A METHODOLOGICAL STUDY WAS CONDUCTED WHICH HAD AS ITS PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVES--(1) DEVELOPMENT OF A RELATIVELY SIMPLE, EFFECTIVE, AND ECONOMICAL WAY TO EVALUATE SPECIFIC (TELEVISION) VISUAL TECHNIQUES, AND (2) TEST THE METHOD IN A VARIETY OF SITUATIONS. A TWO CAMERA CLOSED-CIRCUIT TELEVISION SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED SO THAT THE OUTPUT OF THE TWO CAMERAS…

This report, part of a series of statistical surveys of public broadcasting based on data provided by licensees of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, provides details of public-television program content for the 1976 calendar year. Chapters include discussion of definitions and categories of program content, the public television system in…

Argues that formative research (research intended to provide practical answers) is an important tool in the production of effective programs for use in instructional television, particularly in developing nations. (JJD)

A comprehensive framework for assigning experimental research in television message design strategies into either production or performer variable categories is developed, research related to each category is reviewed, and suggestions are made for the conception and reporting of continued research. Seventy-nine references are listed. (Author/CHC)

The following methods are suggested to measure the comprehensibility of Children's Television Workshop productions: (1) comprehension tests inserted into the program; (2) dual audio testing--a technique which inserts comprehension questions into the empty spaces in the regular program audio track; and (3) program interruptions which permit…

Methods are suggested to measure the program appeal and audience attention of Children's Television Workshop productions. Among these are distractor techniques, one which permits subjects to discriminate between two simultaneously broadcast programs by selecting the audio track they most prefer and one used to rank order several programs.…

Using a new telephone-observation methodology which permitted low-cost observation of home television viewing behaviors, this study examined how families use home television, parental involvement in their children's television viewing, and families' educational use of home television. Following initial calls to 2,922 household phones, a total of…

This study, conducted prior to the installation of daily prime-time television programming in areas of rural Alaska previously without commercial television service, was designed to provide a foundation of pre-television baseline data against which to measure the social and behavioral effects of television on this multicultural population.…

Describes Michigan State University's use of telephone interviews to assess student attitudes in television courses and reviews data from a recent survey and classroom students' grades or attitudes toward mediated instruction. Evaluation utilization by producers, faculty, and administrators to improve instructional television is noted. (Author/MBR)

This is an initial examination of findings from laboratory and field studies done in Israel on the cognition-cultivating functions of media. The studies reasoned that highly explicit presentations of film-mediated operations can be imitated by observers, and that once imitated, they are internalized and can serve as modified mental skills. Two…

Reactions of preschool children from urban and rural Quebec to several animated and other representational television characters were obtained. Visual elements consistently appealing are identified, and responses are reviewed for sex, cultural, and location differences. Application of results in the production of a televised antismoking promotion…

Study of secondary school pupils' reactions to viewing careers education materials in which people were shown in occupations traditionally associated with the opposite sex found that young adolescents viewing counter-stereotyped programs were no less stereotyped in career beliefs. Results are discussed in terms of resilience of sex role in…

Describes a study which investigated why some teachers choose to use, or not to use, educational television broadcasts in their teaching. The study also tested the proposition that low levels of television use by teachers are due to antipathy to new methods in general, or fear of mechanization, or similar reasons. (Author/LLS)

Describes a study of undergraduates in the Open University that used qualitative research methods to investigate how students learn with educational television. Results of observations, interviews, and test data are analyzed to determine which program features are important, and the methodology is contrasted with the one used in other studies of…

Straightforward and engaging in style, this book presents 10 essays that provide concrete, step-by-step examples of how to conduct studies of the impact of television on behavior from quantitative perspectives, qualitative perspectives, and an integrated approach, making the volume useful for both undergraduate and graduate students. Its…