen t h e shows
had more p o s i t i v e a t t i t u d e s . A lthough th e r e s e a r c h e r ' s
d a t a i n d i c a t e d s u c c e s s in a c h i e v i n g t h e p r o j e c t g o a l s , many
more q u e s t i o n s were l e f t u n a n sw e re d , such as p a r t i c u l a r
p e r s u a s i v e a p p e a l s , o r p r o d u c t i o n t e c h n i q u e s which were
more or l e s s s u c c e s s f u l in c o n v e y in g th e g o a l s . The
r e s e a r c h e r s r e p o r t e d "some o f t h e m easu res show g r e a t e r
g a i n s f o r some c h i l d r e n " (Mays e t a l , 1975, p. 3 ) , b u t d id
n o t r e p o r t any a t t e m p t t o d e te r m in e why t h i s d i f f e r e n t i a l
6
e f f e c t o b t a i n e d . A m ajo r p a r t o f t h e c u r r e n t r e s e a r c h was
j c o n c e n t r a t e d on d e t e r m in i n g w h e th e r a u d i e n c e s could be th u s
d i f f e r e n t i a t e d .
In t h e i r c o n c l u s i o n s t h e r e s e a r c h e r s noted t h a t i f
such f i n d i n g s could be o b t a i n e d w i t h no i n p u t from th e
t e a c h e r s , how a much more p o s i t i v e e f f e c t would be e x p e c te d
w i t h a d e q u a te t e a c h e r t r a i n i n g . L i t e r a t u r e reviewed below
i n d i c a t e s t h a t sim p le t r a i n i n g may n o t be as im p o rta n t as
knowing t h e a t t i t u d e t h e t e a c h e r h a s to w ard th e a r e a b e in g
t a u g h t . Although t h e V e g e t a b l e Soup r e s e a r c h e r s ’ p r e s e n c e
d u r i n g classro o m showing may h a v e i n h i b i t e d te a c h e r
r e s p o n s e , th e p r e s e n c e o f t h e t e a c h e r w i t h o u t r e s e a r c h e r
.fo r t h e rem ainder o f c l a s s t i m e , and some s a l i e n t a t t i t u d e s
to w a rd t h e m a t e r i a l s , c o u ld p o t e n t i a l l y have a f f e c t e d th e
o u t c om e s .
A f f e c t i v e v e rsu s p e r s u a s i v e program m ing
P erh ap s a f u r t h e r d i s t i n c t i o n s h o u ld t o be made
r e g a r d i n g programming which t e a c h e s a v a l u e v e rsu s one
w hich a t t e m p t s to change e x i s t i n g b e h a v i o r r e g a r d i n g a
v a l u e . The f i r s t o f t h e s e c o u l d be c a l l e d ’’a f f e c t i v e
e d u c a t i o n . " The second i s l e s s c l e a r . And y e t when t h e
a r e a o f i n t e r e s t i s sex r o l e s , one i s u n l i k e l y to f in d a
f o u r t h , f i f t h or s i x t h - g r a d e c h i l d who i s a blank s l a t e .
McGuire (1973) o f f e r s two u s e f u l ways o f d i s t i n g u i s h i n g th e
7
tw o. One view i s t h a t e d u c a t i o n i s aimed a t chan g in g
b e l i e f s , w h ile p e r s u a s i o n goes f u r t h e r to i n f l u e n c e
f e e l i n g s and l i k e l y a c t i o n . The second view r e l a t e s t o t h e
m o tiv e s o f th e s o u r c e . S i t u a t i o n s where t h e s o u rc e i s
e s s e n t i a l l y d i s i n t e r e s t e d McGuire c a l l s e d u c a t i o n , w h i l e he
r e s e r v e s p e r s u a s i o n f o r s i t u a t i o n s where t h e s o u rc e i s
p r e j u d i c e d . The f u n d in g agency f o r F r e e s t y l e to o k a
p o s i t i o n t h a t sex s t e r e o t y p i n g was b ad, and t h a t s o c i e t y
would g ain by i t s e l i m i n a t i o n . D efined t h u s l y , one m ust
adm it t h a t F r e e s t y l e r e a l l y was p e r s u a s i o n , and so m ust
t h e n examine t h e c l a s s r o o m as a p e r s u a s i v e e n v ir o n m e n t,
r a t h e r th a n as a n e u t r a l s e t t i n g f o r new c u r r i c u l a .
P e r s u a s i o n in t h e c l a s s r o o n : A pplying a c o n s i s t e n c y m odel
t o a f f e c t i v e program m ing
The c la s sro o m e n v ir o n m e n t in which an a f f e c t i v e
program i s a i r e d c o n t a i n s two p o p u l a t i o n s , c h i l d r e n and
t e a c h e r s . I t i s l i k e l y t h a t b o th come to t h e c la s s r o o m
w ith some l e v e l o f i n t e r e s t , know ledge, or f e e l i n g s a b o u t
an a r e a such as sex r o l e s f o r boys and g i r l s . These l e v e l s
o f i n t e r e s t o r know ledge i n t e r a c t in complex ways w ith t h e
a f f e c t i v e m a t e r i a l s w hich a d v o c a te a c e r t a i n p o s i t i o n w i t h
r e g a r d to some i s s u e . At l e a s t one way o f c h a r a c t e r i z i n g
t h i s i n t e r a c t i o n i s c o g n i t i v e c o n s i s t e n c y , a f t e r F e s t i n g e r
(1 9 5 7 ). T his c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n s u g g e s t s t h a t p e o p le
8
a t t e m p t t o m a i n t a i n a s t a t e o f b a l a n c e among t h e i r
c o g n i t i o n s . When a p e r s o n who h o l d s a p a r t i c u l a r o p i n i o n
comes i n t o c o n t a c t w i t h a p ie c e o f in f o r m a tio n which t e n d s
t o r e f u t e t h a t o p i n i o n , a s t a t e o f im b alan ce, c a l l e d
d i s s o n a n c e i s a r o u s e d . The p e rso n may choose from among
s e v e r a l a l t e r n a t i v e r o u t e s to r e s o l v e th e im b a la n c e . He
may sim ply i g n o r e t h e m e ss a g e , may d i s m i s s t h e s o u r c e , or
may change th e s e t o f c o g n i t i o n s r e l a t i v e t o t h e o p i n i o n ,
and in doing so , change t h e o p i n i o n . He may a l s o se e k o u t
a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n t o s u b s t a n t i a t e th e new i n f o r m a t i o n
and s u b s e q u e n t l y change t h e o r i g i n a l o p in io n o r d i s m i s s t h e
new i n f o r m a t i o n as a b e r r a n t . With F r e e s t y l e as an e x a m p le ,
one m ight p r e d i c t t h e p o s s i b l e r e s u l t s when a p a r t i c u l a r
c h i l d , s o c i a l i z e d in a t r a d i t i o n a l sex r o l e m anner, came in
c o n t a c t w ith t h e F r e e s t y l e m a t e r i a l s , which e sp o u se d a
d e c i d e d l y n o n t r a d i t i o n a l view t h a t boys and g i r l s s h o u ld
n o t be l i m i t e d by sex s t e r e o t y p i n g . Since t h e m a t e r i a l s
were shown in c l a s s , t h e y m ust be assumed to have f a i r l y
h ig h c r e d i b i l i t y . The c h i l d m ig h t be somewhat c o n fu se d
s i n c e he o r she had b e e n t a u g h t t h e world o p e r a t e d in a
c e r t a i n way, and t h e m a t e r i a l s s a i d t h a t i t sh o u ld n o t be
t h a t way. The r e s u l t s o f t h i s quandry co u ld be t h a t t h e
c h i l d changed h i s or h e r mind tow ard th e m a t e r i a l , and t h e
aim o f t h e p r o j e c t was a c c o m p lis h e d . An a l t e r n a t i v e i s
t h a t th e c h i l d d i s c o u n t e d t h e m essage and d id n o t c h a n g e .
,9j
In a d d i t i o n t o t h e c h i l d r e n , t e a c h e r s were a l s o
p r e s e n t in t h e c l a s s d u r i n g F r e e s t y l e a c t i v i t i e s . E l e
m e n ta ry t e a c h e r s a s a g ro u p a r e t y p i c a l l y f e m a le , and c o u ld
be ex p e c te d t o have p e r s o n a l sex r o l e s and t o e x p e c t t h e i r
s t u d e n t s t o have c e r t a i n sex r o l e s as w e l l . They a l s o
m ig h t have a g re e d w i t h , o r d i f f e r e d from t h e advocacy
p o s i t i o n ta k e n by t h e m a t e r i a l s . And t e a c h e r s had a much
g r e a t e r tim e p o t e n t i a l f o r a f f e c t i n g t h e c h i l d r e n .
Use o f th e c o n s i s t e n c y model allow ed f o r some
p r e d i c t i o n s o f t h e l i k e l y outcomes o f th e m a t e r i a l s in t h e
c l a s s r o o m s . C h ild r e n and t e a c h e r s c o u ld be t r a d i t i o n a l o r
n o n t r a d i t i o n a l o r somewhere betw een w ith r e g a r d t o sex
r o l e s . The m a t e r i a l s t o o k a n o n t r a d i t i o n a l s t a n d . The
outcomes o f t h e t e s t i n g would be t h e complex c o m b in a tio n o f
t h e s e a c t o r s . The model s u g g e s t s t h a t th e l e a s t d i s s o n a n c e
would be a ro u se d among t e a c h e r s and c h i l d r e n w ith non
t r a d i t i o n a l a t t i t u d e s , w h i l e t r a d i t i o n a l t e a c h e r s w ith
t r a d i t i o n a l c h i l d r e n m ig h t be e x p e c te d to d i f f e r from t h e
p o s t i o n a d v o c a te d , and t o have some l e v e l o f d i s s o n a n c e
a r o u s e d . One would t h e r e f o r e p r e d i c t t h a t t h e c h i l d r e n in
t h e l e a s t d i s s o n a n c e c o n d i t i o n would have p erfo rm ed b e t t e r
on t h e t e s t i n g and t h a t i n c r e a s e d d i s s o n a n c e would have
been accompanied w ith re d u c e d p e rfo rm a n c e .
In t h e re v ie w o f l i t e r a t u r e f o l l o w i n g , t h e r e s e a r c h e r
exam ines s o u r c e s and t y p e s o f sex r o l e s c h i l d r e n were
10
l i k e l y to b r i n g t o t h e i r c l a s s e s , and some e v id e n c e t h a t
t e a c h e r s c o u ld have a f f e c t e d t h o s e sex r o l e s .
S o u rces o f c h i l d r e n ' s sex r o l e s . C h ild r e n a c q u i r e sex
r o l e s th ro u g h a complex p r o c e s s im p acted by p a r e n t s , p e e r s ,
s c h o o l , and sym bolic a g e n t s such as t h e m edia. Whether one
s u b s c r i b e s t o t h e s o c i a l l e a r n i n g , p s y c h o a n a l y t i c or
c o g n i t i v e - d e v e l o p m e n t t h e o r i e s o f s e x - r o l e d e v e lo p m e n t, t h e
r o l e o f t h e p a r e n t s c a n n o t be m in im iz e d . T h e ir i n f l u e n c e
i s v i r t u a l l y e x c l u s i v e in t h e e a r l y y e a r s , and h as a
d e m o n stra te d e f f e c t . P e r l o f f ( 1 9 7 7 ) , among o t h e r s h as
found t h a t c h i l d r e n ' s s t e r e o t y p e s a r e o f t e n s i m i l a r to
t h e i r p a r e n t s ' s t e r e o t y p e s , and t h a t t h e s e may be l e a r n e d
by o b s e rv in g s t e r e o t y p e d p a r e n t a l b e h a v i o r . W eitz (1977)
s u g g e s t s t h a t c h i l d r e n a c q u i r e sex r o l e s from p a r e n t s
th ro u g h t h e i n t e r d e p e n d e n t and r e i n f o r c i n g p r o c e s s e s o f
d i f f e r e n t i a l t r e a t m e n t and i d e n t i f i c a t i o n . A lthough few
s t u d i e s have d e t e c t e d d e l i b e r a t e a t t e m p t s by p a r e n t s to
t e a c h sex r o l e s , s t u d i e s o f t h e c o n t e n t s o f c h i l d r e n ' s
rooms ( R h e in g o ld , 1 9 7 5 ), show c l e a r d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n .
K ohlberg and Ullman (1 9 7 4 ) found s i x or seven y e a r o l d s
making c h o i c e s based on sex t y p e s and p r e f e r r i n g sam e -sex
p e e r s . By t h e tim e c h i l d r e n a r r i v e a t sch o o l th e y can be
e x p e c te d t o have a w e l l - d e v e l o p e d s e n s e ab o u t th e
" r i g h t n e s s ” or "w ro n g n e ss" o f c e r t a i n a t t i t u d e s or
1J
a c t i v i t i e s r e l a t i v e to boys and g i r l s . These a t t i t u d e s may
o r may n o t be c o n g r u e n t w ith t h o s e o f t h e i r t e a c h e r s , who,
o f c o u r s e , a l s o have e s t a b l i s h e d i d e a s o f sex r o l e s .
The i n f l u e n c e o f t e a c h e r s . In p r o j e c t F r e e s t y l e ,
t e a c h e r s took an a c t i v e r o l e i n t h e c la s s r o o m p r o c e s s .
T e a c h e r s a tte n d e d i n - s e r v i c e t r a i n i n g m e e tin g s where t h e
p r i n t m a t e r i a l s were d i s t r i b u t e d and e x p l a i n e d , and
t e l e v i s i o n segments p re v ie w e d . S u b s e q u e n t l y , th e y were
e x p e c te d to conduct c la s s r o o m a c t i v i t i e s in c o n ju n c tio n
w ith view ing th e s e r i e s . The d e g r e e t o which they could
a f f e c t s t u d e n t outcom es was unknown, b u t e v id en ce i n d i c a t e d
t h a t t h i s e f f e c t c o u ld be c o n s i d e r a b l e .
There are a t l e a s t two i s s u e s h e r e ; f i r s t , a g e n e r a l
e v a l u a t i o n o f t h e m a t e r i a l s as an i n n o v a t i o n , and s e c o n d l y ,
t h e s p e c i f i c c o n t e n t o f t h e m a t e r i a l s . In s t u d i e s o f th e
i n s t a l l a t i o n o f such new c u r r i c u l a o r i n n o v a t i o n s
(L angenbach, 1972; Mahan and G i l l , 1972) e v id en ce was
p r o v id e d t h a t t h e d e g r e e t o w h ic h t e a c h e r s were in v o lv e d in
t h e p l a n n in g p r o c e s s ' a f f e c t e d t h e d e g r e e t o which th e y had
p o s i t i v e a t t i t u d e s tow ard t h e c u r r i c u l a o r in n o v a t i o n .
In a stu d y by Mayberry ( 1 9 7 1 ) , p e r c e i v e d a t t i t u d e s o f
t e a c h e r s toward s t u d e n t s and to w a rd c o u r s e m a t e r i a l s were
v a r i e d in c o l l e g e freshm an P s y c h o lo g y c l a s s e s . In t e s t s of
a c h ie v e m e n t th e s t u d e n t s who p e r c e i v e d t h e t e a c h e r ’ s
a t t i t u d e toward t h e c o u r s e m a t e r i a l s a s p o s i t i v e had
12
s i g n i f i c a n t l y h i g h e r a c h ie v e m e n t s c o r e s th a n t h o s e in t h e
n e g a t i v e c o u r s e m a t e r i a l s a t t i t u d e s g ro u p s. In t h i s s t u d y
t h e s c r i p t f o r t h e c l a s s e s v a r i e d o n ly in th e i n t r o d u c t i o n
and th e d e g r e e o f e n t h u s i a s m shown by th e t e a c h e r s in
r e a d i n g i t . That i s , t e a c h e r v a r i a b l e s such as s t y l e o f
p r e s e n t a t i o n beyond m ere a r t i c u l a t i o n were c a r e f u l l y
c o n t r o l l e d . In a n o t h e r s tu d y (A ik e n , 1970), p o s i t i v e
a t t i t u d e s had l i t t l e i n f l u e n c e , w h ile n e g a t i v e a t t i t u d e s o f
t e a c h e r s d id a d v e r s e l y e f f e c t r e s u l t s .
The second i s s u e which c o u ld have im pacted t e a c h e r s
was th e s p e c i f i c c o n t e n t a r e a o f F r e e s t y l e , s e x - r o l e
s t e r e o t y p i n g as i t a f f e c t s c a r e e r c h o i c e s . T e a c h e rs in
e l e m e n ta r y s c h o o l a r e engaged in one o f th e more s o c i a l l y
a c c e p t a b l e , t r a d i t i o n a l l y fem ale o c c u p a t i o n s . Levy (1974)
r e p o r t s e i g h t y - f i v e p e r c e n t o f a l l e le m e n ta r y s c h o o l
t e a c h e r s a r e women and s e v e n t y - e i g h t p e r c e n t o f a l l
e l e m e n ta r y s c h o o l p r i n c i p a l s a r e men. There i s s i g n i f i c a n t '
e v id e n c e t h a t th e f a i r l y t r a d i t i o n a l s e x - r o l e b e h a v i o r s
which c h i l d r e n a r r i v e w i t h a r e re sp o n d e d t o or r e i n f o r c e d
by t e a c h e r s in g e n e r a l l y t r a d i t i o n a l ways. T e a c h e rs h ave
been found t o a c t d i f f e r e n t l y tow ard boys and g i r l s in
m e tin g o u t re p rim a n d s and p r a i s e ( S e r b i n , O’L e a ry , K e n t, &
T o n ic k , 1973), in s e p a r a t i n g g i r l s and boys f o r a c t i v i t i e s
(Levy, 1974). The c h a r a c t e r o f t h e e le m e n ta ry s c h o o l h a s
been d e s c r i b e d as f e m i n i n e by p u rp o se or n e g l e c t ( A u s t i n ,
C l a r k , & F i t c h e t t , 1971)
13.
