CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The mass media, most especially television have gradually become a part of our daily lives, and sources of information, education and entertainment have been described as the primary functions of the media. Lasswell (1948) as cited in Folarin (2005, p.74) assigns three functions to the media:

i. Surveillance of the Environment (the news function).

ii. Correlation of the different parts of the Enviroment (the editorial function).

iii. Transmission of the cultural heritage from one generation to the other (the cultural transmission function).

The focus of the researcher in this study is not only on the entertainment function of the media, but the role the entertainment media especially television, plays in shaping social behaviour among teenagers in the society. Stephenson (1967) a British psychologist, as cited in Folarin (2005, p.170), divides man’s activities into work and play. The former involving reality and production, while the latter deals with entertainment, relaxation or self satisfaction. He further says that people use mass communication more as play than as work, more for pleasure and entertainment than for information and serious work. Folarin (ibid) corroborates this view by saying that one constant criticism of television in Nigeria is its focus on entertainment rather than on development purposes.

There is no doubt that the impact of the media on young people’s lives is broadly considered within what is referred to as “media effects” debate which to a great extent focuses on the potentially negative impact of the media on young people’s lives: video violence, gambling, educational performance, mass consumerism, etc (Miles, 2000). Steele & Brown (1995) identifies three main reasons why media influence should be given a closer look:

1. Young people spend more time with the mass media than they do in school or with their parents.

2. The media are full of portrayals that glamorize risky adult behavior such as excessive drinking and sexual promiscuity.

3. Parents and other socialization agents have arguably shirked their responsibilities when it comes to directing youth away from risky forms of behavior; thereby allowing the media a more fundamental influence.

In the context of this discourse, many commentators opine that by the age of 18, an individual will have spent more time watching television than any other activity besides sleep (Miles & Anderson, 1999). However, Miles (2000, p.73) is of the view that:

It is widely assumed that young people are affected more directly and negatively by the media than any other age group, research actually indicates that young people between the ages of 14 and 24 actually form one of the groups who currently spend the least time watching television. This is a paradox that has often been neglected in the literature. Ironically, the mass media itself has a vested interest in exaggerating the impact it has on young people’s lives because media-hype simply makes good ‘copy.’

Regardless of the actual time young people spend in watching television and using other media, there is no doubt that the mass media have played and will continue to play an important role in structuring young people’s lives in some shape and form in a period of rapid social change (Miles, ibid).

The amount of media products consumed by young people has drastically expanded in recent years, allowing them to compose their own ‘media menu’ with their own preferences and likings. The youth itself is undergoing a period of rapid change, likewise the ways in which young people use the media. The advent of cable and satellite television has boosted TV viewing in recent years (Johnsson-Samaragdi, 1994). Osgerby (1998) further points out that the post-modern age brought with it the proliferation of media and information technologies which challenged traditional conceptions of time and space, symbolized most apparently by the global cultural flows and images evident in the programming of Music Television (MTV). MTV is well known as an entertainment television that airs not only music videos, but reality TV shows and other entertainment programmes. Auderheide (1986) describes MTV as offering not simply videos, but enviroment and mood.

The goal of MTV executive Bob Pittman, the man who designed the channel is simple: his job, he says is to ‘amplify the mood and include MTV in the mood.’ Young Americans he argues are ‘television babies’ particularly attracted to appeals to heart rather than head. ‘If you can get their emotions going,’ he says, ‘forget their logic, you’ve got ‘em…’ Music videos invent the world the represent. And the people whose ‘natural’ universe is that of shopping malls are eager to participate in the process. Watching music videos may be diverting, but the process that music videos embody, echo, and encourage- the constant re-creation of an unstable self is a full time job (Auderheide, 1986, p. 118).

The reference to MTV in this study (by the researcher) is because by observation, it is one of the most popular entertainment stations and is also on cable/satellite television. It has subsidiaries such as MTV Europe, MTV Asia and MTV Base which is generally for its African-American audience, mostly Africans. Moreover, Silverbird Television draws some of its programming from MTV base. Reference is also made to Black Entertainment television (BET), because of its high level of competition against MTV and its influence on black youths in America.

Based on information posted on 123HelpMe.com most BET midday programming is music videos, group in shows such as ‘Black Power’, ‘Rap City: the Basement’ and ‘106th and Park’ which is BET’s version of MTV Base’s popular ‘Total Request Live.’ A phenomenon that has been observed in all of these shows is that the music videos are targeted towards young black people between the ages of 13 and 25. The observations made by 123HelpMe.com website are:

1. The music videos really are the main attraction with a party atmosphere in nearly every video and young physically attractive women in bikini tops and men in ‘wife-beaters’ (name of shirt) or no shirt at all.

2. The performers are usually with a large group of people dancing with them. These large groups represent the groups of people that the typical black person hangs out with in social situations.

3. In the music videos the performers are seen with extravagant surroundings, large amounts of jewelry on their persons and also their mouth (called a grill), money spray, especially the US dollars, and very expensive cars such as Hummers, Jaguars, PT Cruisers, Mercedes, etc. Shown as these are things that the normal black person that BET specifically targets cannot afford, especially the cars.

With all these ‘razz-ma-tazz’ on the airwaves, a lot of young people also want to have a feel of what is shown on television, which evidently they cannot afford. This leads them to engage in crimes, prostitution, etc, just to meet up. It is obvious that this fad is already taking hold of the Nigerian entertainment television industry.

Reimer (1995) posits that young people’s use of the mass media binds them together more than any social activity (and hence their relationship with social change). Young people could be said to be united through their pursuit of pleasure through the mass media. The media (or the people behind it) are skilled at knowing what will appeal to the mass teenagers and use skillful manipulation to get messages across, buy into an idea or product that communicates an idea - like the status of having the latest ipod, i-touch or cell phone. However, Côté & Allahar (1996) argue that the manner in which the mass media, especially television portray aspects of the outside world might be said to actively prevent young people from developing a critical consciousness that will allow them prioritize larger issues of personal and social responsibility.

Since they are bombarded with tantalizing images of the ‘good life,’ it is not surprising that the young are dispirited by the reality of their poor economic prospects… what lies at the heart of all this activity, however, is the fact that these media can sell young people some element of an identity they have been taught to crave… leisure industries such as music, fashion, and cosmetics have a largely uncritical army of consumers awaiting the next craze or fad. Each fad gives them a sense of identity, however, illusory or fleeting. This activity is tolerated or encouraged by larger economic interests because the army of willing consumers also serves as a massive reserve of cheap labour. Furthermore, distracting young people with these trivial identity pursuits prevents them from protesting against their impoverished condition (Côté & Allahar, 1996, p.148).

1.1.1 Teenagers in Brief

Teenagers are also referred to as adolescents from the age of 13-19, and this is a period of transition: biological, psychological, social, economic; whereby they become wiser, more sophisticated and better able to make their own decisions. They become more self-aware, more independent, and more concerned about what the future holds (Steinberg, 2005).

Steinberg (ibid) further states that there are three fundamental changes that define this period: the biological – the onset of puberty; cognitive – the emergence of more advanced thinking abilities and the social - the transition into new roles in the society. There are five sets of developmental issues paramount during adolescence: identity, autonomy, intimacy, sexuality and achievement. These are sets of psycho-social issues that represent basic developmental challenges that all people face as they grow and change: discovering and understanding who they are as individuals (identity); establishing a healthy sense of independence (autonomy); forming close and caring relationships with other people (intimacy); expressing sexual feelings and enjoying physical contacts with others (sexuality); and being successful and competent members of society (achievement).

George-Okoro (2008:11) opines that “One of the most important features of childhood and adolescence is the development of an identity. As children shape their behaviour and values, they may look to heroes and role models for guidance. They may identify the role models they may wish to emulate based on possession of certain skills or attributes. While the child may not want to be exactly like the person, he/she may see possibilities in that person.”

Teenagers are generally at a point in their lives when they are just starting to seriously break dependence on their parents, at least as far as their own identity is concerned. The media gives them a more neutral and less threatening frame of reference from which to relate to other teenagers. This is because the media is something that most teenagers see the same way. Unfortunately, because most teens are still looking for their own identities, they are a lot more susceptible to suggestion and all the perceived peer pressure from the media can overwhelm what they have already formed of their own identities based on someone else's opinions, what they should think and feel. Without realizing it, they can start picking up someone else's opinions instead of forming their own with the way the media is today (Wikipedia, 2009).

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

It cannot be over emphasized that the television media have taken a center stage in our daily activities especially in the 21st Century with the emergence and consolidation of different television stations and service providers. It has been observed in cities that satellite and cable television stations have a greater amount of audience than the local television stations.

However, this study wants to examine the role television, with particular attention on entertainment television, plays in shaping social behaviour among teenagers. It is evident through previous researches that with ample television stations at their finger tips these young people spend more time watching television. A conservative estimate has being given of an average American teenager who spends 2.5 hours per day watching television. The young people spend an average of 16-18 hours watching television per week, starting from the age 2 and over half of all 15-16 year olds have seen the majority of the most popular recent R-rated movies (Wakefield, et al, 2003).

Furthermore, from previous researches carried out on the effects of television on teenagers, it has been discovered that most of the programmes teenagers watch are entertainment-related, for instance movies, musical videos, soap operas, etc. The influence of these programmes on teenagers may not be immediate or outrightly effective due to some other variables like family, social group, peer group, etc. Nevertheless, the influence might be insidious and lead the teenagers to building false ideals and negative social behaviour. The more they expose themselves to entertainment television with reference to the amount of time some of them put into watching entertainment programmes, the greater the chance for them to develop a world view and a perception of reality similar to what they watch over time on entertainment TV. Therefore, this study attempts to examine whether the entertainment television programmes shape to a large extent the social behaviour of the teenagers.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To determine how frequent teenagers watch entertainment TV.

2. To ascertain the kind of entertainment programmes teenagers watch on the TV stations.

3. To examine the volume of entertainment programmes they watch on TV stations.

4. To establish what the teenagers pay attention to in the entertainment programmes they watch.

5. To find out how entertainment programmes of TV stations shape teenagers’ world view concerning social behaviour in their enviroment.

6. To explore the perception of teenagers on the role of entertainment TV in shaping their social behaviour.

7. To generate knowledge for further studies in this area.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. How frequent do teenagers watch entertainment TV?

2. What kind of entertainment programmes do teenagers watch on the TV stations?

3. What is the volume of entertainment programmes teenagers watch on the TV stations?

4. What do the teenagers pay attention to in the entertainment programmes they watch?

5. How do entertainment programmes of the TV stations shape teenagers world view concerning social behaviour in their enviroment?

6. What is the perception of teenagers on the role of entertainment TV in shaping their social behaviour?

1.5 HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis 1: Entertainment television plays an insignificant role in shaping the social behaviour of teenagers.

Hypothesis 2: Teenagers frequency of exposure to entertainment television plays an insignificant role in shaping their social behaviour.

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It has been observed in recent times that the entertainment industry in Nigeria is blossoming especially in its dominance in the contents of the programming of most television stations in Nigeria, especially the major cities (Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, etc). Therefore, this study seeks to draw the attention of media practitioners and owners (especially television) to the vital role television plays as an agent of socialization. Having this fact in mind, television media practioners and owners will be mindful of the kind of entertainment programmes they air, most especially at prime time, knowing fully the vulnerable and gullible nature of teenagers.

A research into how entertainment television shapes the social behaviour of teenagers whether positively or negatively appears novel, especially in television media studies. This is a contemporary issue which scholars in the field of media studies have paid little or no attention to. Therefore, part of the uniqueness of this study is that it will be of immense significance to researchers in the academia in the 21st Century. It does not only aim at contributing to knowledege but also providing a foundational basis for further studies into the socialization role of entertainment television.

Nonetheless, parents of teenagers and also teenagers who are the at the heart of this study will understand fully the positive and negative roles entertainment television plays in contributing to shaping their social behaviour in their immediate enviroment. It will also avail counsellors viable information on where and how teenagers draw inferences for their social behaviours. This is because teenagers might not only behave in a certain manner because of mere peer influence, but also from what they watch on television, especially from people or celebrities they see as role models. It is also believed that the findings of this study will be an added resource to available literature and will be used to promote informed decision-making and policies by the regulating bodies of the broadcast and entertainment industry.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The respondents for this study is restricted to 13-19 year olds at the first year level at Covenant University. Covenant University was selected because at the point of entry; most of the students fall within the age bracket needed for the study. Then, the students at this level could easily and appropriately answer the questions in the questionnaire, and also, they have energy needed to power the TV sets, so they are exposed to the core variable.

1.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

There is no research or study without its own unique limitations, therefore the short comings of this research are:

1. Due to the novelty of this study, there was insufficient relevant materials (journals, books, etc) for the literature review. Some journals are not accessible online and acquiring them could prove impossible considering the tedious procedure involved especially through online purchase.

2. There was also reluctance and lack of cooperation on the part of the respondents in answering the questions in the questionnaire appropriately. This of course proved a serious limitation to this study.

3. The fact that the method of study was survey and focus group discussion, means that it was mainly the opinion of the respondents that was ellicited, the sincerity of the respondents may not be known or determined.

4. Another major limitation to the study is the fact that the study is about teenagers’ perception to the role entertainment television plays in shaping their social behaviour. The sample population for the study was taken from Covenant University undergraduate students (100 Level). The representativeness of this sample may affect external validity and also the findings of the study cannot be easily generalised beyond the population of study (Covenant University).

1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

1. Entertainment Television: this usually refers to television stations who specialize in giving its audience full fledge entertainment or whose programming content is largely dominated by entertainment programmes. This evolved in America and has become popular around the world e.g. MTV (Music Television), Black Entertainment Television (BET), Silverbird Television, etc.

2. Social behaviour: in this study examines communication, values, dressing, social interaction, etc, among teenagers who fall within the age group of 13-19 years.

3. Teenagers: they are also referred to as adolescents. This is a group of people who pass through the transitional stage of physical and mental development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. The teenage years are from ages 13 to 19. In this study, teenagers and young people or youngsters are used interchangably.

REFERENCES

Auderheide, P. (1986). The look of the sound. In Gitlin, T. (ed.), Watching television. New York: Panthon.

Bandura, A. (2006). Sexual intercourse on TV: do safe messages matter? Retrieved September 13, 2007 from http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/162470374.html.

Brooks, K. (2003). Nothing sells like teen spirit: the commodification of youth culture. In Mallan, K. & Pearce, S. (ed.), Youth cultures. London: Praeger Publishers.

Côté, J. & Allahar, A. L. (1996). Generation on hold: coming of age in the late twentieth century. London: New York University Press.

Folarin, B. (2005). Theories of mass communication: an introductory text (3rd ed.). Ibadan: Bakinfol Publications.

George-Okoro, T. G. (2008). The effects of movies with sex content on teenage sexual attitudes and values. Unpublished undergraduate thesis of the Department of Human Resource Development (Psychology), College of Development Studies, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State.

Johnsson-Smaragdi, U. (1994). Models of change & stability in adolescents media use. In Rosengren, E.K. (ed.), Media effects and beyond: culture, socialization and lifestyles. London: Routledge.

McRobbie, A. (1993). Shut up & dance: youth culture & changing modes of feminity. Cultural studies, 7: 406-426.

Miles, S. & Anderson, A. (1999). ‘Just do it?’ Young people, the global media and the construction of consumer meanings. In Ralph, A., Laughan, J. & Lees, T. (eds.), Youth and the global media (pp. 105-112). Luton: Luton University Press.

Miles, S. (2000). Youth lifestyles in a changing world. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Osgerby, B. (1998). Youth in Britain since 1945. Oxford: Blackwell.

Reimer, B. (1995). Youth and modern lifestyles. In Förnas, J., & Bolin, G. (eds.), Youth culture in late modernity. London: Sage Publications.

Steele, J. R. & Brown, J. D. (1995). Adolescent room culture: studying media in the context of everyday life. Journal of youth and adolescence. 24(5): 551-576.

Wakefield, M., Flay, B., Nichter, M. & Giovino, G. (2003). Role of the media in influencing trajectories of youth smoking. Society for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and other Drugs. Addiction, 98 (Suppl 1). pp 79-103.

Wikipedia (2009). Teenagers. Retrieved June 8, 2009 from http:///www.wikipedia.com.

123HelpMe.com (2009). Television and media- Black Entertainment Television. Retrieved June 8, 2009 from http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=18642.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Televison as an electronic medium has transformed the mass media and its main traditional functions of information, education and entertainment. There is no gainsaying that in the 20th and the 21st centuries, it has become one of the hottest media with its potentials of sight and sound; it has dramatic and demonstrative powers which has made it able to hold its audience spellbound and take them on a ‘roller coaster’ into its world.

Television has become a part of everyday life which was not so between the 1920s when it was invented and the 1960s when it lost its novelty. It became commercial and there is no doubt that the number of TV stations have greatly increased, so also the number of TV sets available in homes. Reliable statistics have it that more than 95 per cent of households in America own at least one televison set and on an average, television is playing about seven hours a day in those households which translates into 2,400 hours per year- the most consuming activity besides sleep (Wilson & Wilson, 2001; Dominick, 2005; Vivian, 2009). The medium has been of tremendous influence whether positive or negative as it has changed the way we socialize with our peers, the way teachers teach, governments govern, and religious leaders preach. It has changed the way we organise the furniture in our homes and our world view about our immediate environment (Baran, 2009). A social critic, Novak, cited in Vivian (2009, p. 211), comments that television is “a moulder of the soul’s geography. It builds up incrementally a psychic structure of expectations. It does so in much the same way that school lessons slowly, over the years, tutor the unformed mind and teach it how to think.” Comstock, a media scholar also cited in Vivian (ibid) corroborates Novak’s view by saying “Television has become an unavoidable and unremitting factor in shaping what we are and what we will become.”

Most American families as reported by A. C. Nielsen company, today own a minimum of two colour television sets. These sets are located in vital living areas such as the living room, family room, bedroom and kitchen. Because they own multiple sets, many families no longer watch television together, and parents often do not know what their children, especially teenagers are viewing. Unsupervised leisure has almost always been considered a major source of trouble and as posing a threat to young people’s moral development (Muncie, 2004).

Therefore, this shows the necessity for the development of entertainment programming on television and in contemporary times, television stations or channels that are dedicated to entertainment round the clock, everyday of the week. This chapter has attempted to examine the emergence of entertainment from its earlier forms into television contents; television and the media effects debate and its role in the socialization process of teenagers. Moreover, some previous researches in this area were reviewed using the social learning theory and cultivation theory as theoretical framework.

2.2 EMPIRICAL REVIEW

In this section, some researches that were carried out in areas that are related or connected to entertainment programmes and their potential influences or effects on teenagers were reviewed. The first major research efforts that attempted to study media effects on the audience was a series of 12 studies on the impact of motion pictures on the society sponsored by the Payne Fund, which began in 1929. The studies examined topics such as how motion picture morals compared with American moral standards. It also looked at whether there was a link between films depicting crime and actual crime and deliquency reported in the society, and how motion pictures affected the behaviour of children. Although the studies did not come up with conclusive proof that motion pictures were actually damaging to the American culture, the results however, concluded that teenagers had been greatly influenced by the movies (Wilson & Wilson, 2001).

Following the Payne studies several other researches were carried out in order to examine television and social behaviour of teenagers, but the reports were politically controversial. However, a less controversial research by Schramm, Lyle, and Parker as cited in Wilson & Wilson (2001, p. 439-440) found that violence did affect children but the process was not a simplistic action-reaction activity; rather it was a complex phenomenon that had different reactions created among different groups of children under different and similar situations. The study states thus:

For some children, under some conditions, some television is harmful. For other children, under the same conditions, or for the same children under other conditions, it may be beneficial. For most children, under most conditions, most television is probably neither harmful nor particularly beneficial (Wilson & Wilson, 2001, p. 439-440).

Nevertheless, contemporary studies on media effects examine selected genres of entertainment and their likely effects on certain patterns of behaviour of teenagers. An attempt was therefore made to briefly review some researches on how music and movies affect teenagers’ sexual behaviour. Martino, et al (2006) did a study on the exposure of youths to degrading versus non-degrading music lyrics and how such lyrics affect their sexual behaviour. They conducted a national longitudinal telephone survey of 1,461 adolescents in America. The participants were interviewed at baseline (T1) when they were 12 to 17years old, and again 1 and 3 years later (T2 and T3).

Multivariate regression analyses was carried out and the results indicated that youths who listened to more degrading sexual content at T2 were more likely to subsequently initiate intercourse and to progress to more advanced levels of noncoital sexual activity. In contrast, exposure to non-degrading sexual content was unrelated to changes in the participants sexual behaviour. Therefore, listening or watching music with degrading sexual lyrics is related to advances in a range of sexual activities among adolescents, whereas this does not seem to be true of other sexual lyrics. The result is consistent with sexual- script theory and suggests that cultural messages about expected sexual behaviour among males and females may underlie the effect. Reducing the amount of degrading sexual content in popular music or reducing young people’s exposure to music with this type of content could help delay the onset of sexual behaviour.

A research was also conducted by George-Okoro, T. G. (2008), in Covenant University on the effects of movies with sex content on teenage sexual attitudes and values. The study attempted at investigating the effects of explicit sexual contents in movies e.g. sexual gestures, postures, cues and how teenagers view this as positive or negative and in what ways these movies affect their attitudes and values about sex. The study design was an experiment that had 74 participants (34 in the control group and 40 in the experimental group) from Iganmode Grammar School, Ota, Ogun State. The result of the study showed that there was a significant relationship between movies with sex contents and teenage sexual attitudes and values. However, it had no significant effect on teenage sexual attitudes and values (F21,18= 0.853, P=0.640). Therefore, the study showed that movies with sexual content have an interaction and correlation with teenager’s sexual attitudes and values but have no main causal effect.

2.3 THE REVIEW

2.3.1 THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENTERTAINMENT ON TELEVISION

The emergence of entertainment predates the history of humans. In pre-historic times around camp fires, there was music and this was discovered from the Neolithic animal hide drums that archaeologists unearthed. Also, record goes back to paintings on cave walls by cave dwellers who had stories to tell; this was said to be the beginning of visual arts (Vivian, 2009).

Archaeologists have records that elites of ancient civilisations enjoyed lavished banquets that included performing entertainers, e.g. acrobats, musicians and dancers. In ancient Greece, sports and athletics became institutionalised entertainment with the Olympic games and large stadiums. Ancient Rome evolved athletics and competition on a large scale. For instance, Circus Maximus in Rome could hold 170,000 spectators for chariot races and gladiator games. Indices of entertainment such as music, literature, sports and sex have survived through the ages (Vivian, 2009). Moreover, Munice (2004, p. 154) notes:

During the 16th and 17th century carnivals were accussed of promoting sexual promiscuity and popular ballads were denounced as bawdy as glorifying criminality. By the 19th century theatre, music halls, dances, penny dreadfulls, street football, gambling and other forms of popular entertainment were all subject to intense campaigns to halt their supposed contamination of youth. In the 20th century another dangerous enemy was discovered in the new medium of the Hollywood Cinema.

The earlier forms of entertainment were accussed of influencing the social behaviour of teenagers negatively. Through the development of technology in Mass Communication, some of these forms of entertainment have evolved into television and its programming contents and can be mass produced thereby finding their way in easily accessible and compact form to the living rooms of the audience, mostly teenagers. Subsequently, the development of entertainment on television will be examined from the account of Wilson & Wilson (2009, p. 310-324).

The journey started in the latter part of the 19th century with the development of two kinds of entertainment to meet the demands of the new urban dwellers in America. The ballpark and vaudeville helped to fill the growing amount of leisure time workers enjoyed and later transformed into mass media activities. The ballpark brought together crowds of strangers who could experience a sense of community within the big city as they watched a baseball game. Also immigrants were able to shake loose their ethnic ties and become absorbed in the new national game, which was becoming representative of the “American spirit.” The green fields and fresh air of the ballpark were a welcome change from the sea of bricks, stone, and eventually asphalt that dominated the city scene. Workers could temporarily escape the routine and dullness of their daily lives by vicariously participating in the competition and accomplishment that baseball games symbolized. Baseball reflected the competitiveness of the work place and the capitalist ethic, as players were bought and sold and were regarded as property. The ballpark also provided a means for spectators to release their frustrations against authority figures: the umpire became a symbol of scorn, and cries of “kill the umpire,” accompanied by tossed debris, were frequent.

The vaudeville which was the other popular form of entertainment in the 19th century, took the traditional forms of popular entertainment or folk art, such as ethnic humour, juggling, dancing, and clown acts, and it was made part of the new mass culture. Vaudeville set the mold for entertainment programmes on the electronic media that eventually displaced it in the 20th century. Radio incorporated the style and humour of vaudeville, and television in turn took over the entertainment format of radio when it developed in the late 1940s and 1950s. The quick cuts and action of modern day television are ultimately based on the conventions of vaudeville entertainment.

TV entertainment started out as a novel idea. The shows consisted of pointing a camera at some action and letting it be transmitted. The early programmes included variety of shows, puppet-comedy shows, stand-up comedians, domestic comedies and game shows. Many of these programmes were carbon copies of radio shows, but with pictures. In fact, popular radio personality Arthur Godfrey merely brought television cameras into his studio to televise his daily radio programme on CBS. Godfrey and the performers on the programme wore headphones, had large microphones blocking part of their faces, and tended to ignore the cameras while concentrating on the radio braodcast. But people watching early television were dazzled to be able to see action and watch their long-time radio stars present familiar sitcoms in their living rooms.

Some of the leading early entertainers identified during the beginning years of television were Milton Berle, Ed Sullivan, Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Lucille Ball, Art Carney, