In the early 1980s, when viewers typically had the choice of only a few channels, television was shown to be a mass-market medium (Barwise and Ehrenberg 1988). Channel segmentation was effectively non-existent, different channels attracted near identical audiences, and no channel attracted a more loyal audience than its competitors (Goodhardt, Ehrenberg et al. 1975; 1987; Barwise and Ehrenberg 1988). Over the last two decades the UK and US have witnessed dramatic changes in television. Viewers today not only have access to a prolific number of channels, but there are now specialist channels devoted to single genres such as sports, music, children's, news etc. This thesis investigates the effect these changes have had on television viewing behaviour. The patterns and structure of present-day viewing behaviour in the UK and US are established and interpreted, focusing primarily on how viewers are using 'new' multi-channel television services

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Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / Vast amounts of published and unpublished materials concerning the implications of television in the field of education are available. A glimpse into the literature indicates a great deal of controversy over the uses, purposes, advantages, and disadvantages of television and its role in the lives of school children. The purposes of this survey are to find out the television viewing habits of a group of high school students, and the impact of television on some of the educational activities of these students. [TRUNCATED]

Objective: To determine the variance in percent body fat between and within families as measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Methods: Percent body fat (%BF) assessed in 95 females, 120 males (included 54 sets of biological siblings) using DXA. Physical activity questionnaire used to assess current physical activity habits in each participant. Results: Variance in %BF between and within families is similar. Amount of television viewing and levels of physical activity can affect %BF. Discussion: A model such as the one derived in this study can be a useful tool in intervention programs implemented to decrease obesity.

Methods of study include two questionnaires and eight photographs of television characters used while interviewing sixty children, ages four and five. The data showed that the children actively selected the television programs they watched rather than watching at random. They watched television regularly and named the programs they watched. The children perceived a great amount of parental supervision in their viewing of television. Most children were able to understand the concepts of fantasy and reality, to distinguish between those concepts, and to apply them to specific television program characters and their actions. However, the five-year-olds showed a greater tendency to identify television program characters as make-believe.

Denna undersökning syftar till att undersöka sanningshalten i medias artiklar om barns TV-tittande. För att göra det, jämfördes flera tidningsartiklar med vetenskapliga artiklar som handlar om barns tv-tittande. Endast de tidningsartiklar som hänvisar till vetenskapliga artiklar användes för denna undersökning. Resultaten visar att media ibland vinklar fakta, men överdriver riskerna med yngre barns tv-tittande i jämförelse med vad som skrivs i de vetenskapliga artiklarna. I flera fall har även de positiva effekterna tonats ned, såväl i tidningsartikeln som i den vetenskapliga artikeln. Tolv av de fjorton tidningsartiklarna i denna undersökning återberättar inte vad den vetenskapliga forskningen säger på ett sanningsenligt sätt.   För att undersöka om det finns något samband mellan medias bild av barnens TV-tittande och förskollärarnas medieanvändande delades en enkät ut till flera förskollärare. Enkätundersökningen visar att hälften av deltagarna inte svarade på om de var påverkade av medias bild eller inte. De som besvarade den frågan uppgav att de antingen inte påverkades alls eller mycket lite av medias bild, eller så svarade de, men inte på den aktuella frågan. Dessa resultat är dock osäkra på grund av det låga antalet svar på enkäten. / This study aims to investigate the truthfulness in media reports concerning children´s television viewing. Several press articles were compared with scientific articles which is about children´s television viewing. The press articles referring to scientific articles for this study were choosen. Our results show that media attend some times to angle facts but exaggerate the risks with young children´s television viewing in compared to what the scientific articles report. In several cases, the positive effects have been downsized both in the press articles and in the scientific articles. Twelve of the fourteen press articles in this study failed to retell what the scientific research says in at truthful way.   To explore if there is a relationship between media´s report in children´s television viewing and preschool teachers media usage a questionnaire were handed out to preschool teachers. The questionnaire survey shows that half of the participants did not answer whether they were influenced by the media`s image or not. Those who did answer reported that they either were not affected at all or very little of media´s image or they did answer, but not to the question at issue. These results, however, are uncertain, due to the low number of responses on the questionnaire.

In relation to the women¡¦s consumption gradually increasing, the female consumption market is becoming larger than before. In the current media, definitions of beauty image created by the media has become the standards of self-examination, it even has great influences on female consumption preference. Thus, this study aims to investigate what kind of female image the female beauty TV program represents¡H What is the relationship between the female images represented by female beauty TV program and the cognition of beauty of female audiences? And what affects the level of exposure in TV program and the life style of the female consumers influence has on the female audiences¡¦ cognition of beauty¡H This primary research expects to describe the relationship between the female images shaped by TV medias and the cognition of beauty of female audiences. Since the start of female beauty program Queen in TVBS-G on TV, there have been many fashion programs like Beautyplan, Beautyworld in CTITV, E-line secret garden in GTV, and Perfect beauty in FTV following in Taiwan. This research is going to discuss whether these fashion programs will lead to the myth of beauty for female consumers. And does the female image built by the TV media influence the purchasing preference of female cosmetic. All of these are issues this study will be discussing. This study applied the methodology of quantitative content analysis approach and internet questionnaire survey. First, it analyzes the content of the female beauty program during Jan,2005 to Jul,2007 and focuses on the female internet users whose ages are between 15 and 45. Then, these internet questionnaires are divided into four parts, including heavy viewers, light viewers, high involvement, and low involvement. According to the compared analysis of the group samples, it aims to acquire an understanding of the viewpoints of female image and the differences of consumption preference, after female consumers watched the fashion programs. In terms of the outcomes of the research, it shows the between the participants of heavy/light viewers, high/low involvement and different lifestyle, there are obviously differences in the cognition of beauty. Therefore, the exposure of the fashion program, involvement and lifestyle make a huge impact on the cognition of beauty. Besides this, the difference of high/low involvement and the lifestyle of the participants will influence the consumption preference of the audiences, but there are no apparent differences for the consumption preference between the different participants of heavy/light viewers.

This paper will use political discussion programs in Taiwan as an example and use the research method of experimentation to attempt to establish a way of research that is both quantitative and qualitative. By using a correlation analysis of audience evaluation and ratings, an investigation will be carried out as to whether Taiwan¡¦s political discussion programs are in fact public forums that are a paradigm of a deliberative democracy. In order to test the hypothesis that states there is a correlation between audience evaluation and ratings, this paper made audience evaluation (in other words the topics discussed on the programs, their hosts, guests, producers and their negative effects) an independent variable and made the AGB Nielsen television rating numbers a dependent variable. It was discovered that audience evaluation does in fact affect ratings and that there is a positive correlation between audience evaluation and ratings. For example, the higher an audience¡¦s evaluation of the topics discussed on a certain program and its hosts, guests and producers were, the higher that particular program¡¦s ratings were. If on the other hand, audiences believe that a certain political discussion program has negative effects such as encouraging opposition within society or defaming a certain person or group, the lower the ratings of that particular program were. From the results of the correlation analysis of audience evaluation and ratings, it can be seen that there is a huge difference between what viewers expect from political discussion programs and what our current political discussion programs are like. It was also discovered that whilst today¡¦s political discussion programs claim they are public forums; they are in reality primarily aimed at making commercial profit. This means that these programs are still a long way away from becoming a paradigm for a deliberative democracy and making Taiwan a more democratic society.

The purpose of this study was to explore the association between parenting stress and child body mass index (BMI). Behaviours known to increase childhood obesity risk were also examined in relation to parent stress: poor eating habits, increased television viewing, decreased physical activity and poor sleep habits. Cross-sectional, baseline data were collected from 110 parent-child dyads participating in a family-based obesity prevention intervention. The majority of participants identified as Hispanic/Latino and belonged to low-income households. Parents scored an average of 28.4 +/- 10.7 on the PSI-3-SF, classifying 20% as high stress. Using the World Health Organization (WHO) growth charts, 48% of children were categorized as overweight or obese. Parenting stress was not found to be associated with child weight status in this study. Parenting stress was, however, significantly associated with unhealthful behaviours that are associated with increased obesity risk. In comparison to children with unstressed parents, the children of highly stressed parents were less likely to meet the recommendation of 60 minutes spent in active play per day on weekdays. Highly stressed parents also were less likely to limit the amount of television their child viewed. While it is important to target activity and television behaviours among young children, our results suggest that interventions may also need to address parental stress as a possible underlying factor associated with unhealthful behaviours among young children.

Recent research suggests that sedentary behaviours have detrimental effects on the health and well-being of children, including effects on obesity. Specifically, television viewing is consistently associated with childhood obesity. Two explanations have been proposed: 1) reduced energy expenditure, and 2) increased food intake. However, it has been suggested that the association between television viewing and childhood obesity may be better explained by an increase in energy intake than by a reduction in energy expenditure. To date, children of different weight status have not been compared in their dietary patterns in front of the television, and it is not known if total sedentary time is linked with food intake in children. The objectives of this thesis are: 1) to determine if obese children consume food more frequently while watching television than normal weight children, and 2) to examine which of television viewing or total sedentary time better predicts dietary patterns in children. Overall, our results re-affirm the notion that television viewing is associated with obesity, although physical activity plays a role in this association. Also, children who are obese consume fast food and fruits/vegetables more frequently during television watching than normal weight children. Furthermore, television viewing appears to be a better predictor of dietary patterns in children than overall sedentary time. Globally, these results provide evidence for the deleterious effects of television viewing on children’s dietary patterns and justification for future intervention studies designed to reduce television viewing in children with obesity.