S t u d i e s o f c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s which t e a c h e r s p r e f e r in
t h e i r c l a s s e s r e i n f o r c e t h e " f e m i n i n e ” p r o f i l e . F esh b ach
(1969) p r o v id e s some e v i d e n c e a b o u t some c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
which t e a c h e r s v a l u e i n t h e i r s t u d e n t s . In a s tu d y w ith
fem ale u n d e r g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t t e a c h e r s , s u b j e c t s read
d e s c r i p t i v e s t o r i e s a b o u t e l e m e n t a r y s c h o o l s t u d e n t s t h e n
r a t e d each c h i l d on a number o f d im e n sio n s i n c l u d i n g
p o p u l a r i t y , i n t e l l i g e n c e and p r e f e r e n c e by t h e s t u d e n t
t e a c h e r as a member o f a p r o s p e c t i v e c l a s s .
R e s u lts i n d i c a t e d t h a t th e m ost p r e f e r r e d group o f
s t u d e n t s were t h o s e who were r i g i d , conform ing and o r d e r l y .
Next most d e s i r a b l e were d e p e n d e n t, p a s s i v e , a c q u i e s c e n t
s t u d e n t s . The l e a s t p r e f e r r e d s t u d e n t s were i n d e p e n d e n t ,
a c t i v e and a s s e r t i v e ( n o t i n c i d e n t a l l y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
emphasized in t h e F r e e s t y l e c u r r i c u l u m ) . L e v i t i n and
Chananie (1972) o b s e r v e d e s s e n t i a l l y th e same r e s u l t s w i t h
f i r s t and second g ra d e t e a c h e r s .
Few s t u d i e s have d e t e c t e d m ajo r s e x - r o l e b i a s e s among
t e a c h e r s , a lth o u g h a s t u d y by F agot and P a t t e r s o n (1969) i s
i l l u s t r a t i v e . The s t u d y c o n s i s t e d o f c la s sro o m o b s e r v a t i o n
o f fem ale n u r s e r y s c h o o l t e a c h e r s i n t e r a c t i n g w ith t h r e e -
y e a r - o l d c h i l d r e n . The o b s e r v e r s m o n ito re d b e h a v i o r s and
t e a c h e r r e i n f o r c e m e n t o f t h o s e b e h a v i o r s . B e h a v io rs were
c l a s s i f i e d as m a s c u l i n e , f e m in in e , or n e u t r a l a c c o r d i n g t o
c u r r e n t sex s t e r e o t y p e s . The t o t a l amount o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t
_________________________________________________________ 14
d id n o t v a ry by sex, b u t t h e amount o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t f o r
p a r t i c u l a r b e h a v io r s d i f f e r e d m a r k e d l y . The t e a c h e r s were
f a r more l i k e l y to r e i n f o r c e f e m i n i n e b e h a v i o r s than
m a s c u l i n e b e h a v io r s r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e sex o f t h e c h i l d .
T h a t i s , when s e x - a s s o c i a t e d b e h a v i o r s were r e i n f o r c e d , 83
p e r c e n t were fo r fe m in in e b e h a v i o r s . Among boys t h e r e were
33 c a s e s o f r e in f o r c e m e n t f o r m a s c u l i n e b e h a v i o r s , b u t 99
r e i n f o r c e m e n t s fo r f e m in in e b e h a v i o r s . The a u th o r s no ted
t h a t even w ith t h i s l o p s i d e d m a r g in o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t , t h e r e
was no e v id e n c e t h a t t h e boys becam e more fe m in in e .
D eveloping t h e V a r i a b l e s o f I n t e r e s t
C h i l d r e n v a r i a b l e s
As n o te d above, t h e d e m o g ra p h ic v a r i a b l e s were t o be
c o n s i d e r e d f i r s t , s i n c e t h e y w ere l i k e l y t o be r e l a t e d to
p ro g ram outcom es. For i n s t a n c e , e x a m i n a t i o n o f th e c u r r i c
ulum o b j e c t i v e s in T able 1 r e v e a l s t h a t more were d i r e c t e d
s p e c i f i c a l l y a t g i r l s r a t h e r t h a n boys and g i r l s .
I m p l i c i t in th e g o a ls were t h a t a l t h o u g h g i r l s might be
e x p e c t e d t o l e a r n t o a c c e p t t h e s e t r a i t s , boys a t th e same
t i m e needed t o l e a r n t o a c c e p t s u c h b e h a v i o r from g i r l s ,
o r t h e n e t e f f e c t o f t h e p r o j e c t would be l o s t . I t was
m o st i m p o r t a n t , t h e r e f o r e , t o d e t e r m i n e i f sex o f c h i l d
a f f e c t e d l i k i n g o f or l e a r n i n g from t h e p i l o t s .
15
T a b le 1
F r e e s t y l e C u r r ic u lu m O b j e c t i v e s
1. C h i l d r e n w i l l p r a c t i c e b e h a v i o r s su ch as in d ep en d en ce,
and i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e , and a s s e r t i v e n e s s and y i e l d i n g
n e s s , depending upon t h e one m ost a p p r o p r i a t e f o r t h e
s i t u a t i o n r a t h e r th e n on s e x - r o l e s t e r e o t y p e d b e h a v
i o r s . ("Androgyny” )
2. C h ild r e n w i l l e x p e r i e n c e a g r e a t e r v a r i e t y o f work-
r e l a t e d a c t i v i t i e s n o t p r e v i o u s l y c o n s id e r e d a p p ro
p r i a t e fo r t h e i r sex r o l e s . ( " N o n - t r a d i t i o n a l j o b s ” )
3. C h ild r e n w i l l e x p e r i e n c e s i t u a t i o n s t h a t d e p i c t th e
l i m i t a t i o n s s e x - r o l e s t e r e o t y p i n g h a s placed on b o th
m ale and fem ale c h o i c e s and a c t i v i t i e s . ( ”L i m i t a t i o n s " )
4. G i r l s w i l l e x p e r i e n c e s i t u a t i o n s t h a t encourage them to
t a k e r e a s o n a b le r i s k s and n o t g i v e up because of
o c c a s i o n a l f a i l u r e . ( ’’R e a s o n a b le r i s k s ” )
5. C h ild r e n w i l l e x p e r i e n c e s i t u a t i o n s t h a t c o u n t e r a c t
t h e p r e v a i l i n g myth t h a t f e m a l e s w i l l be taken c a r e
o f by males and w i l l n o t need t o be employed.
( ’’C i n d e r e l l a myth")
6. C h i l d r e n w i l l e x p e r i e n c e s i t u a t i o n s t h a t encourage th e
developm ent o f p o s i t i v e a t t i t u d e s to w a rd s g i r l s in
l e a d e r s h i p r o l e s . ( " L e a d e r s h i p ” )
16
T a b le 1 ( C o n t i n u e d )
7 . G i r l s w i l l e x p e r i e n c e s i t u a t i o n s d e s ig n e d to h e lp them
a t t r i b u t e t h e i r s u c c e s s e s t o a b i l i t y , n o t s o l e l y t o
l u c k . ( " S k i l l , n o t l u c k " )
8. G i r l s w i l l e x p e r i e n c e s i t u a t i o n s d e s ig n e d to evoke and
rew ard a p p r o p r i a t e d e g r e e s o f in d e p e n d e n c e , i n i t i a t i v e
and s e l f - d i r e c t i o n . ( " I n d e p e n d e n c e " )
9. Boys w i l l e x p e r i e n c e s i t u a t i o n s t h a t evoke and reward
n u r t u r a n t b e h a v i o r . ( " N u r t u r a n c e " )
17
Grade or age o f t h e c h i l d was a l s o im p o r ta n t s i n c e t h e
t h r e e p i l o t program s l e a d i n g t o th e f i n a l F r e e s t y l e s e r i e s
u t i l i z e d d i f f e r e n t f o r m a t s , r a n g i n g from t h e m a g a z i n e - s t y l e
such as Sesame S t r e e t , t o a h a l f - h o u r d r a m a tic show. The
s e r i e s was aimed a t f o u r t h t h r o u g h s i x t h - g r a d e c h i l d r e n , so
t h e g e n e r a l a p p e a l o f t h e s e r i e s was v ery i m p o r t a n t .
Given t h e l i k e l y i n t e r a c t i o n o f e x i s t i n g a t t i t u d e s
w i t h th e m a t e r i a l s , t h e sex r o l e p r o p e n s i t i e s o f th e
c h i l d r e n were t o be d e t e r m in e d a t some l e v e l o f s p e c i f i c i t y
b e f o r e th e y saw th e p i l o t s .
In p r a c t i c e , c h i l d r e n ' s s e x - r o l e s t a n d a r d s m a n i f e s t
t h e m s e lv e s in t h e i r h o l d i n g c e r t a i n a t t i t u d e s a b o u t ways o f
t h i n k i n g and b e h a v i n g . For i n s t a n c e , men and boys a r e
t r a d i t i o n a l l y t h o u g h t o f as p h y s i c a l l y s t r o n g e r th a n g i r l s ,
w h ile g i r l s a r e t r a d i t i o n a l l y c o n s id e r e d g e n t l e . Boys a r e
t r a d i t i o n a l l y e x p e c te d t o l i k e r o u g h e r games l i k e b o x in g
t h a n g i r l s , and g i r l s a r e e x p e c te d t o l i k e a c t i v i t i e s l i k e
sew in g . P r i o r b a s e l i n e work on p r o j e c t F r e e s t y l e had
e s t a b l i s h e d s a l i e n t i t e m s f o r t h e s e s c a l e s and t h e q u e s
t i o n n a i r e was t o be a d m i n i s t e r e d p r i o r t o t h e p i l o t
v ie w in g s t o t a p t h e s e p r e d i s p o s i t i o n s . In a d d i t i o n t o
t h e s e g e n e r a l , non s h o w - s p e c i f i c i t e m s , some d a t a were
d e s i r e d on how t h e c h i l d r e n f e l t a b o u t th e s p e c i f i c
o b j e c t i v e s o f t h e s e r i e s . To d e te r m in e t h i s , t h e y were t o
be asked t o mark t h e i r a g re e m e n t w ith e i g h t s t a t e m e n t s
18
w hich d e s c r i b e d th e e i g h t c u r r i c u l u m o b j e c t i v e s . T his
s c o r e would be of p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t in te rm s o f i t s
i n t e r a c t i o n w ith sex, as m e n tio n e d a b o v e .
T e a c h e r v a r i a b l e s
Two t y p e s of i n f o r m a t i o n from t e a c h e r s were re a so n e d
r e l e v a n t to th e c u r r e n t r e s e a r c h . The f i r s t o ^ t h e s e was
r a t i n g t h e F r e e s t y l e m a t e r i a l s as an e d u c a t i o n a l in n o
v a t i o n , so q u e s ti o n s were t o be a s k e d r e g a r d i n g p e r c e iv e d
q u a l i t y and u t i l i t y . F u r t h e r d a t a w ere to be g a th e re d
r e g a r d i n g t h e t e a c h e r s ’ a p p r a i s a l o f t h e o b j e c - t i v e s o f
t h e p r o j e c t . In o r d e r t o compare t h i s w ith c h i l d o b j e c t i v e
a g r e e m e n t , t e a c h e r s were to answ er i d e n t i c a l q u e s ti o n s
a b o u t t h e i r p e r s o n a l ag reem en t w i t h t h e o b j e c t i v e s .
Developing Models in F o r m a t i v e R esearch
The co m b in atio n o f h ig h p r o d u c t i o n c o s t s and th e need
f o r a c c o u n t a b i l i t y p o i n t tow ard t h e need f o r e a r l y ,
s o p h i s t i c a t e d r e a d in g s o f b o th t h e t a r g e t a u d ie n c e and
p o t e n t i a l m a t e r i a l s . S in c e f o r m a t i v e r e s e a r c h i s to be
ju d g e d on t h e b a s i s o f i t s ’’a c t u a l u t i l i t y in re a c h in g
in fo r m e d d e c i s i o n s in t h e d e s i g n and p r o d u c t i o n o f th e
t e l e v i s i o n m a t e r i a l s ’’ (M e ilk e , 1 9 7 8 ) , r e s e a r c h approaches
w h ic h a p p e a r t o have p o t e n t i a l s h o u l d be e x p lo r e d .
T y p i c a l f o r m a t i v e r e s e a r c h h a s o f t e n b een conducted p i e c e -
19
m ea l; Are a u d ie n c e members a t t r a c t e d ? Do t e a c h e r s a p p r o v e
o f th e m a t e r i a l s ? What a r e c h i l d r e n in t h i s age ra n g e
l i k e ? A lthough t h e a n s w e rs t o t h e s e q u e s t i o n s a r e
d e f i n i t e l y n e e d e d , i t i s i m p o r t a n t f u r t h e r t o d e t e r m in e
t h e c u m u la tiv e e f f e c t o f t h e s e v e r a l a c t o r s in t h e n a t u r a l
s e t t i n g o f t h e m a t e r i a l s - - t h e c la s s r o o m . A gain, t h i s i s
t y p i c a l l y a c c o m p lish e d by p i l o t o r p r e t e s t i n g , b u t o f t e n
t h e r e s u l t s a r e lo o k e d a t in te rm s o f th e s e p a r a t e popu
l a t i o n s ; Did t h e c h i l d comprehend t h e m a t e r i a l s ? Did t h e
t e a c h e r s f in d t h e m a t e r i a l s w o rk ab le? In some c a s e s ,
in c l u d i n g t h e p r e s e n t t h e s i s , i t would be d e s i r a b l e t o
d e te r m in e i f what t h e t e a c h e r t h o u g h t o f t h e m a t e r i a l s had
a n y th in g t o do w ith how t h e c h i l d r e n perform ed on t h e
com prehension m e a s u re s . I t would a l s o be v a l u a b l e to
d e te r m in e i f p a r t i c u l a r segm ents o f c h i l d r e n o t h e r th a n
dem ographic g ro u p s (so m e, b u t n o t a l l b o y s, o r g i r l s w i t h
c e r t a i n a t t i t u d e s ) w ere more or l e s s l i k e l y t o be a t t r a c t e d
t o , or r e j e c t a m e s s a g e .
The s e t t i n g f o r s u c h a complex model w ould, o f c o u r s e ,
o n l y be a v a i l a b l e where t e s t i n g was c a r r i e d o u t o v er some
p e r i o d o f t i m e , in as n a t u r a l i s t i c s e t t i n g as p o s s i b l e ;
’’o n e - s h o t " t e s t s in n o n - c l a s s r o o m s e t t i n g s would n o t
s u f f i c e .
F r e e s t y l e p r o v id e d an i d e a l f i e l d s e t t i n g ; two weeks
o f view ing and t e s t i n g , a minor i n t e r r u p t i o n o f r o u t i n e .
20
The o n ly a p p a r e n t l i m i t a t i o n would be t h a t g ro u p s would be
v o l u n t a r y , r a t h e r t h a n r e p r e s e n t i n g a c r o s s - s e c t i o n o f a l l
p o s s i b l e c l a s s r o o m s . The p o t e n t i a l v a lu e in t h e outcom es
o f t h e a n a l y s e s o u tw e ig h e d t h i s l i m i t a t i o n .
21
C h a p te r I I
PROGRAM MATERIALS AND DATA
The i n i t i a l s t a t e m e n t o f c u r r i c u l u m o b j e c t i v e s was
d e v e lo p e d by th e O f f i c e o f t h e Los A n g e le s County S u p e r
i n t e n d e n t o f Schools s t a f f in c o n j u n c t i o n w ith o th e r
members o f th e p r o j e c t c o n s o r t i u m . T hese o b j e c t i v e s ,
l i s t e d p r e v i o u s l y in T a b le 1, w ere t h e b a s i s o f a s s i g n
m e n ts t o p r o d u c tio n p e r s o n n e l who p ro d u c e d b r o a d c a s t and
n o n b r o a d c a s t m a t e r i a l s . The o b j e c t i v e s a l s o serv ed as a
b a s i s f o r e v a l u a t i o n o f t h e p r o t o t y p e m a t e r i a l s t h a t were
d e v e l o p e d .
D e s c r i p t i o n o f P i l o t Program s
T hree h a l f - h o u r t e l e v i s i o n p i l o t program s were
p r o d u c e d , each d i f f e r i n g in t h e ways in which th e c u r r i c
ulum o b j e c t i v e s were c o n v e r t e d i n t o s c r i p t s . Table 2
l i s t s t h e segment names and r e l a t e d o b j e c t i v e s .
P i l o t I , c a l l e d t h e "Mike F a r r e l l Show," c o n s i s t e d o f
a number o f s h o r t s e g m e n ts, r a n g i n g from ab o u t 20 seconds
t o s e v e r a l m in u te s, i n c l u d i n g c a r t o o n s , songs and d a n c in g ,
much as used in Sesame S t r e e t . In t h e o p e n in g sequence
f o u r boys and g i r l s were seen r u n n i n g away from two t r o l l s
who were a tte m p tin g t o make them i n t o " t y p i c a l " g i r l s and
22
Table 2
Segment Names and Related Objectives
Segment Name________________ Objective
Pilot I "The Mike Farrell Show"
Freestyle Titles and Super
Episode
Stereotyping song
What's wrong with this picture
Fluffy and Phil
Pam as executive
Arlena as construction worker
Basketball game
Housewifery with Pam and Arlena
Ty as nurse
Poor guys
Arlena as cafe owner
A real man
Pam as policeman
Mike's factory and challenge
dancing
Stereotyping Beastie
Truckdriver
Makeup
Butterfly McMean
Hugging goodbyes
Non-traditional jobs
Limitations
Limitations
Reasonable risk
Nurturance
Non-traditional jobs
Non-traditional jobs
Reasonable risk
Leadership
Non-traditional jobs
Non-traditional jobs
Limitations
Cinderella myth
Non-traditional jobs
Limitations
Non-traditional jobs
Limitations
Limitations
Non-traditional jobs
Independence
Limitations
Leadership
Androgyny
23
Table 2 (Continued)
Segment Names and Related Objectives
Segment Name_____ . ____________________ Objective
Pilot I "The Mike Farrell Show"
Breakin' free song Reasonable risk
Number of Objectives treated in Pilot 1 = 7
Pilot II "Felipe and Fran"
Filipe and dad cook at home Limitations
Nurturance
Fran's summer job
School dance
Role-call song
Non-traditional
Reasonable risk
Limitations
jobs
Spanish paper
Felipe's Mom's job
Fran's Mom's job
Non-traditional
Skill, not luck
Skill, not luck
jobs
Moose monolog Non-traditional jobs
Guidance counselor Non-traditional jobs
Number of Objectives treated in Pilot II = 5
Pilot III "Grease Monkey"
First half
Non-traditional
Reasonable risk
jobs
Second half Non-traditional
Nurturance
jobs
Number of Objectives treated in Pilot III = 3
24
b o y s . The se q u en ce was accom panied by a " S t e r e o t y p i n g
Song" which d e s c r i b e d t h e a c t i o n . A l a t e r s c e n e , c a l l e d
" S t e r e o t y p i n g B e a s t i e , " was a c a r t o o n w ith a t h r e e - h e a d e d
c h a r a c t e r who a t t e m p t e d t o keep boys and g i r l s from
p u r s u in g n o n t r a d i t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s . ( " B o y s / g i r l s a r e n ’ t
supposed to do t h a t ! " )
P i l o t I I , " F e l i p e and F r a n ," c o n s i s t e d o f a s m a l l e r
number o f lo n g e r s e g m e n ts , i n v o l v i n g fo u r boys and g i r l s
and t h e i r p a r e n t s in home and s c h o o l s i t u a t i o n s . In an
e a r l y segm ent, F e l i p e ' s m o th er c a l l e d to say she needed to
work l a t e , and F e l i p e ' s f a t h e r co n d escen d ed t o cook eg g s
f o r s u p p e r, b u t o n ly a f t e r draw in g t h e c u r t a i n so th e
n e ig h b o r s c o u ld n o t s e e "men c o o k i n g ." L a te r t h e men
r e a l i z e d i t was a c c e p t a b l e f o r them t o cook, and F e l i p e ' s
f a t h e r opened t h e c u r t a i n . In a n o t h e r segm ent, Moose, a
young Black boy, t o l d o f n o n t r a d i t i o n a l r o l e s famous B lack
m a le s had chosen ( R o s ie G r e e r , n e e d l e p o i n t and Mohammed
A li , p o e t r y ) , and t h a t he m ig h t c h o o s e .
F i n a l l y , P i l o t I I I , "G re a se Monkey," was a h a l f - h o u r
drama i n v o l v i n g a young g i r l , C h r i s , who wanted t o work in
a s e r v i c e s t a t i o n f o r t h e summer. In th e f i r s t h a l f o f t h e
show C hris su cceed ed f i r s t in g e t t i n g th e summer jo b o v e r
t h e o w n e r 's o b j e c t i o n s and th e n g e t t i n g f i r e d f o r going
beyond her knowledge in a t t e m p t i n g t o r e p a i r a c a r . In t h e
second h a l f , she r e t u r n e d t o t h e jo b and "came th ro u g h " in
25
an em ergency r e q u i r i n g a c a r r e p a i r so a c o u p le could g e t
t o t h e h o s p i t a l f o r t h e w ife t o h a v e a baby.
As n o te d in T able 2, t h e number o f o b j e c t i v e s t r e a t e d
i n e ach p i l o t v a rie d w i d e l y . P i l o t I t r e a t e d seven of
e i g h t o b j e c t i v e s , some more th a n o n c e , w h ile P i l o t s I I and
I I I t r e a t e d f i v e and t h r e e o b j e c t i v e s r e s p e c t i v e l y .
D e s c r i p t i o n o f N o n b r o a d c a s t M a t e r i a l s
In a d d i t i o n to t h e b r o a d c a s t m a t e r i a l s , a s e r i e s o f
n o n b r o a d c a s t m a t e r i a l s was p ro d u c e d by S c ie n c e Research
A s s o c i a t e s , a n o th e r component o f t h e F r e e s t y l e c o n s o rtiu m .
T h e se m a t e r i a l s c o n s i s t e d o f : a Comic Book; a School
G u id e , which pro v id ed t e a c h e r - g u i d e d c l a s s r o o m a c t i v i t i e s
t o accompany th e b r o a d c a s t s and a Home Guide which s u g
g e s t e d p a r e n t a l a c t i v i t i e s t o accom pany home view ing o f t h e
p i l o t s . Although t h e n o n b r o a d c a s t m a t e r i a l s were d e sig n e d
from t h e same b e h a v i o r a l o b j e c t i v e s , t h e Comic Book s t o r y
and many o f th e School Guide a c t i v i t i e s were n o t t i e d
d i r e c t l y t o t h e b r o a d c a s t s e g m e n ts . The Comic Book, f o r
i n s t a n c e , concerned a young g i r l who, in t h e company o f a
f o r t u n e - t e l l e r , p ro ceed ed t h r o u g h a d v e n t u r e s in which she
was a l e a d e r , assumed n o n t r a d i t i o n a l r o l e s , and was i n d e
p e n d e n t . Two a r t s t y l e s were u se d i n s e p a r a t e v e r s i o n s ,
one in t h e s ta n d a rd c a r t o o n f o r m a t , t h e o t h e r in a more
r e a l i s t i c form. These d i f f e r e n t f o r m a t s were t e s t e d t o see
i f e i t h e r was s u p e r i o r to t h e o t h e r in c h i l d r e n ’ s l i k i n g or
26
com prehension o f t h e o b j e c t i v e s . The f i n a l form was
p r i n t e d in b l a c k and w h i t e . The School Guide c o n t a i n e d
such a c t i v i t i e s as d i s c u s s i n g u n u s u a l jo b s f o r men and
women, or c o l l e c t i n g e x a m p le s o f s e x - r o l e s t e r e o t y p i n g on
p r o d u c t c o n t a i n e r s . A lth o u g h i n d i v i d u a l item s from n o n
b r o a d c a s t e v a l u a t i o n w ere n o t i n c l u d e d in t h e c u r r e n t
r e s e a r c h , a d ic h o to m o u s v a r i a b l e was in c lu d e d r e p r e s e n t i n g
w h e th e r a c h i l d was i n a f u l l o r p a r t i a l t r e a t m e n t g ro u p as
d e s c r i b e d below .
N a t i o n a l S i t e s E v a lu a ti o n
The p r o t o t y p e m a t e r i a l s were t e s t e d a t f o u r d i f f e r e n t
s i t e s in t h e U nited S t a t e s by t h e f o r m a t i v e e v a l u a t i o n
team . The r e s u l t s w ere th e n i n t e r p r e t e d as a b a s i s f o r
d e c i s i o n s r e g a r d i n g t h e f i n a l t e l e v i s i o n fo rm a t f o r t h e
t e l e v i s i o n s e r i e s and t h e s t r a t e g i e s f o r d e v e lo p in g accom
p a n y in g n o n b r o a d c a s t m a t e r i a l s . The r e s u l t s o f th e
n a t i o n a l s i t e s e v a l u a t i o n were c o m p le te d l a t e in 1977 so
t h a t p r o d u c t io n o f t h e new and f i n a l m a t e r i a l s c o u ld b e g i n
in e a r l y J a n u a ry 1978.
In t h e n a t i o n a l s i t e s e v a l u a t i o n , th e fo c u s was on
f o r m a t i v e r e s e a r c h , h e n c e t h e r e was i n t e r e s t in o b t a i n i n g a
v a r i e t y o f r e s p o n s e s t o t h e m a t e r i a l s in a d d i t i o n t o
com prehension o f t h e b a s i c o b j e c t i v e s . These a d d i t i o n a l
a s p e c t s in c l u d e d s t u d e n t s ’ l i k i n g o f t h e m a t e r i a l s , as w e l l
27
as com prehension o f t h e f a c t u a l c o n t e n t which was used a s a
v e h i c l e t o com m unicate s p e c i f i c o b j e c t i v e s . A lso , t h e r e
was some co n cern w ith g a t h e r i n g d a t a which would examine
l i k e l y u t i l i z a t i o n o f t h e s e r i e s when i t became a v a i l a b l e ,
and in f o r m a t i o n which m ig h t be used t o i n c r e a s e p o t e n t i a l
f o r u t i l i z a t i o n . However, t h e r e was no a t t e m p t made i n t h e
s i t e s e v a l u a t i o n t o a s s e s s a t t i t u d i n a l change a s a c o n s e
q uence o f e x p o s u re t o t h e m a t e r i a l s s i n c e such change had
alw ays been e n v i s i o n e d a s a c u m u l a t i v e e f f e c t o f s e e i n g t h e
e n t i r e s e r i e s r a t h e r t h a n an i n d i v i d u a l t e l e v i s i o n segm ent
o r n o n b r o a d c a s t a c t i v i t y .
Method
S e l e c t i o n o f S i t e s . In t h e o r i g i n a l p r o p o s a l i t was
s p e c i f i e d t h a t t h e t e s t s i t e s be s e p a r a t e d g e o g r a p h i c a l l y
in th e U nited S t a t e s and t h a t each s i t e , in t u r n , would
have some v a r i a t i o n in t h e t y p e o f s c h o o l sa m p le . T here
was a l s o t o be an a t t e m p t t o sample s e v e r a l p r e d o m in a n tl y
S p a n ish s p e a k in g c l a s s e s and c l a s s e s which were
p r e d o m in a n tly p o p u l a t e d w i t h B lack c h i l d r e n so as t o s e e
p o s s i b l e la n g u a g e o r e t h n i c i n t e r a c t i o n s in r e s p o n s e t o t h e
m a t e r i a l s . A f u r t h e r s i t e s e l e c t i o n f a c t o r was t h a t s i n c e
an e a r l i e r e v a l u a t i o n o f some o f t h e s e r i e s m a t e r i a l s had
t a k e n p la c e in S o u th e rn C a l i f o r n i a , i t was d e c id e d t h a t
t h i s a re a would n o t be i n c l u d e d among th e n a t i o n a l t e s t
s i t e s . F ive t e s t s i t e s were i n i t i a l l y n e g o t i a t e d f o l l o w i n g
: ££
th e above c r i t e r i a , w i t h t h e a d d i t i o n o f t h e f i f t h s i t e t o
s e r v e as a b a c k u p . T h is o v e r s u b s c r i p t i o n proved f o r t u
i t o u s b e c a u se on t h e ev e o f t h e d a t a g a t h e r i n g , one s c h o o l
sy stem ( P i t t s b u r g h , P e n n s y l v a n i a ) c h o se to w ith d ra w from
t h e s tu d y b e c a u s e o f c o n c e r n o v e r t h e p r o j e c t g o a l s a f t e r a
p r e l i m i n a r y s c r e e n i n g o f t h e p i l o t s . The f o u r fo rm a l t e s t
s i t e s were l o c a t e d in P a t e r s o n , New J e r s e y , in A u s tin and
L o c k h a r t , T e x as, in L i n c o l n , M ilf o rd and B e lle v u e ,
N eb rask a, and n e a r L e x i n g t o n , K entucky in C e c i l i a , Vine
Grove and D a n v i l l e . The d e t a i l s o f t h e s e s i t e s a r e g iv e n
sub s e q u e n t l y .
S u b j e c t s . S u b j e c t s f o r t h e n a t i o n a l s i t e s e v a l u a t i o n
c o n s i s t e d o f 1636 s t u d e n t s , 60 t e a c h e r s , 11 a d m i n i s t r a t o r s ,
and 83 p a r e n t s a t t h e f o u r n a t i o n a l s i t e s . S tu d e n ts
t y p i c a l l y co m p rised f i v e i n t a c t c la s s r o o m s a t each o f
t h r e e s c h o o ls w i t h i n e a c h s i t e . C lassroom s were ch o sen t o
r e p r e s e n t v a r i a t i o n s i n s e x , g r a d e l e v e l , and e t h n i c i t y , as
w e l l as u r b a n - r u r a l and s o c io - e c o n o m ic c o n t r a s t s . M exican-
American S p a n ish s p e a k i n g s t u d e n t s (Texas) and P u e rto
R ican-A m erican S p a n ish s p e a k in g s t u d e n t s (New J e r s e y ) were
in c l u d e d in t h e s a m p le . C lassro o m s were n o t random ly
s e l e c t e d , b u t chosen t o r e p r e s e n t p o p u l a t i o n v a r i a t i o n s
b a se d on t h e s e d e m o g ra p h ic c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . A ll s t u d e n t s
who saw a t l e a s t one f i f t e e n - m i n u t e p i l o t segment were
in c l u d e d in t h e s a m p le . T a b le 3 sum m arizes t h e numbers o f
________________ 29
s t u d e n t s a t each s i t e by s c h o o l , g r a d e , sex and t r e a t m e n t
c o n d i t i o n .
R esearch D e s ig n . The n a t i o n a l s i t e s e v a l u a t i o n was
c o n d u c te d in a q u a s i - e x p e r i m e n t a l d e s i g n c o n s i s t i n g o f two
t r e a t m e n t c o n d i t i o n s : 1) f u l l t r e a t m e n t in c lu d e d view ing
t h e t e l e v i s i o n p i l o t s , and u t i l i z i n g n o n b r o a d c a s t m a te
r i a l s , and 2) p a r t i a l t r e a t m e n t i n c l u d e d o n ly view ing th e
t e l e v i s i o n p i l o t s . In a f u r t h e r c o n d i t i o n w ith in f u l l
t r e a t m e n t , th e r e a l i s t i c and c a r t o o n a r t s t y l e v e r s i o n s o f
t h e Comic Book were t e s t e d . A lth o u g h t h e r e were b o th f u l l
and p a r t i a l t r e a t m e n t c l a s s e s w i t h i n each s c h o o l, Comic
Book v a r i a t i o n s were d i s t r i b u t e d b etw een s c h o o ls t o avoid
c o n t a m i n a t i o n .
The f u l l t r e a t m e n t g r o u p s d i f f e r e d from p a r t i a l
t r e a t m e n t groups in t h a t t h e y r e c e i v e d t h e School Guide and
t h e Comic Book f o r c la s s r o o m u s e , a Home Guide f o r c h i l d r e n
t o t a k e home fo r t h e i r p a r e n t s and a two and o n e - h a l f hour
t e a c h e r workshop which p r o v i d e d an o r i e n t a t i o n t o t h e
p r o j e c t and th e n o n b r o a d c a s t m a t e r i a l s . P r i n c i p a l s o f
p a r t i c i p a t i n g s c h o o ls r e c e i v e d a one h o u r workshop on th e
same day as th e t e a c h e r s and j u s t p r i o r t o t h e t e a c h e r
w orkshop f o r th e p u rp o se o f p r o v i d i n g an overview o f t h e
p r o j e c t . The workshops were d e s i g n e d and conducted by a
team o f c o n s u l t a n t s from t h e O f f i c e o f t h e Los Angeles
County S u p e r in t e n d e n t o f S c h o o l s .
. 3 0 1
Table 3
S u b je c ts by T reatm ent, Grade
School F u l l Treatm ent
, and Sex by School
P a r t i a l Treatm ent
Grade Grade
*
5 6 4 6
Boys G i r l s Boys G i r l s Boys G i r l s Boys G i r l s Boys G i r l s T o t a l s
Howe V a lle y 13 13 24 16 21 10 15 16 16 11 155
C e c i l i a , KY
Vine Grove 18 13 18 8 17 14 20 11 17 15 151
Vine Grove, KY
T o l i v e r Elem entary 15 15 15 15 13 17 17 12 14 17 150
D a n v ille , Ky
C l a i r McPhee School 8 8 8 8 9 11 8 8 8 12 88
L in c o ln , NB
M ilfo rd School 16 10 9 11 9 14 15 12 10 14 120
M ilf o rd , NB
P e t e r Sarpy School 15 12 18 13 16 14 13 16 13 18 148
Omaha, NB
School #15 14 16 19 13 14 11 11 17 10 16 141
P a te r s o n , NJ
School #5 10 11 16 14 13 10 11 13 9 13 120
P a te r s o n , NJ
School #2 6 15 12 17 12 12 14 14 15 14 14 139
P a te r s o n , NJ
W oldridge School 18 11 17 15 16 15 92
A u s tin , TX
Brooke Elem entary 9 15 9 15 9 13 70
A u s tin , TX
u>
Table 3 (Continued)
S u b je c ts by T reatm en t, Grade, and Sex by School
School________________________ F u l l Treatm ent________________ p a r t i a l Treatm ent
£rade Grade
4 5 6 4 6
Boys G i r l s Boys G i r l s Boys G i r l s Boys G i r l s Boys G i r l s T o ta ls
Brooke Elem entary
A u s tin , TX 9 15 9 15 9 13 70
L ockhart I n t .
L o c k h art, TX
T r a v is H eig h ts Sch,
A u s tin , TX
T r a v is H eights Sch,
A u s tin , TX (Cont.)
