This 2-year study was conducted to investigate the nature of religious television, its viewers, and its effect on mainline or other local churches. Four specific areas were addressed: the nature of the viewing audience, the content of religious television, the appeals and satisfactions (uses and functions) of religious programs, and behavioral…

The last in a series of four, this report describes part of a national study commissioned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to investigate audience awareness of public radio, reaction to on-air fund raising and programing on public radio, and audience reactions to on-air fund raising by public television stations. Discussion centers on…

Examines major issues and problems for research on television and its effects on children through a critical discussion of Cullingford's book, "Children and Television," which focuses on ways in which children learn and what they learn from television. (MBR)

Describes a study which used the heart rate of subjects as the measure of physiological arousal to assess the effect of forewarning on emotional reactions and physiological responses to a frightening television film. Results indicate that although forewarning did not significantly affect anxiety, it did promote more intense fright and upset. (MBR)

Reviews prior research on television programers' information processing in making decisions on what programs to broadcast, focusing on attribute information, information integration, and information processing styles. A field experiment conducted to determine importance programers attach to programing information, how they make judgments, and…

This study explored patterns of pastime activities that stand as alternatives to television viewing among middle school children. Findings are compared with those of Robinson's study (1981) for alternative media, video games, and sleeping variables, as well as dichotomous measures for group membership, playing a musical instrument, and hobbies.…

Presents a qualitative methodology employing workshop sessions for studying audience assessment of the mass media's service to the public. Finds that viewers are capable of a sophisticated critique of television, and raises implications both for the politics of communication and for further reception studies. (MG)

Collection of detailed data on normative overall patterns of television viewer behavior has been an ongoing effort of the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) in the United Kingdom. While their measurement system--self-completion viewing diaries in conjunction with electronic meters recording television set use--may register that an…

This is the proceedings of a symposium organized by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for the purpose of focusing on exisiting problems in and future strategies for promoting television programming services to minority audiences. Included are a prologue, "In Search of Diversity," by Howard Myrick; a foreword, "Minorities in Public…

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.…

This paper discusses the utility of an ethnographic method that incorporates various participant observation techniques in providing information about family television viewing. It presents arguments for a naturalistic case study approach focusing on family-media interaction and suggests three methods of data collection: interviews and followups;…

An evaluation was made of the methodology and findings presented in "Television and Antisocial Behavior. Field Experiments," by Stanley Milgram and R. Lance Shotland (New York: Academic Press, 1973). In the book, seven experiments were reported, all concerned with antisocial behavior toward a medical charity. Three episodes of Medical…

Using open-ended questions to elicit responses from 77 kindergarteners, 24 second graders, and 25 fifth graders in New York, an attempt was made to determine how children perceive the accuracy and the reality of television programs. The kindergarteners and second graders tended to restrict their observations to specific visual traits, while the…

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)