To determine the relationship between eighth grade students' motivation to study and the number of hours they spend in viewing television, a study interviewed 210 eighth-grade students in central Georgia concerning their daily television viewing habits. Subjects completed the Wells-Bledsoe Motivation Checklist and provided information about their…

The ways in which, and the extent to which, changes in viewer positioning mediate the diegesis of commercial television news is problematic, since television news is generally considered to be "non-fiction." Diegesis can be defined as the depicted real-world. The choices made in depicting the scene have implications as to the positioning…

Classroom observation data were collected from 32 presentations by 7 professors in the College of Medicine at Texas A&M University over the course of 9 months for a study of the potential of two-way television as an instructional medium. Half of the observations were made from two-way television mediated lessons transmitted from the Veterans…

Research in audience analysis has generally lumped together members of ethnic groups under a broad category of "nonwhites" and has ignored different orientations of these minority groups toward television and mass media. Despite increasing research interests in minority audiences, specific oriental populations have largely been ignored in regard…

This ERIC digest provides a brief overview of the video, audio, and computer technologies that are currently used to deliver instruction for distance education programs. The video systems described include videoconferencing, low-power television (LPTV), closed-circuit television (CCTV), instructional fixed television service (ITFS), and cable…

Noting that daytime television serials have been used to teach a variety of subjects, including writing and language skills, this paper reviews literature on the nature of soap operas so that instructors can use them more effectively. Following an introduction citing studies on the educational uses of soap operas, the paper explores the following…

This review of recent empirical research on the effects of television on children and teenagers begins by examining the results of two surveys which were conducted to determine the opinions of experts in the field. A brief statement of the findings indicates that experts generally agree that television harms formal scholastic achievement while…

One approach to the study of the televised image is through the combination of signs, created through production choices. Just as a linguistic sign does not carry exclusively the thoughts of its author but interposes its own material form (thus affecting reading of the text), so does the production choice (technique) infect the thought of the…

A nationwide survey was conducted for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to determine school superintendents' planned use and implementation of Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS). Two hundred and fifty superintendants from 310 randomly-selected school districts with over 6,000 enrolled pupils responded to a postal card…

Discusses the process of getting television into syllabuses as a subject; noting that the key question about a communications system is why the communicators want to communicate, and arguing that in the case of large networks, the purpose is to validate the existing social system, up-holding the concept of the political concensus and mainstream…

A study was conducted to determine (1) how often television was used as a surrogate parent, (2) the reasons leading to its use as such, and (3) the correlates of using television as a babysitter. Telephone interviews were conducted with 226 mothers who had children between the ages of 2 and 12. The respondents answered questions that addressed…

This review of the research on the role of television in family life considers television both as a medium for which the specific content matters little, and as a source of content, i.e., a purveyor of messages about physical and social life. Television viewing is discussed as an activity in which family members participate and about which they…

This resource guide, which was produced to provide support for school programs which use television as part of the regular instructional program in the state of Washington, includes listings of eight characteristics of effective instructional television programs, six of effective instructional television viewing, and five of effective planning for…

The results of research conducted by the 1977 Task Force on Minorities in Public Broadcasting are reported in this document. The task force, consisting of a group of 28 individuals of various ethnic backgrounds, was assembled by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to determine the success of public broadcasting in meeting the informational and…

After training and a pilot test, 19 groups throughout the United States composed of a total of 187 monitors--predominantly women--were evaluated on the basis of sex role criteria programs telecast on the three commercial television networks during a 12-week period from November 1975 through February 1976. Results indicated that the 1975-76…