17 13 20 18 15 15
15 11
15 11
14 17 13 15
14 13
11 15
157
53
52
T o ta ls 168 149 190 158 169 152 163 165 149 173 1636
317 348 321 328 322
986 650
1636
U )
i\}
T e ach ers in t h e p a r t i a l t r e a t m e n t group were n o t
b a r r e d from e n g a g in g in c la s s r o o m a c t i v i t i e s r e l a t e d t o t h e
p i l o t s . R a th e r , t h e y w ere t o l d t h a t th e y c o u ld engage in
such a c t i v i t i e s i f t h e y w is h e d , b u t m ain ly t o do what t h e y
would c o n s id e r "n o rm al p r o c e d u r e " f o r t h e i r c la s s r o o m .
They did n o t have a c c e s s t o t h e School G uide. T re a tm e n t
c o n d i t i o n s were a s s i g n e d f o r t h e p u rp o se o f com paring
f o u r t h and s i x t h g r a d e c l a s s e s . In t h e d e s ig n a s a w h o le ,
a c r o s s s t a t e s , 12 f o u r t h g ra d e and 12 s i x t h g ra d e c l a s s e s
c o n s t i t u t e d t h e p a r t i a l t r e a t m e n t g ro u p ; 12 f o u r t h g ra d e
and 12 s i x t h g ra d e as w e l l as 12 f i f t h g ra d e c l a s s e s
c o n s t i t u t e d t h e f u l l t r e a t m e n t g ro u p .
In o r d e r t o m in im iz e t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f an o r d e r
e f f e c t , t h e se q u e n c e o f p i l o t p r e s e n t a t i o n was v a r i e d
a c r o s s s i t e s . A c o m p l e t e l y b a la n c e d sequence d e s ig n was
p r e c lu d e d by t h e c o n s t r a i n t t h a t e ach o f t h e s c h o o ls w i t h i n
a s i t e r e c e i v e t h e same o r d e r a s shown on p u b l i c b r o a d c a s t
by t h e l o c a l t e l e v i s i o n s t a t i o n . W ith in t h i s r e s t r i c t i o n ,
e ach p i l o t was shown f i r s t a t l e a s t o n c e . The o r d e r o f
p r e s e n t a t i o n o f p i l o t by s i t e i s shown in T a b le 4.
C o n s u l t a n t s were h i r e d a t each s i t e t o s u p e r v i s e t h e
p i l o t d a ta g a t h e r i n g a c t i v i t i e s and t o i n s u r e a s t e a d y and
s y s t e m a t i c flow o f d a t a b a c k t o t h e F o rm ativ e E v a l u a t i o n
and R esearch team . C o n s u l t a n t s were a l l e x p e r i e n c e d
i n d i v i d u a l s who had p r e v i o u s l y worked w ith s c h o o l s y s te m s
33
T a b le 4
O rder o f P r e s e n t a t i o n o f P i l o t by S i t e
P i l o t Viewed
S i t e F i r s t Second T h ir d
N eb rask a Mike F a r r e l l F e l i p e & F ran G re a se Monkey
K entucky G re a se Monkey Mike F a r r e l l F e l i p e & F ra n
New J e r s e y F e l i p e & F ran G re a se Monkey Mike F a r r e l l
Texas F e l i p e & F ran Mike F a r r e l l G re a se Monkey
_34J
in v a ry in g c a p a c i t i e s . A o n e -d a y t r a i n i n g s e s s i o n f o r t h e
c o n s u l t a n t s was c o n d u c te d by t h e n a t i o n a l s i t e c o o r d i n a t o r
in Chicago t h r e e weeks b e f o r e t h e p i l o t t e s t i n g b e g a n .
D ata C o l l e c t i o n
Four s e t s o f i n s t r u m e n t s were dev elo p ed f o r u se in t h e
p i l o t e v a l u a t i o n , one s e t f o r each segment o f t h e s a m p le ,
s t u d e n t s , t e a c h e r s , a d m i n i s t r a t o r s , and p a r e n t s . T a b le 5
d e t a i l s t h e i n s t r u m e n t s , d a t a g a t h e r i n g p o i n t s , and a b r i e f
d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e i n s t r u m e n t s r e l e v a n t t o t h i s r e s e a r c h .
S tu d e n t I n s t r u m e n t s . A lthough t h e f i n a l g o a l o f t h e
p r o j e c t was t o a f f e c t t h e a t t i t u d e s o f th e a u d ie n c e w ith
r e g a r d t o sex r o l e s , t h e s i t e e v a l u a t i o n was t o f o c u s on
t h e s u c c e s s o f t h e p i l o t m a t e r i a l s in conveying t h e
"m essage" o f th e p r o j e c t . T h is was o p e r a t i o n a l i z e d in a
t h r e e s t e p p r o g r e s s i o n a f t e r K rathw ohl (1 9 5 6 ). That i s ,
t h e m a t e r i a l s had t o be a t t e n d e d t o or r e c e i v e d , b e f o r e
t h e y could be re sp o n d e d t o , and re sp o n d e d t o b e f o r e t h e y
'c o u l d be v a l u e d . S in c e i t was p h y s i c a l l y i m p o s s i b l e t o
m o n ito r i n d i v i d u a l a t t e n t i o n in a l a r g e number o f c l a s s e s
s i m u l t a n e o u s l y , a s u b s t i t u t e m easu re was n e e d e d . T h is was
o p e r a t i o n a l i z e d as a g e n e r a l l i k i n g m easure f o r each
15-m in u te p i l o t h a l f . Response t o t h e m a t e r i a l s was
o p e r a t i o n a l i z e d in two s t e p s : r e c o g n i z i n g t h e e v e n t s w hich
t r a n s p i r e d , c a l l e d f a c t u a l c o m p re h e n sio n ; and r e c o g n i z i n g
Table 5
Population
> S tu d e n ts
Teachers
In stru m e n ts
In stru m e n ts Data C o l l e c t i o n P o in ts Length Content
Form 4
Form 1
Form 2
Form 3
Form 5
Form 6
P r i o r to segment view ing
Follow ing each 15-minute
Follow ing comic book
Follow ing a l l p i l o t
a c t i v i t i e s
Form 7
Form 8
Follow ing a l l p i l o t
a c t i v i t i e s
Follow ing a l l p i l o t
a c t i y i t i e s
10 min.
10 min,
10 min,
5 min,
10 min,
10 min.
(T e a c h e r-a d m in is te re d
Q u e s tio n n a ire s )
P r e t e s t
L i k i n g , comprehen
s io n , o p in io n item s
Comprehensive
fo llo w -u p item s:
o p in io n , media u s e ,
a u d ien ce p r o f i l e
item s
Comprehensive
fo llo w -u p item s
School Guide item s
UJ
as
th e '’m essage” component o f t h e m a t e r i a l s , c a l l e d o b j e c t i v e
c o m p r e h e n s io n .
Q u e s t i o n n a i r e s w ere c o n s t r u c t e d f o r each h a l f o f e a c h
o f t h e t h r e e p i l o t p r o g r a m s . One l i k i n g q u e s t i o n was a s k e d
f o r each p i l o t h a l f , and a p a i r o f f a c t u a l and o b j e c t i v e
com p reh en sio n q u e s t i o n s was asked f o r each segment w i t h i n
e ach p i l o t h a l f . D ata from t h e s e q u e s t i o n n a i r e s formed t h e
d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e d a t a a r r a y s . L i k i n g was r a t e d on a
f i v e - p o i n t i n t e r v a l s c a l e ( 5 = " l i k e v e r y m u ch ,” to 1=
" d i s l i k e v e ry much” ) . Examples o f r e p r e s e n t a t i v e f a c t u a l
and o b j e c t i v e c o m p re h e n sio n q u e s t i o n s f o ll o w . In P i l o t I ,
a segment c a l l e d " S t e r e o t y p i n g Song” showed f o u r boys and
g i r l s a t t e m p t i n g t o e l u d e two t r o l l s who were t r y i n g t o
make them i n t o " t y p i c a l " boys and g i r l s . The f a c t u a l
com prehension q u e s t i o n f o r t h i s segm ent was:
"Why were t h e b o y s and g i r l s r u n n in g away in th e
f a c t o r y ? "
1 . They w anted t o make f r i e n d s .
2. They d i d n ' t want t o be s t e r e o t y p e d .
3.
They w anted t o be s t e r e o t y p e d .
n . They were p l a y i n g a gam e.
The c o r r e c t answer "2" i n d i c a t e d t h a t th e a u d ie n c e
r e c o g n iz e d t h e t h e a c t i o n o f t h e seg m e n t.
The o b j e c t i v e c o m p re h e n s io n q u e s t i o n f o r t h e same
segm ent was:
_____________________________________________________________________ 31
"What was th e s t e r e o t y p i n g song t r y i n g t o te a c h you?"
1. G i r l s sh o u ld t a k e c h a n c e s .
2. Boys s h o u ld t a k e c a r e o f g i r l s .
3. G i r l s and boys can do t h e same t h i n g s .
4. Boys s h o u ld t h i n k f o r t h e m s e l v e s .
The c o r r e c t answer "3" i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e c h i l d r e n
r e c o g n i z e d th e "m essage" o f t h e s e g m e n t.
The number o f c u r r i c u l u m o b j e c t i v e s t r e a t e d v a r i e d
p r i m a r i l y as a f u n c t i o n o f p i l o t f o r m a t ; t h e s h o r t b i t s in
P i l o t s I and I I allow ed c o v e r a g e o f sev en and f iv e
o b j e c t i v e s , r e s p e c t i v e l y , w h i l e t h e d r a m a t i c c o n te n t o f
P i l o t I I I i n c o r p o r a t e d o n ly t h r e e .
In o r d e r to compare c o m p r e h e n s io n o f p i l o t s h av in g
d i f f e r i n g numbers o f s e g m e n ts , a v e r a g e s c o r e s were computed
o f p e r c e n t c o r r e c t r e s p o n s e s f o r f a c t u a l and o b j e c t i v e
c o m p re h e n sio n by p i l o t . A verage l i k i n g was a l s o computed
from i n d i v i d u a l q u e s t i o n s f o r e a c h p i l o t h a l f .
The P re -v ie w in g s u rv e y (Form 4) c o n t a i n e d p e r s o n
a l i t y and a c t i v i t y r a t i n g s d e s i g n e d t o i d e n t i f y a c h i l d ' s
s e x - r o l e b i a s in a t t i t u d e s o f s e l f , a v a r i a b l e found to
r e l a t e t o r e a c t i o n s t o t h e t e l e v i s i o n m a t e r i a l s in e a r l i e r
r e s e a r c h . Developing a r e l i a b l e a t t i t u d e i n s tr u m e n t took
s e v e r a l i t e r a t i o n s . T here h a s b e e n c o n s i d e r a b l e d i s c u s s i o n
r a i s e d a b o u t th e v a l i d i t y and r e l i a b i l i t y o f some s c a l e s
u s e d t o p l a c e s u b j e c t s on m a s c u l i n e - f e m i n i n e d im e n sio n s .
38
Not th e l e a s t o f t h e s e i s s u e s i s c o n s t r u c t i n g a s i n g l e
s c a l e s c o re which p u r p o r t s t o r e p r e s e n t what i s l i k e l y a
complex m u l t i d i m e n s i o n a l c o n c e p t . In a t t e m p t i n g t o d e a l
w ith some o f t h e c r i t i c i s m s , w h ile c o n s t r u c t i n g an
i n s t r u m e n t which c o u ld be a d m i n i s t e r e d in w r i t t e n form in a
b r i e f p e r io d o f t i m e , t h e F r e e s t y l e s t a f f managed a
com prom ise. The i n s t r u m e n t i n c o r p o r a t e d s e l f a s s e s s m e n t s o f
s e x - t y p e d a t t i t u d e s , a c t i v i t i e s l i k e l y t o be engaged in by
c h i l d r e n o f t h i s a g e , and non s e x - t y p e d a t t i t u d e s and
a c t i v i t i e s .
Item s were p a t t e r n e d a f t e r Bern (1 9 7 4 ), w ith
m o d i f i c a t i o n s , t h a t i s t h e y were p r e s e n t e d as t h e a b s e n c e
o r p r e s e n c e o f a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c , r a t h e r th a n b i p o l a r in
fo rm . For i n s t a n c e , c h i l d r e n were asked t o r a t e t h e m s e l v e s
from always g e n t l e t o n e v e r g e n t l e , r a t h e r th a n betw een
g e n t l e and ro u g h . P r e t e s t i n g had i n d i c a t e d t h a t c h i l d r e n
o f t h i s age were l i k e l y t o se e t h e m s e l v e s as sometim es
ro u g h and som etim es g e n t l e , and t h e r e f o r e u n s u re where t o
mark t h e i r answer on t h e b i p o l a r q u e s t i o n .
Three b ro a d t y p e s o f ite m s were in c lu d e d ; 1) t h o s e
s o c i a l l y d e s i r a b l e and m a s c u li n e s t e r e o t y p e d ( s t r o n g ,
l e a d e r ) , 2) t h o s e s o c i a l l y d e s i r a b l e and f e m in in e s t e r e o
ty p e d ( g e n t l e , n e a t ) , and 3) t h o s e s o c i a l l y d e s i r a b l e and
n e u t r a l ( h o n e s t , l i k e a b l e ) . The e i g h t e e n ite m s and a
r e p r e s e n t a t i v e item p r e s e n t a t i o n a r e shown in T a b le 6.
______________________________________________________________________________39
M a sc u lin e
Table 6
P r e t e s t S c a le Ite m s
S c a l e
Feminine N e u t r a l
A d j e c t i v e s : A d j e c t i v e s : A d j e c t i v e s :
s tr o n g g e n t l e h o n e s t
l e a d e r n e a t 1 i k e a b l e
n e v e r c r y o b e d ie n t q u i c k
t a k e c h a n c e s worry about h u r t i n g
o t h e r p e o p l e ' s
f e e l i n g s
f a i r
N ote: A d j e c t i v e s were r a t e d on a s c a l e s u c h as t h e
f o l l o w i n g :
G e n tle ( t o be k in d )
I am:
1- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - J- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
alw ays o r u s u a l l y sometimes u s u a l l y n o t n e v e r or
a lm o st n e v e r g e n t l e g e n t l e g e n t l e a lm o st never
g e n t l e g e n t l e
40
A lthough th e p r e t e s t had b e e n e x t e n s i v e l y preview ed
w i t h members o f th e t a r g e t a u d i e n c e , r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f
f i c i e n t s were c a l c u l a t e d t o d e t e r m i n e i f t h e item s sh o u ld
be e n t e r e d s i n g l y o r as s c a l e s i n t h e r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s e s .
A lp h as were c a l c u l a t e d f o r e ach s c a l e ( m a s c u l i n e , f e m in in e ,
n e u t r a l ) and fo r th e t e s t as a w h o le . T h is s t a t i s t i c ,
w hich r a n g e s from 0 t o 1 .0 , e s t i m a t e s t h e i n t e r n a l
c o n s i s t e n c y o f - a s c a l e . The r e s u l t s , d i s p l a y e d in T a b le 7,
m
r a n g e from .49 to .6 2 , a c c e p t a b l e f o r c u r r e n t p u rp o s e s .
A lth o u g h t h e t o t a l t e s t c o u ld h a v e b een used in th e
r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s e s , c o r r e l a t i o n s o f sex w ith i n d i v i d u a l
s c a l e s , shown in T a b le 8, i n d i c a t e d t h a t more i n f o r m a tio n
w ould be g ain ed by k e e p in g t h e t h r e e s c a l e s s e p a r a t e .
A nother i n s tr u m e n t (Form 5) p r o v i d e d e v a l u a t i o n
i n f o r m a t i o n r e g a r d in g t h e Comic Book and allo w ed compar
i s o n s betw een th o se r e c e i v i n g e i t h e r t h e r e a l i s t i c or th e
c a r t o o n Comic Book a r t s t y l e . I te m s p r o v id e d r e a d e r s h i p
l e v e l d a t a , l i k i n g r a t i n g s , d e g r e e o f o b j e c t i v e and f a c t u a l
c o m p r e h e n s io n , as w e l l as g e n e r a l p r e f e r e n c e r a t i n g s .
The f i n a l s t u d e n t q u e s t i o n n a i r e , P o st-V iew in g s u rv e y
(Form 6 ) , c o n ta in e d i n t e r v a l r a t i n g s o f agreem ent or
d i s a g r e e m e n t w ith th e c u r r i c u l u m o b j e c t i v e s , item s con
c e r n i n g g e n e r a l media h a b i t s and c o n d i t i o n s o f F r e e s t y l e
v i e w i n g . A t t i t u d e s tow ard F r e e s t y l e ' s p u r p o s e s were r a t e d
on a 1 t o 5 s c a l e from " s t r o n g l y d i s a g r e e " t o " s t r o n g l y
41
R e l i a b i l i t y
T a b le 7
(Alpha) C o e f f i c i e n t s f o r P r e t e s t
S c a le Number o f Ite m s Alpha
M a sc u lin e 6
00
L D
F em inine 6 .62
N e u t r a l 6 .49
T o t a l T e s t 18 . 60
42
Sex
Grade
T a b le 8
C o r r e l a t i o n s o f C h ild Dem ographic
C h ild P r e t e s t S c a l e s
M a sc u lin e F e m in in e
483
,046
- . 5 5 2
.006
with
N e u tra l
- . 0 4 6
.004
a g r e e " t o s ta t e m e n t s such a s , "Women can do jo b s men
u s u a l l y d o ".
Teacher I n s t r u m e n t s . T h re e i n s t r u m e n t s were
d e v e lo p e d t o g a th e r i n f o r m a t i o n from t e a c h e r s . (A s e p a r a t e
e v a l u a t i o n form, p r e s e n t e d t o f u l l t r e a t m e n t t e a c h e r s
f o l l o w i n g t h e i n s e r v i c e w o rk sh o p , p r o v i d e d i n f o r m a tio n
r e g a r d i n g t h e d e g re e t o which w o rk sh o p o b j e c t i v e s were m et,
t h e q u a l i t y o f th e workshop and a t t i t u d e s to w ard s s e x - r o l e
s t e r e o t y p i n g . )
The Teacher P o st-V ie w in g s u r v e y (Form 7) c o n ta in e d
q u e s t i o n s r e g a r d in g u t i l i z a t i o n o f t h e t h r e e p i l o t s ,
t e a c h e r r a t i n g s o f p e r c e i v e d s t u d e n t a t t i t u d e s toward t h e
show, as w e ll as t e a c h e r r a t i n g s o f t h e i r own a t t i t u d e s .
For exam ple, each p i l o t and t h e Comic Book was r a t e d on i t s
u n d e r s t a n d a b i l i t y and i n t e r e s t l e v e l t o c h i l d r e n , and i t s
e a s e and p r a c t i c a l i t y o f c l a s s r o o m u s e . A t t i t u d e s tow ard
F r e e s t y l e * s p u rp o ses were r a t e d on a 1 t o 5 s c a l e from
" s t r o n g l y d i s a g r e e " t o " s t r o n g l y a g r e e " t o s ta t e m e n t s such
a s , "Women can do j o b s men u s u a l l y d o " .
The School Guide s u rv e y (Form 8) ask ed f o r t e a c h e r
r e a c t i o n s t o p a r t s o f t h e S chool G u id e . For example,
t e a c h e r s were r e q u e s t e d t o r a t e t h e I n t r o d u c t i o n on i t s
h e l p f u l n e s s , u n d e r s t a n d a b i l i t y and l e n g t h .
S e v e r a l a d d i t i o n a l forms e l i c i t e d i n f o r m a t i o n from
a d m i n i n s t r a t o r s and p a r e n t s , d a t a n o t i n c l u d e d in t h i s
r e s e a r c h .
____________________________________________________________________________ 4JL
P r o c e d u re s
I n s e r v i c e t r a i n i n g was p r o v id e d f o r f u l l t r e a t m e n t
t e a c h e r s d u r i n g t h e f i r s t week in O c to b e r, 1977. An
in f o r m a l o r i e n t a t i o n t o t h e p r o j e c t and t h e u se o f t h e
e v a l u a t i o n m a t e r i a l s was g iv e n by t h e s i t e c o n s u l t a n t s t o
t h e p a r t i a l t r e a t m e n t t e a c h e r s .
At most s i t e s t h e f i f t e e n - m i n u t e segm ents were view ed
on an e v e r y - o t h e r - d a y s c h e d u l e , w ith f i r s t and second
seg m e n ts o f each p i l o t shown in o r d e r , b u t w ith t h e o r d e r
o f t h e p i l o t s ra n d o m iz e d a s i n d i c a t e d above. The Comic
Books were a s s i g n e d so t h a t h a l f o f t h e s c h o o ls used e a c h
a l t e r n a t i v e v e r s i o n ( r e a l i s t i c o r c a r t o o n a r t s t y l e ) . The
t e a c h e r s d i s t r i b u t e d t h e Comic Book a f t e r c h i l d r e n view ed
t h e f i r s t p i l o t w ith i n s t r u c t i o n s f o r t h e c h i l d r e n t o r e a d
i t a t home. F o llo w in g e a c h 1 5 -m in u te v ie w in g , f u l l
t r e a t m e n t t e a c h e r s were t o engage in one or more s u p p l e
m e n t a l a c t i v i t i e s as s u g g e s t e d in t h e School Guide f o r
a p p r o x im a te ly 15 m i n u t e s . A f t e r t h i s p e r i o d , th e
q u e s t i o n n a i r e s f o r t h e r e l e v a n t p i l o t segment were
d i s t r i b u t e d and t h e c h i l d r e n c o m p le te d th e q u e s t i o n s by
c i r c l i n g t h e b e s t answ er as t h e t e a c h e r read each q u e s t i o n
a l o u d . P a r t i a l t r e a t m e n t c l a s s e s c o m p leted t h e i r q u e s
t i o n n a i r e s im m e d ia te ly a f t e r t h e v ie w i n g s .
Table 9 d e t a i l s t h e c la s s r o o m a c t i v i t i e s o f p a r t i a l
and f u l l t r e a t m e n t c l a s s e s in Texas d u r in g t h e two weeks o f
F r e e s t y l e a c t i v i t i e s .
45
Date
Table Q
T y p ic a l Schedule of F r e e s t y l e A c t i v i t i e s
Texas Classrooms
Time A c t i v i t y
F u l l P a r t i a l
Wednesday Before D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r
?
D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r
October 5 11:00AM p r e t e s t p r e t e s t
11:00AM View P i l o t I I , P a r t A View P i l o t I I , P a r t A
11,15AM Conduct supplem ental D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r
a c t i v i t y q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
11:30AM D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r C o l l e c t Q u e s tio n n a ir e s
(Approx,) q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
11:4 5AM C o l l e c t q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
(Approx,) Teacher f i l l out a c t i v i t y
use q u e s t i o n n a i r e
F rid a y 11:00AM View P i l o t I I , P a r t B View P i l o t I I , P a r t B
October 7
11:15AM Conduct A c t i v i t y D i s t r i b u t e and a d m i n i s t e r
q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
11:30AM D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r C o l l e c t q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
h --
(ap p ro x ,)_ q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
< J \
'Table 9 (Continued)
.T ypical Schedule of F r e e s t y l e A c t i v i t i e s
.Texas Classrooms
Date _ Time . A c t i v i t y
F u ll P a r t i a l
F rid a y
October 7
(Cont,)
Monday
O ctober 10
Wednesday
October 12
-a
11:45AM
,(a p p ro x .)
Before
1 1 : 00AM
1 1 : 00AM
1 1 : 15AM
11:30AM
( a p p ro x .)
11:45AM
(ap p ro x .)
1 1 : 00AM
C o l l e c t q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
D i s t r i b u t e Comic Book and
Read i n s t r u c t i o n s
Teacher f i l l o u t a c t i v i t y
use q u e s t i o n n a i r e
D i s t r i b u t e Comic Book
q u e s t i o n n a i r e s and a d m in is te r
C o l l e c t q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
View P i l o t I , P a r t A
Conduct A c t i v i t y
D i s t r i b u t e and A dm inister
q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
C o l l e c t q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
Teacher f i l l o u t a c t i v i t y
use q u e s t i o n n a i r e
View P i l o t I , P a r t B
View P i l o t I , P a r t A
D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r
q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
C o l l e c t q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
View P i l o t I , P a r t B
Date
Table 9 (Continued)
T y p ica l Schedule of F r e e s t y l e A c t i v i t i e s
Texas Classrooms
Time A c t i v i t y
F u ll ■ P artial
Wednesday l ' l : 15AM Conduct supplem ental D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r
October 12 a c t i v i t y q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
(C o n t.)
11:30AM D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r C o l l e c t q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
( a p p r o x .) q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
11:4 5AM C o l l e c t q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
( a p p r o x .) Teacher f i l l o u t a c t i v i t y
use q u e s t i o n n a i r e
F rid a y 1 1 : 00AM View P i l o t I I I , P a r t A View P i l o t I I I , P a r t A
October 14
11:15AM Conduct supplem ental D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r
a c t i v i t y q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
11:30AM D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r C o l l e c t q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
( a p p ro x .) q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
11:45AM C o l l e c t q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
(a p p ro x .) Teacher f i l l o u t a c t i v i t y
use q u e s t i o n n a i r e
-t
CO
Table 9 (Continued)
T y p ica l Schedule of 'F re e s ty le A c t i v i t i e s
.Texas Classrooms
Date Time A c t i v i t y
F u ll P a r t i a l
Monday
October 17
4=
l v Q._
1 1 : 00AM
11:15AM
11:30AM
( a p p r o x ,)
11:45AM
( a p p r o x ,)
12:00
View P i l o t I I I , P a r t B
Conduct a c t i v i t y
D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r
q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r
P ost-V iew ing q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
Teacher f i l l o u t a c t i v i t y
use q u e s t i o n n a i r e , te a c h e r
Post-V iew ing q u e s t i o n n a i r e ,
School Guide q u e s t i o n n a i r e
View P i l o t I I I , P a r t B
D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r
q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
D i s t r i b u t e and a d m in is te r
Post-V iew ing q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
C o l l e c t q u e s t i o n n a i r e s
Since f u l l t r e a t m e n t c h i l d r e n were n o t t e s t e d u n t i l
a f t e r t h e i r c la s s r o o m a c t i v i t i e s , a way was needed t o
i n s u r e c o m p a r a b i l i t y o f t h e i r r e s u l t s w ith t h o s e o f p a r t i a l
t r e a t m e n t c h i l d r e n who were t e s t e d im m e d ia te ly f o l l o w i n g
p i l o t v ie w in g . A c c o r d i n g l y , f o u r c l a s s e s random ly s e l e c t e d
from th e f u l l t r e a t m e n t g ro u p were t e s t e d im m e d ia te ly
f o ll o w i n g p i l o t v ie w in g ; t h e i r s c o r e s were checked f o r
c o m p a r a b i l i t y w ith o t h e r f u l l t r e a t m e n t c h i l d r e n in an
a t t e m p t t o check f o r t h e e f f e c t s o f t h e t e s t i n g tim e l a g .
R e s u l t s i n d i c a t e d no d e c r e m e n t in r e t e n t i o n th ro u g h i n t e r
p o l a t i o n o f p r o g r a m - r e l a t e d a c t i v i t i e s between v ie w in g and
t e s t i n g .
All F r e e s t y l e a c t i v i t i e s and d a t a g a t h e r i n g were
c o n d u c te d d u r i n g O c t o b e r , 1977. S i t e c o n s u l t a n t s c o o r
d i n a t e d d i s t r i b u t i o n o f m a t e r i a l s and o r d e r l y r e t u r n o f
com pleted fo rm s . In co m in g s h ip m e n ts were lo g g ed and
c hecked f o r c o n s i s t e n c y ; th e n fo rw a rd e d f o r keypunch and
v e r i f i c a t i o n . A d d i t i o n a l v e r i f i c a t i o n s were p erfo rm ed v i a
com puter as d a t a were r e t u r n e d .
D ata a r r a y summary
A fte r t h e d a t a w ere g a t h e r e d s e v e r a l s t e p s were
n e c e s s a r y t o p r e p a r e t h e v a r i a b l e s f o r a n a l y s i s . For e a c h
p i l o t program , a v e r a g e l i k i n g s c o r e s were c a l c u l a t e d from
i n d i v i d u a l p i l o t q u e s t i o n s . F a c t u a l and o b j e c t i v e
co m p reh en sio n q u e s t i o n s w ere c o n v e r t e d i n t o p e r c e n t c o r r e c t
____________________________________; __________ 50
r e s p o n s e s f o r each p i l o t . The
i t e m s were summed i n t o s c a l e s ,
a g reem en t ite m s from c h i l d r e n
o f t h e v a r i a b l e s were e n t e r e d
t h e d e p e n d e n t and i n d e p e n d e n t
a t t i t u d e / a c t i v i t y s c a l e
as were th e e i g h t o b j e c t i v e
and t e a c h e r s . The r e m a i n d e r
as c o d e d . T able 10 d e t a i l s
v a r i a b l e s e t s .
51
Name
T a b le 10
V a r i a b l e S e t s
D e f i n i t i o n
D ependent V a r i a b l e s
L i k i n g P i l o t I A verage l i k i n g o f two h a l v e s o f P i l o t I
L ik in g P i l o t I I A verage l i k i n g o f two h a l v e s o f P i l o t I I
L i k i n g P i l o t I I I A verage l i k i n g o f two h a l v e s o f
P i l o t I I I
F a c t u a l P i l o t I P e r c e n t c o r r e c t r e s p o n s e s t o f a c t u a l
co m p re h e n sio n q u e s t i o n s on P i l o t I
F a c t u a l P i l o t I I P e r c e n t c o r r e c t r e s p o n s e s t o f a c t u a l
c o m p re h e n sio n q u e s t i o n s on P i l o t I I
F a c t u a l P i l o t I I I P e r c e n t c o r r e c t r e s p o n s e s t o f a c t u a l
c o m p re h e n sio n q u e s t i o n s on P i l o t I I I
O b j e c t i v e P i l o t I P e r c e n t c o r r e c t r e s p o n s e s t o o b j e c t i v e
co m p re h e n sio n q u e s t i o n s on P i l o t I
O b j e c t i v e P i l o t I I P e r c e n t c o r r e c t r e s p o n s e s t o o b j e c t i v e
c o m p re h e n sio n q u e s t i o n s on P i l o t I I
O b j e c t i v e P i l o t I I I P e r c e n t c o r r e c t r e s p o n s e s t o o b j e c t i v e
co m p re h e n sio n q u e s t i o n s on P i l o t I I I
I n d e p e n d e n t V a r i a b l e s
Sex Sex o f r e s p o n d e n t
Grade Grade l e v e l o f r e s p o n d e n t
T re a tm e n t
B i n a r y v a r i a b l e — 1 i f c h i l d was in
f u l l t r e a t m e n t g r o u p , 0 i f p a r t i a l
M a s c u lin e S c a le
Sum o f r e s p o n s e s t o m a s c u l i n e s c a l e on
p r e t e s t , r a n g e 6 t o 30, h i g h e r ,ratin g =
more s t e r e o t y p e d
52
T a b le 10 (C ontinued)
V a r i a b l e S e t s
Name D e f i n i t i o n
I n d e p e n d e n t V a r i a b l e s
F em in in e S c a le Sum o f r e s p o n s e s t o fe m in in e s c a l e on
p r e t e s t , r a n g e 6 t o 30, h i g h e r r a t i n g =
more s t e r e o t y p e d
N e u t r a l S c a l e Sum o f r e s p o n s e s t o n e u t r a l s c a l e on p r e
t e s t , r a n g e 6 t o 30, h i g h e r r a t i n g =
s o c i a l l y d e s i r a b l e
O b j e c t i v e
ag re e m e n t
Sum o f r e s p o n s e s on 8 q u e s t i o n s r e g a r d
in g a g re e m e n t w i t h program o b j e c t i v e s ,
r a n g e 8 t o 40, h i g h e r r a tin g = m o r e
ag re e m e n t
D i f f e r e n c e S c o re A r i t h m e t i c d i f f e r e n c e betw een t e a c h e r
and c h i l d a g re e m e n t w i t h program o b j e c
t i v e s ( E ig h t q u e s t i o n s summed.)
A p p r o p r i a t e n e s s C o n tin u o u s v a r i a b l e r e f l e c t i n g t h e d e
g r e e o f a p p r o p r i a t e n e s s o f t h e c o n t e n t ,
r a n g e 1 t o 7, h i g h e r r a tin g = m o r e
a p p r o p r i a t e
K n o w l e d g e / I n t e r e s t C o n tin u o u s v a r i a b l e , sum o f t e a c h e r
know ledge o f and i n t e r e s t i n F r e e s t y l e
c o n t e n t a r e a , r a n g e 2 t o 8, h i g h e r
r a t i n g = h i g h e r i n t e r e s t / k n o w l e d g e
E f f e c t s C o n tin u o u s v a r i a b l e r e f l e c t i n g e f f e c t
o f shows on c h i l d r e n a s seen by
t e a c h e r s , r a n g e 1 t o 3, h i g h e r r a t i n g =
p o s i t i v e e f f e c t
Good o r Bad C o n tin u o u s v a r i a b l e r e f l e c t i n g w h e th e r
t e a c h e r found a n y t h i n g p a r t i c u l a r l y
w o rth y o r o b j e c t i o n a b l e a b o u t shows,
r a n g e 1 t o 3, h i g h e r r a t i n g = w o r t h y
r a t i n g
53
T a b le 10 (C ontinued)
Name D e f i n i t i o n
I n d e p e n d e n t V a r i a b l e s
E x t r a A c t i v i t i e s C o n tin u o u s v a r i a b l e r e f l e c t i n g d e g r e e
t o w hich t e a c h e r engaged in s u p p le m e n ta l
a c t i v i t i e s , ra n g e 1 t o 3, h i g h e r
r a t in g = m o r e a c t i v i t i e s
T e a c h e r a g re e m e n t Sum o f r e s p o n s e s on 8 q u e s t i o n s r e g a r d
in g a g re e m e n t w i t h program o b j e c t i v e s
i n p o s t - t e s t , r a n g e 5 t o 40, h i g h e r
r a t in g = m o r e a g re e m e n t
R a t i n g s o f shows r e l a t i v e t o o t h e r s
u se d
U n d e r s t a n d a b l e
P i l o t I
C o n tin u o u s v a r i a b l e r e f l e c t i n g r a t i n g ,
r a n g e 0 t o 3, where 3 = b e t t e r t h a n
a v e r a g e
P i l o t I I
i r
P i l o t I I I
f!
I n t e r e s t - L e v e l
P i l o t I
i?
P i l o t I I
i f
P i l o t I I I
i i
E a sy , p r a c t i c a l u s e
P i l o t I
i t
P i l o t I I
i f
P i l o t I I I
I!
54
C h a p te r I I I
ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
The method o f a n a l y s i s c h o s e n f o r t h e r e s e a r c h was t h e
h i e r a r c h i c a l d e c o m p o sitio n form o f m u l t i p l e r e g r e s s i o n
a n a l y s i s , which a llo w s t h e r e s e a r c h e r t o s p e c i f y th e o r d e r
in w hich v a r i a b l e s o r s e t s o f v a r i a b l e s a r e e n te r e d in t h e
r e g r e s s i o n e q u a t i o n . The r e s e a r c h e r a n t i c i p a t e d some
amount o f v a r i a n c e t o be due t o t h e e f f e c t s o f demographic
v a r i a b l e s , and th e r e s e a r c h was i n t e n d e d to d e te rm in e what
a d d i t i o n a l v a r i a n c e , i f any, was a t t r i b u t a b l e to o th e r
v a r i a b l e s . The dem ographic v a r i a b l e s were e n te r e d f i r s t
i n each e q u a t i o n , fo llo w e d by c h i l d v a r i a b l e s in th e same
s e q u e n c e as t h e y had been g a t h e r e d ; p r e t e s t , th e n p o s t t e s t .
F o l l o w i n g t h e s e th e t e a c h e r v a r i a b l e s were added, w ith
r a t i n g s o f t h e m a t e r i a l s p r e c e d i n g a g r e e m e n t w ith program
o b j e c t i v e s .
A c o n s e r v a t i v e F s t a t i s t i c was u s e d t o t e s t s i g n i f
i c a n c e in t h e r e s u l t s , w ith £ < . 0 1 , s i n c e t h e l a r g e sam ple
s i z e made p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y t r i v i a l d i f f e r e n c e s s i g n i f i c a n t
a t t h e 95 p e r c e n t l e v e l .
The p rim a ry q u e s t i o n f o r an a n a l y s i s was t h e d e g re e t o
w h ic h c h i l d outcomes c o u ld be p r e d i c t e d from a co m b in atio n
o f c h i l d dem ographic, c h i l d a t t i t u d e and t e a c h e r v a r i a b l e s ,
and t h e d e g re e o f g e n e r a l i t y o f r e s u l t s a c r o s s p i l o t m a te
55
r i a l s . In t h e f o ll o w i n g d i s c u s s i o n e a c h s e t o f v a r i a b l e s
w i l l be examined s e p a r a t e l y .
Demographic V a r i a b l e s
T a b le s 11 t o 13 d e t a i l z e r o - o r d e r c o r r e l a t i o n s and
e x p l a i n e d v a r i a n c e o f t h e d e m o g r a p h ic v a r i a b l e s fo r
l i k i n g , f a c t u a l and o b j e c t i v e c o m p r e h e n s i o n . As e x p e c te d ,
t h e dem ographic v a r i a b l e s a c c o u n te d f o r s i g n f i c a n t v a r i a n c e
i n l i k i n g and com prehension o f t h e m a t e r i a l s . Simple
c o r r e l a t i o n s i n d i c a t e d t h a t in a l l c a s e s g i r l s li k e d t h e
p i l o t s b e t t e r than boys and were m ore l i k e l y t o have h i g h e r
s c o r e s on f a c t u a l and o b j e c t i v e c o m p r e h e n s io n (means and
s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n s f o r t h e s e v a r i a b l e s a r e shown in T a b le
1 4 ) . Sex was th e p re d o m in a n t v a r i a b l e in l i k i n g , w ith
g r a d e a c c o u n t i n g f o r more v a r i a n c e i n f a c t u a l and o b j e c t i v e
c o m p r e h e n s io n . The c o r r e l a t i o n s i n d i c a t e d t h a t o ld e r
c h i l d r e n s c o re d h i g h e r in c o m p r e h e n s io n t h a n t h e i r younger
c o u n t e r p a r t s . Grade was n e g a t i v e l y a s s o c i a t e d w ith l i k i n g
o f P i l o t s I and I I ; a p p a r e n t l y t h e a p p e a l s used in t h e s e
shows were more s u i t a b l e f o r y o u n g e r c h i l d r e n . In no c a s e
2
d i d t h e R change a c c o u n te d f o r by t h e t r e a t m e n t v a r i a b l e
a p p r o a c h s i g n i f i c a n c e . The t o t a l am ounts o f e x p la in e d
v a r i a n c e were s m a ll, r a n g i n g from j u s t o v e r one p e r c e n t to
o v e r f i v e p e r c e n t , w ith P i l o t s I and I I g e n e r a l l y ab o u t th e
same amount and P i l o t I I I c o n s i d e r a b l y lo w e r . The p a t t e r n s
o f t h e r e s u l t s were g e n e r a l l y a l i k e f o r a l l t h r e e p i l o t s ,
56
Table 11
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and Change o f R e g re ssio n of
Demographic V a r ia b le s on L ik in g o f Three P i l o t s
P i l o t I P i l o t I I p i l o t i n
R^ Change Simple r R^ Change Simple r R^ Change Simple r
Demographic V a ria b le s
Sex .0172* .1311 .0207* .1440 .0100* .0998
Grade .0101* -.0984 .0075* -.0 8 4 5 .0014 .0330
T reatm ent .0020 .0346 .0005 .0120 .0010 .0301
T o t a l Demographic
. 0293 . 0287 .0124
R^ th ro u g h t h i s s te p . 0293 . 0287 .0124
M u ltip le C o r r e l a t i o n
C o e f f i c i e n t (R)
.1710 .1696 .1109
*F fa, 1000) = 6 .6 6 , p < . 01
U 1
--j
Table 12
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and Change of R e g re ssio n of
Demographic V a r ia b le s on F a c t u a l Comprehension o f Three P i l o t s
P i l o t I P i l o t I I P i l o t I I I
R^ Change Simple r R Change Simple r R^ change Simple r
Demograpmc
V a r ia b le s
Sex
.0048* .0712
.0054* .0772
.0189* .1374
Grade
.0118* .1088
.0484* .2200
.0055*
. 0766
Treatm ent
.0028 .0487
.0014 .0339
.0115
. 0297
T o ta l Demographic
.0194
. 0552
.0259
R^ th ro u g h t h i s s te p
.0194
.0552
. 0259
M u ltip le C o r r e l a t i o n
C o e f f i c i e n t (R)
.1395
..2350
.1609
*F (1,1000) = 6. 66, p <
in
00 ..................
.01
Table 13
2
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change of R e g re ssio n of
Demographic V a r ia b le s on O b je c tiv e Comprehension of Three P i l o t s
P i l o t I P i l o t I I P i l o t I I I
R^ Change Simple r r2 Change Simple r R Change Simple r
Demographic
V a r ia b le s
Sex .0054* .0765 .0026 .0546 .0010 .0328
Grade .0394* .1985 .0476* .2181 .0135* .1162
Treatm ent .0000 .0009 .0007 .0245 .0003 -.0 1 9 7
T o t a l Demographic
.0448 . 0509 .0148
R^ th ro u g h t h i s s te p
.0448 .0509 .0148
M u ltip le C o r r e l a t i o n
C o e f f i c i e n t (R) .2166 . 2256 .1216
*F (1,1000) = 6 .6 6 , p < . 01
U1
V O
T a b le 14
Ifleans and S ta n d a r d D e v i a t i o n s o f D ependent
V a r i a b l e s by Sex o f C h ild
Boys G i r l s
Mean S.D. Mean 'S.D.
L ik in g
P i l o t I 4 .4 .8 4 .6 .7
P i l o t I I 4 . 6 .8 4 .8 . 6
P i l o t I I I 4 .8 .5 4 . 9 .4
F a c t u a l
P i l o t
C om prehension
I 7 9.2 1 9 .0 81. 8 1 7.4
P i l o t I I 63 .3 1 9.8 66.6 1 8 .5
P i l o t I I I 8 7.5 17 .8 91, 8 1 3.2
O b j e c t i v e C om prehension
P i l o t I 59.3 2 0 .0 62.2 18,3
P i l o t I I 65. 8 2 2.1 68.5 2 2 .1
P i l o t I I I 46 . 9 2 1 .0 4 8,2 1 9.7
60
w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f m a g n itu d e , and f o r f a c t u a l
c o m p r e h e n s io n o f P i l o t I I I sex was t h e b e s t p r e d i c t o r ;
g i r l s b e in g more l i k e l y t o ch o o se t h e c o r r e c t answer t o t h e
q u e s t i o n s .
A t t i t u d e V a r i a b l e s
2
The s im p le c o r r e l a t i o n s and R ch a n g e amounts f o r t h e
2
c h i l d a t t i t u d e v a r i a b l e s a r e shown in T a b le s 15 to 17. R
c h a n g e and m u l t i p l e c o r r e l a t i o n s a t t h e b o tto m o f th e
c h a r t s r e f l e c t t o t a l s th ro u g h t h i s s t e p . T a b le 18 d e t a i l s
t h e means and s ta n d a r d d e v i a t i o n s f o r t h e a t t i t u d e
v a r i a b l e s by c h i l d s e x . In a l l b u t a s i n g l e c a s e , th e
am o u n ts o f e x p la in e d v a r i a n c e a t t r i b u t a b l e t o t h e a t t i t u d e
v a r i a b l e s exceeded t h a t a t t r i b u t a b l e t o dem ographic
v a r i a b l e s , even a f t e r t h e e f f e c t o f t h e dem o g rap h ics h as
b e e n s t a t i s t i c a l l y e l i m i n a t e d . In te r m s o f l i k i n g th e
p i l o t s , t h e fe m in in e s c a l e s c o r e a c c o u n t e d f o r th e l a r g e s t
amount o f v a r i a n c e from among t h e p r e t e s t v a r i a b l e s . This
2
i s n o t s u r p r i s i n g g iv e n t h e R c h a n g e o f sex in th e
p r e v i o u s s t e p and t h e r e l a t i v e l y h i g h c o r r e l a t i o n between
sex and t h e fe m in in e s c a l e ( - . 5 5 ) . In f a c t u a l and
o b j e c t i v e co m p reh en sio n , h o w ever, n e i t h e r s e x - r e l a t e d s c a l e
2
R ch an g e a c h iev ed s i g n i f i c a n c e , b u t t h e n e u t r a l s c a l e was
s i g n i f i c a n t . Since t h i s s c a l e was n o t c o r r e l a t e d w ith sex
o r g r a d e ( - . 4 6 , .004, r e s p e c t i v e l y ) , i t a p p e a re d t o be
t a p p i n g a f u r t h e r c h i l d domain. C h i l d r e n who were l i k e l y
61
Table 15
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and
A t t i t u d e V a r ia b le s on
9
R Change of R e g re ssio n of
L ik in g o f Three P i l o t s
P i l o t I P i l o t I I P i l o t I I I
R2 Change Simple r R2 Change Simple r R^ Change Simple r
A t t i t u d e V a r ia b le s
Fem inine S c a le .0114* .1636 .0146* .1813 .0062* .1224
M asculine S c a le . 0000 -.0588 . 0000 -.0505 .0002 -.0 1 3 4
N e u t r a l S cale . 0002 .0592 .0010 .0814 .0026 .0819
O b je c tiv e Agreement .0159* .1601 .0153* .0164 .0196* .1776
D if f e r e n c e Score .0118* -.0 1 8 1 .0059* -.0 4 1 5 .0018 -.0 8 2 5
T o ta l A t t i t u d e .0393 . 0368 .0304
9
R th ro u g h t h i s s te p .0686 .0655 .0428
M u lt i p l e C o r r e l a t i o n
C o e f f i c i e n t (R) .2620 .2561 .2066
*F (1,1000) = 6 .6 6 , p < .01
cn
to
Table 16
2
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change of R e g ressio n of
A t t i t u d e V a r ia b le s on F a c t u a l Comprehension of Three P i l o t s
P i l o t I P i l o t I I P i l o t I I I
R^ Change Simple r r2 Change Simple r R^ Change Simple r
A t t i t u d e V a r ia b le s
Fem inine S cale
.0002 .0638 .0009 .0679 .0011 .0900
M asculine S cale
.0000 .0039 . 0006 -.0046 .0002 -.0 4 1 1
N e u t r a l S cale
.0099* .1028 .0213* .1499 .0143* .1259
O b je c tiv e Agreement
.0422* .2373 .0341* . 2368 .0349* .2339
D if f e r e n c e Score
.0054* -.1 0 7 1 .0031 -.1182 .0012 -.1234
T o ta l A t t i t u d e
.0577 .0600 . 0517
R th ro u g h t h i s s te p
.0771 .1152 .0776
M u ltip le C o r r e l a t i o n
C o e f f i c i e n t (R)
.2779 .3395 .2788
■ *F (1,1000) = 6 .6 6 , p <. 01
< T i
U >
T able 17
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R2 Change of R e g re ssio n of
A t t i t u d e V a r ia b le s on O b je c tiv e Comprehension of Three P i l o t s
P i l o t I P i l o t I I P i l o t I I I
R2 Change Simple r R2 Change Simple r R2 Change Simple r
A t t i t u d e V a r ia b le s
Feminine S c a le .0010 .0502 .0004 .0678 .0018 .0015
M asculine Scale .0005 -.0153 .0034 -.0173 .0002 -.0 0 5 1
N e u tr a l S cale .0108* .1078 .0256* .1627 . 0027 .0542
O b je c tiv e Agreement
.0656* .2946 .0472* .2648 .0074* .1045
D if f e r e n c e Score .0104* -.1 2 7 1 .0062* -.1248 .0015 -.0424
T o ta l A t t i t u d e . 0883 .0828 .0136
R2 th ro u g h t h i s s te p .1331 .1337 .0284
M u lt i p l e C o r r e l a t i o n
C o e f f i c i e n t (R) . 3648 .3656 .1683
*F (1,1000) = 6 .6 6 , p < .01
C T l
T a b le 18
Means and S t a n d a r d D e v i a t i o n s o f In d e p e n d e n t
V a r i a b l e s by Sex o f C h ild
Boys G i r l s
Mean S.D. Mean S.D.
M a s c u lin e S c a l e 22,4 3 .7 18.4 3 .6
F em in in e S c a l e 19.7 3 .7 24.4 3 .4
N e u t r a l S c a l e 24 . 8 2 .9 2 5.0 2 .8
O b j e c t i v e Agreem ent 33. 6 5 .0 3 6.1 3 .7
D i f f e r e n c e S co re 7 .6 13 . 6 4 .6 1 3.0
65
t o s e e th e m s e lv e s in g e n e r a l l y s o c i a l l y d e s i r a b l e ways were
m ore l i k e l y t o s c o re h i g h e r on t h e f a c t u a l and o b j e c t i v e
c o m p re h e n s io n q u e s t i o n s . The sum o f c h i l d o b j e c t i v e
a g r e e m e n t was th e s i n g l e m ost i m p o r t a n t , and most
c o n s i s t e n t v a r i a b l e in t h e a t t i t u d e v a r i a b l e s e t . C h ild r e n
who w ere more in ag reem en t w i t h t h e o b j e c t i v e s were more
l i k e l y t o g e t h ig h e r s c o r e s and t o l i k e t h e p i l o t s b e t t e r
t h a n t h o s e c h i l d r e n who were l e s s i n a g re e m e n t w ith th e
o b j e c t i v e s . The v a r i a b l e r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e d i f f e r e n c e
b e tw e e n t e a c h e r and c h i l d a g r e e m e n t w i t h o b j e c t i v e s was
s i g n i f i c a n t in s e v e r a l c a s e s . T h i s v a r i a b l e was s c o re d so
t h a t a low er number i n d i c a t e d l e s s d i f f e r e n c e between t h e
tw o . The c o r r e l a t i o n s i n d i c a t e d t h a t s i m i l a r c h i l d and
t e a c h e r agreem ent w ith t h e o b j e c t i v e s were accompanied w ith
h i g h e r s c o r e s and more l i k i n g o f t h e p i l o t s . The r e s u l t s
o f t h e s e a n a l y s e s have s u b s t a n t i a l g e n e r a l i t y a c r o s s
p i l o t s , w ith th e m ajor d i f f e r e n c e b e i n g once a g a in th e
m a g n i t u d e o f th e P i l o t I I I r e s u l t s . The a t t i t u d e v a r i a b l e s
a d d ed from about one t o a b o u t n i n e p e r c e n t t o t h e e x p l a i n e d
v a r i a n c e from th e f i r s t s t e p .
T e a c h e r V a r i a b l e s
2
The c o r r e l a t i o n s and R c h a n g e f i g u r e s f o r th e t e a c h e r
2
v a r i a b l e s a r e shown in T a b le s 19 t o 2 1 . R and m u l t i p l e
c o r r e l a t i o n s a t t h e b o tto m a r e t o t a l s f o r a l l v a r i a b l e s in
e q u a t i o n . T able 22 d e t a i l s t h e m ean s and s ta n d a r d
66
Table 19
Zero Order
2
C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change of R e g ressio n of
Teacher V a r ia b le s on L iking of Three P i l o t s
P i l o t I P i l o t I I P i l o t I I I
2
R Change Simple r
2
R Change Simple r
2
R Change Simple r
Teacher V a r ia b le s
U n d erstan d ab le
P i l o t I .0002 .1820 . 0025 .0375 .0016 .0070
P i l o t I I . 0000 -.0554 ,0012 -.0056 ,0004 -.0466
P i l o t I I I .0013 -.0755 . 0020 -.0808 .0000 -.0405
I n t e r e s t - L e v e l
P i l o t I .0370* .2206 .0016 -.0213 .0000 .0331
P i l o t I I .0071* -.0622 .0045 .0147 .0022 .0130
P i l o t I I I .0004 -.0075 .0016 -.0487 .0010 -.0128
Easy, P r a c t i c a l ' u s e
P i l o t I .0056* .1582 .0004 -.0005 .0006 -.0138
P i l o t I I .0000 -.0325 .0023 -.0638 .0022 -.0523
P i l o t I I I .0001 .0106 .0021 -.0375 .0013 . 0067
E x tra A c t i v i t i e s .0046* -.0510 .0000 .0162 .0021 .0358
cr<
T able 19 (Continued)
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R2 Change of R e g re ssio n of
Teacher V a r ia b le s on L ik in g of Three P i l o t s
P i l o t I P i l o t I I P i l o t I I I
R2 Change Simple r R2 Change Simple r R2 Change Simple r
Teacher V a r ia b le s
Teacher Sex
.0017 -.1036 .0004 -.0524 .0016 -.0358
K n o w le d g e /In te re s t .0004 .0585 .0039 . 0601 .0021 . 0075
E f f e c t s .0002 -.0211 .0003 -.0063 . 0006 -.0 0 8 6
Good or Bad . 0000 -.0 0 9 1 .0027 .0222 .0013 -.0454
A p p ro p ria te n e s s . 0000 -.0114 .0044 -.0782 .0006 -.0 1 5 1
Teacher Agreement .0095* . 0316 . 0044 .0032 .0077* -.0 5 6 5
T o ta l Teacher .0682 >0341
\
. 0253
R f o r a l l v a r i a b l e s
.1367 .0996 . 0681
M u lt i p l e C o r r e l a t i o n
C o e f f i c i e n t (R) .3700 .3161 .2608
*F (1,1000) = 6 .6 6 , p < .
< T l ~ ~
oo
01
Table 20
Zero Order
2
C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change of R eg ressio n of
Teacher V a r ia b le s on F a c tu a l Comprehension of Three P i l o t s
P i l o t I P i l o t I I P i l o t I I I
2
R Change Simple r R^ Change Simple r
2
R Change Simple r
Teacher V a r i a b l e s
U n d erstan d ab le
P i l o t I ,0005 .0576 .0005 ,0493 .0032 -.0171
P i l o t I I ,0014 -.0021 .0000 -.0188 .0044 -.0307
P i l o t I I I .0021 .0665 .0002 .0575 .0043 .0688
I n t e r e s t - L e v e l
P i l o t I .0069* .1334 .0078* .1034 .0007 -.0153
P i l o t I I .0035 -.0093 .0000 .0200 .0017 -.0001
P i l o t I I I . 0027 -.0229 .0005 .0414 .0030 -.0117
Easy, P r a c t i c a l use
P i l o t I .0006 .1353 .0028 ,1291 .0005 .0216
P i l o t I I .0003 .0062 .0016 ,0040 .0026 -.0320
P i l o t I I I .0010 .626 ,0022 .1018 .0069* .0608
C T i
.so
E x tra A c t i v i t i e s .0033 .0015 .0003 .0388 .0030 -.0348
Table 20 (Continued)
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R2 Change of R e g ressio n of
Teacher V a r ia b le s on F a c tu a l Comprehension of Three P i l o t s
P i l o t I P i l o t I I P i l o t I I I
R2 Change Simple r R2 Change Simple r R2 Change Simple r
Teacher V a r ia b le s
Teacher Sex
.0084* .0536 . 0008 -.0119 . 0003 . 0225
K n o w le d g e /In te re s t
. 0003 . 0562 .0072* .0192 .0081* -.0380
E f f e c t s . 0000 -.0 0 4 0 .0000 -.0382 . 0000 -.0440
Good o r Bad
. 0028 .0527 .0002 -.0020 .0048* . 0212
A p p ro p ria te n e s s
.0171* .1780 .0049* .1718 .0001 . 0535
Teacher Agreement .0058* -.0286 . 0016 .0466 .0071* -.0 9 9 0
T o ta l Teacher
. 0567 .0306 .0507
R2 f o r a l l V a ria b le s .1342 .1459 .1285
M u ltip le C o r r e l a t i o n
C o e f f i c i e n t (R) .3664 . 3820 . 3585
£ *F (1,1000) = 6 .6 6 , p < . 01
Table 21
Zero Order
2
C o r r e l a t i o n s and R Change of R e g re ssio n of
Teacher V a r i a b l e s on O b je c tiv e Comprehension of Three P i l o t s
P i l o t I P i l o t I I P i l o t I I I
, 2
R Change Simple r
2
R Change Simple r
2
R Change Simple r
Teacher V a r ia b le s
U n d erstan d ab le
P i l o t I .0019 .1076 .0016 .1179 .0000 -.0030
P i l o t I I .0000 -.0266 .0050* -.0502 .0009 . 0024
P i l o t I I I .0000 .0536 ,0005 .0208 ,0001 -.0209
I n t e r e s t - L e v e l
P i l o t I .0000 .1237 ,0000 ,1384 ,0016 , 0191
P i l o t I I .0003 .0067 ,0007 ,0261 .0004 .0260
P i l o t I I I .0003 .0486 ,0000 .0228 .0039 -,0 3 9 9
Easy, P r a c t i c a l use
P i l o t I .0159* ,1716 ,0220* .2012 ,0008 ,0375
P i l o t I I .0033 ,0009 ,0007 ,0.286 .0017 ,0613
P i l o t I I I .0015 . 0977 .0054* ,1060 ,0005 ,0137
-4
E x tra A c t i v i t i e s .0000 ,0536 ,0002 ,0740 ,0020 -,0229
Table 21 (Continued)
Zero Order C o r r e l a t i o n s and R2 Change of R egression of
Teacher V a r ia b le s on O b je c tiv e Comprehension of Three P i l o t s
P i l o t I P i l o t I I P i l o t I I I
2
R Change Simple r R2 Change Simple r R2 Change Simple r
Teacher V a r ia b le s
Teacher Sex . 0000 -.0105 .0000 -.0 1 0 5 . 0001 . 0381
K n o w le d g e /In te re s t .0041 .0297 .0036 .0449 .0006 .0330
E f f e c t s
. 0002 -.0848 . 0036 . 0002 .0009 -.0497
Good o r Bad .0005 -.0352 . 0008 -.0562 . 0000 -.0082
A p p ro p ria te n e s s .0042 .1372 .0019 .1552 .0012 . 0642
Teacher Agreement . 0036 -.0462 . 0040 -.0389 . 0013 . 0359
T o ta l Teacher .0358 . 0500 . 0160
2
R f o r a l l v a r i a b l e s .1689 .1837 . 0444
M u ltip le C o r r e l a t i o n
C o e f f i c i e n t (R) .4113 . 4284 .2107
^ *F (1,1000) = 6.66 , p < .01
T a b le 22
Means and S t a n d a r d D e v i a t i o n s o f T e a c h e r
I n d e p e n d e n t V a r i a b l e s
Mean S.D.
U n d e r s t a n d a b l e
P i l o t I
cn
I — 1
.7
P i l o t I I 2 .2 .7
P i l o t I I I 2 . 8 .4
I n t e r e s t L e v e l
P i l o t I 2 .0 .7
P i l o t I I 2.4 . 6
P i l o t I I I 2 .9 .2
E a sy , P r a c t i c a l Use
P i l o t I 2.2 ,7
P i l o t I I 2.3 . 6
P i l o t I I I 2.8 .5
A p p r o p r i a t e n e s s 6 .1 1 .1
K n o w l e d g e / I n t e r e s t 4 .8 1 .0
E f f e c t s 2.5 .5
E x t r a A c t i v i t i e s 2 .1 .4
T e a c h e r Agreem ent 3 7 .2 3 .4
1 3 .
d e v i a t i o n s f o r t h e t e a c h e r v a r i a b l e s . A lth o u g h th e
v a r i a b l e s added s i g n i f i c a n t v a r i a n c e , as d e te rm in e d by F
2
t e s t o f t h e t o t a l e q u a t i o n , o n ly a few o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l R
c h a n g e amounts a re s i g n i f i c a n t a t t h e .01 l e v e l . In
a d d i t i o n , even where t h e r e s u l t s w e re s i g n i f i c a n t , th e
p a t t e r n s a p p eared t o be q u i t e ran d o m , w i t h t h e sim ple
c o r r e l a t i o n s a l t e r n a t i n g betw een p o s i t i v e and n e g a t i v e .
The sum o f t e a c h e r r a t i n g s o f a g r e e m e n t w i t h t h e p r o j e c t
o b j e c t i v e s was s i g n i f i c a n t in a few c a s e s , b u t th e sim p le
c o r r e l a t i o n s were som etim es p o s i t i v e and sometim es
n e g a t i v e . Means and s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n s o f t h e t e a c h e r
r a t i n g s and agreem ent w ith o b j e c t i v e s i n d i c a t e d v ery h ig h
r a t i n g s and h ig h a g reem en t w ith f a i r l y low v a r i a n c e .
O v e r a l l i t i s c l e a r t h a t t h e t e a c h e r s d id n o t have as much
n e g a t i v e i n f l u e n c e on t h e c h i l d r e n ’ s outcom e m easures as
m i g h t have been a n t i c i p a t e d , a t l e a s t as f a r as th e d a t a
a l l o w a n a l y s i s .
74
C h a p te r IV
DISCUSSION
Summary o f t h e S tu d y
T h is r e s e a r c h was d e s ig n e d t o exam ine s o u rc e s o f
v a r i a n c e in outcomes o f a b r o a d c a s t and p r i n t program aimed
a t r e d u c i n g s e x - r o l e s t e r e o t y p i n g among f o u r t h th ro u g h
s i x t h g r a d e boys and g i r l s .
S tim u lu s m a t e r i a l s c o n s i s t e d o f t h r e e h a l f - h o u r
t e l e v i s i o n p i l o t program s i n c o r p o r a t i n g d i f f e r e n t p r o
d u c t i o n a p p ro a c h e s t o t h e b e h a v i o r a l o b j e c t i v e s , and a
s e r i e s o f a s s o c i a t e d p r i n t m a t e r i a l s .
Program outcomes c o n s i s t e d o f m e a s u r e s o f l i k i n g ,
f a c t u a l and o b j e c t i v e c o m p re h e n s io n g a t h e r e d through
i n s t r u m e n t s a d m i n i s t e r e d i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r F r e e s t y l e
a c t i v i t i e s . Data were g a t h e r e d from 1636 f o u r t h - , f i f t h - ,
and s i x t h - g r a d e c h i l d r e n in f o u r g e o g r a p h i c a l l y s e p a r a t e d
s i t e s .
I n d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e s c o n s i s t e d o f m e a su re s o f s e x -
t y p e d a t t i t u d e s and a c t i v i t i e s a s w e l l as t r a d i t i o n a l
d e m o g r a p h i c s , c h i l d a g re e m e n t w i t h p rogram o b j e c t i v e s and
t e a c h e r m a t e r i a l s r a t i n g s and a g r e e m e n t w ith o b j e c t i v e s .
A s e r i e s o f p r e d i c t i v e e q u a t i o n s was c o n s t r u c t e d u s in g
t h e h i e r a r c h i c a l d e c o m p o s itio n m eth o d o f m u l t i p l e r e g r e s
75
s i o n a n a l y s i s , which a l l o w s t h e s p e c i f y i n g o f t h e o r d e r o f
i n t r o d u c t i o n o f v a r i a b l e s in t h e e q u a t i o n . I t had been
e x p e c te d t h a t some am ount o f v a r i a n c e would be a c c o u n te d
f o r in dem ographic v a r i a b l e s , t h e r e f o r e th e y were e n t e r e d
in t h e e q u a t i o n s f i r s t i n o r d e r t o d e te r m in e what v a r i a n c e ,
i f any, would be a t t r i b u t a b l e t o t h e a d d i t i o n o f t h e
re m a in in g i n d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e s .
The main q u e s t i o n f o r t h e r e s e a r c h was: t o what
d e g r e e , and w ith what g e n e r a l i t y a c r o s s s t i m u l u s m a t e r i a l s ,
a r e e v a l u a t i o n and c o m p r e h e n s io n o f a f f e c t i v e - g o a l ETV
m a t e r i a l s p r e d i c t e d by c h i l d d em o g rap h ic v a r i a b l e s , c h i l d
p s y c h o l o g i c a l v a r i a b l e s , and t e a c h e r v a r i a b l e s ?
In an a b s o l u t e s e n s e , one would have t o c o n c lu d e t h a t
a r e l a t i v e l y s m a ll amount o f p r e d i c t i v e power was a t t r i b
u t a b l e t o t h e c o m b i n a t i o n o f v a r i a b l e s used f o r a n a l y s i s .
The e x p l a i n e d v a r i a n c e r a n g e d from s l i g h t l y o v e r f o u r
p e r c e n t t o a b o u t e i g h t e e n p e r c e n t . The p a t t e r n s o f t h e
r e s u l t s were more v a l u a b l e th a n t h e i r m a g n itu d e , h o w ev er.
A lth o u g h t h e c h i l d d e m o g ra p h ic v a r i a b l e s p erfo rm ed as
e x p e c t e d , w ith b o th sex and g ra d e g e n e r a l l y c o n t r i b u t i n g
s i g n i f i c a n t e x p l a i n e d v a r i a n c e , t h e a t t i t u d e / a c t i v i t y
v a r i a b l e s c o n s i s t e n t l y a c c o u n te d f o r as much or more
v a r i a n c e , even a f t e r d e m o g ra p h ic v a r i a b l e s were e n t e r e d in
t h e e q u a t i o n s . E s p e c i a l l y i n t e r e s t i n g was t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n
t h a t th e n e u t r a l s c a l e on t h e p r e t e s t made in f a c t u a l and
o b j e c t i v e c o m p r e h e n s io n . S in c e t h i s s c a l e was n o t
________________________________________________________76
c o r r e l a t e d w ith e i t h e r s e x o r g r a d e , i t seemed t o be
t a p p i n g a g e n e r a l o r i e n t a t i o n to w ard s o c i a l l y a c c e p t a b l e
a c t i v i t i e s o r a t t i t u d e s . E q u a lly i n t e r e s t i n g was t h e
i n d i c a t i o n t h a t w h ile t e a c h e r v a r i a b l e s a c c o u n te d f o r
s i g n i f i c a n t v a r i a n c e , t h e s im p le c o r r e l a t i o n s o f t h e s e
v a r i a b l e s w ith t h e d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e s were o f t e n n e g a t i v e .
T h is makes t h e jo b o f i n t e r p r e t a t i o n d i f f i c u l t , s i n c e t h e
p a t t e r n s seemed t o be random .
In t h e c a s e o f t h e sum o f t e a c h e r ag reem en t w ith t h e
o b j e c t i v e s , f o r i n s t a n c e , t h e s im p le c o r r e l a t i o n s o f t h e
2
f o u r s i g n i f i c a n t R c o n t r i b u t i o n s were n e g a t i v e in t h r e e
c a s e s . In a d d i t i o n , t h e v a r i a n c e a c c o u n te d f o r in no c a s e
e x c e e d e d one p e r c e n t . One i s r e l u c t a n t from t h e s e r e s u l t s
t o c o n c lu d e t h a t t h e l e s s t e a c h e r s a g re e d w ith t h e
o b j e c t i v e s , t h e b e t t e r t h e i r c h i l d r e n were l i k e l y to
p e r f o r m . The same s o r t o f p a t t e r n ( o r la c k t h e r e o f )
e x i s t e d in t h e r a t i n g s o f t h e m a t e r i a l s . Sum m arizing,
c h i l d dem ographic and a t t i t u d e / a c t i v i t y v a r i a b l e s
c o n t r i b u t e d s i g n i f i c a n t v a r i a n c e , w h i l e t h e r e m a in in g
in d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e s w ere l e s s i n f o r m a t i v e . The t o t a l
e x p l a i n e d v a r i a n c e was s m a l l , b u t t h e p a t t e r n s were
c o n s i s t e n t and i n t e r p r e t a b l e .
With r e g a r d t o t h e g e n e r a l i t y o f th e m odels a c r o s s t h e
t h r e e p i l o t p ro g ra m s , i n a l l c a s e s ( l i k i n g , f a c t u a l and
o b j e c t i v e c o m p re h e n sio n ) more v a r i a n c e was a c c o u n te d f o r i n
P i l o t s I and I I th a n P i l o t I I I . Even though t h i s was t h e
77
c a s e , t h e p a t t e r n s o f s i g n i f i c a n t v a r i a b l e s were v i r t u a l l y
i d e n t i c a l e x c e p t f o r m a g n itu d e .
Given t h a t t h e main a n a l y s e s d i d p ro d u c e i n t e r p r e t a b l e
and s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t r e s u l t s , two a d d i t i o n a l
q u e s t i o n s were to be c o n s i d e r e d :
a . Of what p r a c t i c a l u s e i s t h e a d d i t i o n a l
i n f o r m a t i o n in p r o d u c i n g a f f e c t i v e e d u c a t i o n a l
m a t e r i a l s ?
b. What do such m odels c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e o r y in t h e
a r e a o f com m unication e f f e c t s ?
The f o llo w in g d i s c u s s i o n a d d r e s s e s each o f th e s e
q u e s t i o n s in t u r n .
P r a c t i c a l Use o f t h e R e s u l t s
C h i l d r e n in t h e t a r g e t a u d i e n c e a r r i v e d in c l a s s w i t h
s i g n i f i c a n t n o tio n s a b o u t c e r t a i n a t t i t u d e s and a c t i v i t i e s
a s m easu red by th e p r e t e s t . In t h e r e g r e s s i o n m odels, even
a f t e r b i o l o g i c a l sex and g r a d e o f c h i l d were ta k e n i n t o
a c c o u n t , s e l f a s s e s s m e n ts on t h e p r e t e s t and agreem ent w ith
p r o j e c t o b j e c t i v e s e x p l a i n e d s i g n i f i c a n t a d d i t i o n a l
v a r i a n c e . In most c a s e s t h e s e l a t t e r v a r i a b l e s c o n t r i b u t e d
m ore e x p l a i n e d v a r i a n c e th a n t h e d e m o g r a p h i c s . This
i n d i c a t e s t h a t when i t i s e x p e c t e d t h a t a p o t e n t i a l
a u d i e n c e may be somewhat h o s t i l e t o t h e p ro p o se d m essage,
some s o r t o f au d ie n c e a s s e s s m e n t r e l a t i v e t o th e i n i t i a l
p o s i t i o n n e e d s t o be made. To some e x t e n t t h i s in f o r m a t i o n
______________ 78
can be g a t h e r e d t h r o u g h p r e t e s t i n g , a lth o u g h exam in in g t h e
i n t e r a c t i o n s o f a t t i t u d e and m a t e r i a l s i s t o be p r e f e r r e d .
D e s ig n in g i n t o t h e p r o j e c t t h e f l e x i b i l i t y o f t h e f i e l d
s i t e s e v a l u a t i o n a llo w e d t h e a t t i t u d e t e s t i n g t o be
c o n d u c te d in s e t t i n g s w h ic h a p p r o x im a te d th o s e e x p e c te d f o r
t h e f i n a l s e r i e s o f p r o g r a m s .
One r e s u l t w ith p a r t i c u l a r p r a c t i c a l i n t e r e s t was t h a t
in t h e c u r r e n t e v a l u a t i o n , t e a c h e r s d id n o t seem t o h ave as
g r e a t an i n f l u e n c e as t h e y m ig h t h a v e . The t e a c h e r s , w i t h
l i t t l e e x c e p t i o n a g r e e d w i t h t h e p r o j e c t o b j e c t i v e s , and
r a t e d t h e m a t e r i a l s h i g h l y , a l t h o u g h t h e r e were d i f f e r e n c e s
among th e p i l o t s . T h e re i s f a c e v a l i d i t y t o s u p p o r t t h e
n o t i o n t h a t s i n c e t h e t e a c h e r s e s s e n t i a l l y had t h e c h i l d r e n
t o th e m s e lv e s f o r m ost o f t h e s c h o o l d ay, and F r e e s t y l e
o c c u p ie d a s m a ll p o r t i o n o f t h e r e m a i n d e r , t h a t i f t h e y
had had s e r i o u s r e s e r v a t i o n s t o t h e shows, t h e y m ig h t h a v e
i n f l u e n c e d t h e outcom es o f t h e i r s t u d e n t s q u e s t i o n n a i r e s .
In s i t u a t i o n s where t h e t e a c h e r s a r e giv en t h e c h o i c e o f
w a tc h in g or n o t , t h e y become t h e u l t i m a t e a r b i t e r o f t h e
show, and c e r t a i n l y a f f e c t t h e s t u d e n t o utcom es. C h o o sin g
n o t t o watch t h e show i s a more e f f e c t i v e t o o l th a n
w a tc h in g and s u b s e q u e n t l y t a k i n g tim e t o r e f u t e t h e
m e s s a g e . T e a c h e rs in t h e s i t e e v a l u a t i o n were e s s e n t i a l l y
n o t g iv e n t h i s c h o i c e , so t h a t q u e s t i o n w i l l h ave t o be
a d d r e s s e d in a n o t h e r s t u d y .
79
C e r ta in r e s u l t s r a i s e s p e c u l a t i v e i s s u e s . For
i n s t a n c e , P i l o t s I and I I were m o d e lle d s i g n i f i c a n t l y
b e t t e r th a n P i l o t I I I . T h i s c o u ld be seen as a l i a b i l i t y ,
t h a t one knows l e s s a b o u t t h e c h i l d r e n , or as an a s s e t ,
t h a t th e show had a more g e n e r a l a p p e a l th a n t h e f i r s t two
p i l o t s . P i l o t s I and I I u t i l i z e d a f a i r l y h a r d - h i t t i n g
a p p ro a c h ( G i r l in h a r d - h a t on c o n s t r u c t i o n jo b lo o k s a t
cam era and s a y s , " I d o n ' t want t o make a b r e a k t h r o u g h , I
j u s t want t o make a l i v i n g . ” F a d e . ) , w h ile P i l o t I I I
c o n c e rn e d a young g i r l i n a d r a m a t ic fo rm at o v e r a h a l f
h o u r show. The o b j e c t i v e s f o r t h e f i r s t p i l o t s were
h a n d le d in s h a r p f o c u s , r a p i d l y r e p e a t e d , w h ile P i l o t I I I
was p ro b a b ly seen more l i k e " t e l e v i s i o n , ” th a n " e d u c a
t i o n a l ” t e l e v i s i o n . In f a c t , t h e r e i s e v id e n c e t h a t some
p ro b le m s e x i s t e d f o r t h i s f o r m a t , s i n c e s c o r e s f o r t h e
o b j e c t i v e c o m p re h e n sio n q u e s t i o n s f o r P i l o t I I I were
s i g n i f i c a n t l y lo w er t h a n f o r t h e f i r s t two p i l o t s . The
l a c k o f fo c u s on t h e o b j e c t i v e s may have made them h a r d e r
t o r e c o g n i z e .
Another i s s u e p o i n t e d o u t in t h e r e s u l t s was th e
i n d i c a t i o n t h a t a d d i t i o n a l " p r a c t i c e ” in th e o b j e c t i v e s ,
a f f o r d e d by t h e n o n b r o a d c a s t a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e f u l l
t r e a t m e n t c l a s s e s , was n o t accom panied by an in c r e m e n t in
t h e a b i l i t y o f c h i l d r e n t o r e c o g n i z e t h e c o r r e c t answer t o
a q u e s t i o n a b o u t a p a r t i c u l a r t e l e v i s i o n seg m e n t. In no
c a s e did t h e d i f f e r e n c e b etw een f u l l and p a r t i a l t r e a t m e n t
80
g r o u p s r e a c h s i g n i f i c a n c e . In t h e c o g n i t i v e realm one
w ould e x p e c t t h a t p r a c t i c e r e c o g n i z i n g t h e l e t t e r "A” would
c a u s e an improvement in t e s t i n g d e s i g n e d t o d e te r m in e i f
t h e c h i l d knows th e l e t t e r "A ." A p p a r e n t l y p r a c t i c i n g an
a c t i v i t y such as l o o k i n g f o r n o n t r a d i t i o n a l jo b s f o r men
and women in m agazines d id n o t make t h e c h i l d more
s e n s i t i v e t o r e c o g n i z i n g t h e n o n t r a d i t i o n a l jo b a s p e c t s o f
a f i l m e d segm ent. S in c e t h e s e n o n b r o a d c a s t m a t e r i a l s
consumed a c o n s i d e r a b l e amount o f c o s t , t h e i r b e n e f i t s in
p r o j e c t s such as t h e p r e s e n t one m u st be c a r e f u l l y
d e t e r m i n e d . The r e a d e r s h o u ld be r e m in d e d , however, t h a t
t h e o v e r a l l g o a l o f t h e p r o j e c t was a t t i t u d e change, so
t h a t o v e r tim e t h e r e s u l t o f t h e t o t a l pack ag e m ight have
b e e n more th a n th e sum o f t h e t e l e v i s i o n shows. I n s t r u
m e n ts s e n s i t i v e t o t h i s q u e s t i o n n e e d t o be p r o j e c t e d f o r
t h e sum m ative r e s e a r c h s t a f f s .
In t h e c a s e o f a f f e c t i v e o b j e c t i v e s , d e c i s i o n s a b o u t
f o r m a t , c o n t e n t , u se o r n o n - u s e o f n o n b r o a d c a s t m a t e r i a l s
n e e d t o be made from d a t a on a s l a r g e a ra n g e o f v a r i a b l e s
a s p o s s i b l e , i n c l u d i n g , b u t n o t l i m i t e d t o some a s s e s s m e n t
o f t h e e n t e r i n g l e v e l s o f a t t i t u d e to w a rd t h e a r e a o f
i n t e r e s t .
T h e o r e t i c a l C o n t r i b u t i o n s
In C h a p te r One i t was s u g g e s t e d t h a t a t l e a s t one
p o s s i b l e o r i e n t a t i o n t o t h e s i t u a t i o n l i k e l y t o o c c u r w ith
t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f F r e e s t y l e m a t e r i a l s would be t h a t o f
81
c o g n i t i v e c o n s i s t e n c y . T h a t i s , c h i l d r e n i n i t i a l l y
p r e d i s p o s e d t o t h e " m e s s a g e " o f t h e m a t e r i a l s would be
e x p e c te d t o p e rfo rm b e t t e r on t h e q u e s t i o n s s i n c e t h e y
would f in d t h e m a t e r i a l s r e i n f o r c i n g .
The f a c t u a l and o b j e c t i v e c o m p re h e n sio n s c o r e s f o r
P i l o t s I and I I o f f e r some s u p p o r t f o r t h i s i d e a . S c o re s
on t h e n e u t r a l it e m s on t h e p r e t e s t which c o n s i s t e d o f
s o c i a l l y d e s i r a b l e i t e m s a lo n g w ith t h e s c o r e on a g re e m e n t
w i t h o b j e c t i v e s were p r e d o m in a n t f a c t o r s on t h e r e g r e s s i o n
m o d els even a f t e r c h i l d sex and g r a d e a re e n t e r e d in t h e
e q u a t i o n s . T h is i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e c h i l d r e n r e c o g n i z e d t h e
m e s s a g e , a g re e d w i t h i t , and found t h e c o r r e c t r e s p o n s e on
t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e . G iven t h e a b s o l u t e m ag n itu d e o f t h e
e x p l a i n e d v a r i a n c e , h o w e v e r , many o t h e r c h i l d r e n n o t
i n i t i a l l y in a g re e m e n t a l s o r e c o r d e d t h e c o r r e c t a n s w e r, so
c o n s i s t e n c y was n o t t h e o n l y f a c t o r o p e r a t i n g . Unknown i s
t h e amount o f i n f l u e n c e a t t r i b u t a b l e t o t h e n o v e l t y o f t h e
s i t u a t i o n c o u p le d w ith c l a s s e s ' knowing t h a t t h e y had b een
s e l e c t e d t o w atch t h e show and " t e l l t h e p ro d u c e r" what
t h e y th o u g h t o f t h e p i l o t s .
Use o f some p e r s u a s i o n model o f f e r s s e v e r a l a d v a n t a g e s
o v e r sim ply e x am in in g c o n t e n t v a r i a b l e s or m e a s u rin g
o u tc o m e s. F i r s t , i t h e l p s t o f o c u s a t t e n t i o n on t h e
p r o c e s s in t h e c l a s s r o o m and p o i n t s o u t th e l i k e l y a c t o r s .
The model a l s o p r o v i d e s a way t o p r e d i c t c e r t a i n outcom es
w hich can be e m p i r i c a l l y t e s t e d . One o f th e l i m i t a t i o n s o f
82
much p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h i n e d u c a t i o n h a s been t h a t
r e s e a r c h e r s have g e n e r a l l y f o c u s s e d o n l y on outcom es o r on
c o n t e n t . A lthough b o th a s p e c t s a r e s a l i e n t , t h e c u r r e n t
r e s e a r c h adds s u p p o r t t o t h e n o t i o n t h a t th e y m ust be s e e n
i n t e g r a l l y in a p r o c e s s o r i e n t a t i o n a lo n g w ith c o n t e x t u a l
v a r i a b l e s . The a r e a o f co m m u n ic a tio n r e s e a r c h d e a l i n g w i t h
p e r s u a s i o n h a s been r e a s o n a b l y s u c c e s s f u l in t h i s a r e a .
P e r s u a s i o n r e s e a r c h e r s h a v e s t u d i e d such a s p e c t s as
com m unicator c r e d i b i l i t y , m essage v a r i a b l e s and p s y c h o
l o g i c a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f r e c e i v e r s , c h a r a c t e r i z i n g t h e
p r o c e s s o f a t t i t u d e c h a n g e as m u l t i - s t a g e , m u l t i - v a r i a t e ,
w h i l e e d u c a t i o n h a s seemed more r e l u c t a n t t o a d o p t t h i s
v ie w .
In t h e c u r r e n t c a s e , h o w ev er, and in o t h e r s , such a s
t h e V e g e ta b le Soup p r o j e c t m e n tio n e d e a r l i e r , t h e e d u c a
t i o n a l p r o c e s s i s n o t a t a l l b e n i g n , and so m ust be
a d m i t t e d t o h ave p e r s u a s i v e i n t e n t . M ielke (1976) s u g g e s t s
t h a t a d v e r t i s e r s h ave b e e n much more s u c c e s s f u l th a n
e d u c a t o r s in u s i n g t e l e v i s i o n t o p ro d u c e i n t e n d e d e f f e c t s ,
and in doing so h ave e s t a b l i s h e d a co m p re h e n siv e s e t o f
s t e p s t o be a c c o m p lis h e d l e a d i n g t o t h e g o al o f a t t i t u d e
c h a n g e . These s t e p s i n c l u d e s p e c i f y i n g g o a l s ; d e t e r m i n i n g
t h e dem ographic and p s y c h o g r a p h i c c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e
i n t e n d e d a u d i e n c e ; m e ssa g e d e s i g n ; m essage p r e t e s t i n g ;
c o n t r o l l e d d i f f u s i o n ; and a t t r a c t i v e p a c k a g in g . A ll o f
t h e s e have been u sed t o some e x t e n t in e d u c a t i o n , b u t few ,
83
i f any, p r o j e c t s u t i l i z e a l l . P e r h a p s i t i s tim e f o r
e d u c a t o r s to ad m it t h a t t h e y a r e in t h e b u s i n e s s o f
" m a r k e tin g " i n f o r m a t i o n , a d o p t t h e model and aim f o r more
s u c c e s s .
S u g g e s t i o n s f o r F u t u r e R esearch
The r e s u l t s o f t h e c u r r e n t r e s e a r c h c l e a r l y i n d i c a t e
t h a t s u b se q u e n t r e s e a r c h e r s in a f f e c t i v e - g o a l p r o j e c t s
c o u ld b e n e f i t from t h e a d d i t i o n o f a l a r g e r r a n g e o f
in d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e s , i n c l u d i n g some drawn from p e r s u a s i o n
r e s e a r c h . R e s e a r c h e r s a r e e n c o u ra g e d t o assume a p r o c e s s ,
as opposed t o p r o d u c t o r i e n t a t i o n a s w e l l .
Funding a g e n c i e s s h o u l d be made more aware o f t h e
c o m p l e x i t i e s o f t h e e n v i r o n m e n t in which a f f e c t i v e
e d u c a t i o n i s c a r r i e d o u t and r e q u i r e t h a t p r o d u c e r s or
f o r m a t i v e e v a l u a t o r s a c c o u n t f o r a s much o f t h e c o m p l e x i t y
a s p o s s i b l e by d e v e l o p i n g a d e q u a t e i n s t r u m e n t s .
One l i m i t a t i o n o f t h e c u r r e n t d a t a i s t h a t b o th
c h i l d r e n and t e a c h e r s w ere found t o a g re e h i g h l y w ith t h e
m a t e r i a l s , a l t h o u g h e v i d e n c e was p r e s e n t e d t h a t c h i l d r e n o f
t h i s age were l i k e l y t o be r e l a t i v e l y t r a d i t i o n a l i n t h e i r
sex r o l e o r i e n t a t i o n s . T h e re a r e a t l e a s t two p o s s i b l e
e x p l a n a t i o n s . F i r s t , c h i l d r e n and t e a c h e r s may n o t be a s
t r a d i t i o n a l l y o r i e n t e d a s e x p e c t e d . A lthough t h a t i s t o be
d e s i r e d , i f t h e y a r e a l r e a d y in a g re e m e n t w ith t h e
o b j e c t i v e s , t h e need f o r t h e e x p e n s e o f th e p r o j e c t i s
84
q u e s t i o n n a b l e . Second, t h e s e l e c t i o n o f s i t e s and " s p e c i a l
s t a t u s " o f t h e c l a s s e s c h o s e n t o view F r e e s t y l e m ig h t h a v e
i n f l u e n c e d t h e c h i l d r e n t o r a t e t h e m s e l v e s and t h e
m a t e r i a l s in a d e s i r a b l e m a n n e r. As m en tio n ed p r e v i o u s l y ,
t e a c h e r s were n o t r e a l l y g i v e n th e a l t e r n a t i v e o f n o t
w a tc h in g F r e e s t y l e . I t would be w o rth c o n s i d e r i n g a more
m o d est t e s t o f t h e m a t e r i a l s by t e s t i n g t e a c h e r s f o r
o b j e c t i v e a g re e m e n t in o r d e r t o f i n d a t l e a s t a few who
w ere low in ag re e m e n t and t h e n o f f e r i n g t h e m a t e r i a l s and
d e t e r m i n i n g i f t h e y w a t c h , and i f s o , what t h e r e s u l t s a r e
in t h e i r c l a s s e s .
85
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D a v id s o n , H. H. & Lang, G. C h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s o f t h e i r
t e a c h e r s ' f e e l i n g s tow ard them r e l a t e d t o
s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n , s c h o o l a c h i e v e m e n t and b e h a v i o r .
J o u r n a l o f E x p e rim e n ta l E d u c a t i o n , 1960, 29., 107-118.
F a g o t , B. I . & P a t t e r s o n , G. R. An i n - v i v o a n a l y s i s o f
r e i n f o r c i n g c o n t i n g e n c i e s f o r s e x - r o l e b e h a v i o r s in th e
p r e s c h o o l c h i l d . D e v e lo p m e n ta l P s y c h o l o g y , 1969, _ 1_,
5 6 3 -5 6 8 .
F e s h b a c h , N. D. S t u d e n t t e a c h e r p r e f e r e n c e s f o r e le m e n ta r y
s c h o o l p u p i l s v a r y in g in p e r s o n a l i t y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s .
J o u r n a l o f E d u c a tio n a l P s y c h o l o g y , 1969. .60, 126-132.
F e s t i n g e r , L. A Theory o f C o g n i t i v e D i s s o n a n c e . E v a n sto n ,
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Asset Metadata

Creator Eastman, Harvey Albert (author)

Core Title Correlates of children's responses to an affective television and print package designed to reduce sex-role stereotyping

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Communication Theory and Research

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Gender Studies,mass communications,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Advisor [illegible] (committee chair), [illegible] (committee member), Allen, William H. (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c17-696160

Unique identifier UC11344516

Identifier DP22339.pdf (filename),usctheses-c17-696160 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier DP22339.pdf

Dmrecord 696160

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Eastman, Harvey Albert

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA