During our second lecture in Research Methods, when asked to provide an example of a relational statement, one student offered the following:
Playing violent video games leads to more violent inter-personal behaviour by these game-playing individuals.
That’s a great example, and we used this in class for a discussion of how we could go about testing whether this statement is true. We then surmised that watching violence on television may have similar effects, though watching is more passive than “playing”, so there may not be as great an effect.
If television viewing can cause changes in our behaviour that are not socially productive, can it also lead viewers to change their behaviour in a positive manner? There’s evidence to suggest that this may be true. In a recent study,
there is evidence to suggest that watching MTV’s 16 and Pregnant show is associated with lower rates of teen pregnancy. What do you think about the research study?
Clouds, Clocks, and Sitting at Tables 