Creating Measures

Creating Measures

Independent Variable: Amount of time an adolescent spends watching violent content on the television.

Operational Definition: In this case, ‘violent content’ operationally refers to exposure to a 20-minute video displaying scenes of physical assault by one person against another (Huesmann & Taylor, 2006).

Dependent Variable: The average number of reported cases of aggression

Operational Definition: Aggression is operationally defined as an act that is intended to irritate or injure another human, and it can be nonphysical or physical (Grimes & Bergen, 2008). This may include some kinds of behavior that are not commonly comprehended as violent such as hurling insults and spreading harmful rumors about somebody (Anderson et al, 2003). Aggression is used in this case to describe more serious kinds of physically violent behavior that pose a greater risk of serious injury to the victims.

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Self-report Survey

Questions for the Independent Variable and Rating Scale

Qn. 1. What are the names of the video games you play every day?

Qn. 2. What are your favorite movies/series/TV programs?

Qn. 3. How many times have you watched them?

Questions for the Dependent Variable

Qn. 1. Did you damage any property that did not belong to you in the past month?

Qn. 2. How many times have you tried a certain style of your favorite character on someone in the past month?

Qn. 3. How do you defend yourself when someone has wronged you or has annoyed you?

Qn. 4. Has that defending strategy helped you move forward?

Qn. 5. How many people have you defended yourself from using that strategy in the past month?

Rating Scale for the Dependable Variable

The adolescents’ behavior is observed, and their interactive play is categorized into ‘episodes’. According to Daly & Perez, (2009), episodes refer to interactive episodes that are behavior sequences that start with the acknowledged presence of more interactants within an ecological place and the overt efforts to arrive at a mutual meaning of emergency or ongoing activity. Episodes result in the physical movement of the interactants from the place, which leads to the end of the originally started activity.

The play behaviors are coded as physically aggressive, verbal, assertive, and prosocial. The aggressive behaviors are assigned aggression/violence rating based on the level to which the behaviors intentionally caused harm or distress to another adolescent or to an object.

Rating Scale for the Independent Variable

The same physical and verbal aggression categories are used to code TV violence. A rating is assigned to every TV program, video, video game, movie, and show. This is rated on an ordinal scale from point 0 to 10 to assign to every physical and verbal aggressive act and joined for the general aggression rating for every program. This rating is totaled for every adolescent.

Rationale for the Method in Creating the Measure

Adolescent behavior is unpredictable. Classifying their behavior as episodes can range from prosocial behavior (positive exchange among adolescents), assertive behavior (motivation), physical violence, verbal aggression, group aggression, implied violence, and failed attempts at violence. This means that some adolescents’ behaviors are better than others, and therefore this has an evaluative connotation, justifying the use of an ordinal scale.

Observation points for an Independent Variable and Rating Scale

1. Television program showing ongoing physical violence- rating of 10 (extreme harm)
2. Adolescents watching television programs with implied violence (Rating of 5)
3. Adolescents watching television violence with verbal aggression (Rating of 2)
4. The number of hours that an adolescent spends watching television or playing video games in a week- ordinal scale from 0 to 15.

Observation Points for the Dependable Variable and Rating Scale

1. Adolescents showing prosocial behavior, such as cooperating in activities, helping others, enforcing rules, encouraging activities, reciprocating relationships or activities (allowing their peers to have a turn).
2. Adolescents showing assertive behavior such as competitiveness, showing off, challenging (e.g., no, you did not), questioning behavior, standing up for themselves, and requesting assistance from teachers.
3. Adolescents showing verbal aggression, such as laughing at others, demanding, threatening, teasing, ordering others, ignoring others, and using verbal aggression when provoked.
4. A group of adolescents using physical violence against another adolescent, measured as group aggression.
5. Adolescents using physical violence against another, measured as physical aggression.
6. An adolescent playing roughly in the playground or holding another against their will during a game is measured as game violence.

Rationale for My Method in Creating the Measure

Behavior can either be extreme, moderate, or less aggressive (benign, empathetic, friendly, etc.) (Tobin, 2000). This is why some people can casually be referred to as good people while others are bad people (Tobin, 2000). Based on this, a scale highlighting different possible behaviors of adolescents is established to range from verbal aggression, physical violence, group aggression, games violence, implied violence, and provoked violence. Similarly, a TV program or video game can be benign or rough, displaying the above-mentioned behaviors of the characters. Moreover, the more time spent learning behavior, the more it is likely to be emulated (Daly & Perez, 2009). Therefore, the time spent watching television is important to measure.

References

Anderson, C. A., Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E., Huesmann, L. R., Johnson, J. D., Linz, D., … & Wartella, E. (2003). The influence of media violence on youth. Psychological science in the public interest, 4(3), 81-110.

Daly, L. A., & Perez, L. M. (2009). Exposure to Media Violence and Other Correlates of Aggressive Behavior in Preschool Children. Early Childhood Research & Practice, 11(2), n2.

Grimes, T., Anderson, J. A., & Bergen, L. (2008). Media violence and aggression: Science and ideology. Sage.

Huesmann, L. R., & Taylor, L. D. (2006). The role of media violence in violent behavior. Annu. Rev. Public Health, 27, 393-415.

Tobin, J. (2000). ” Good Guys Don’t Wear Hats”: Children’s Talk about the Media. Teachers College Press, PO Box 20, Williston, VT 05495-0020 (paperback: ISBN-0-8077-3886-7, $21.95; hardcover: ISBN-0-8077-3887-5, $46).

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Week 6 Assignment: Creating Measures

As a researcher, it is critical to translate observations into meaningful data which will yield meaningful interpretations. In this assignment, you will create a series of data collection instruments. For each of the methodologies listed, you will develop a measure and explain your decision creating the measure.

Creating Measures

Select one independent variable and one dependent variable or outcome that you would like to measure (e.g., academic success, life satisfaction, consumer behavior, crime, personality, etc). Next, create an operational definition for the variables of interest. Then, develop an appropriate measure of the independent and dependent variable for both a self-report survey or a between-subjects experiment. The methods you design should focus on quantifying observations. For the independent and dependent variables, please include a rating scale that will be used to rate the participant responses.

Assignment Requirements:

1. Independent variable and operational definition
2. Dependent variable and operational definition
3. Self-report survey
   • Minimum of 3 questions for a dependent variable and rating scale
   • Minimum of 3 questions for an independent variable and rating scale
   • Rationale for your method in creating the measure (250-300 words, 2 academic sources)
4. Between subjects experiment
   • Minimum of 3 questions or observation points for an independent variable and rating scale
   • Minimum of 3 questions or observation points for a dependent variable and rating scale
   • Rationale for your method in creating the measure (250-300 words, 2 academic sources)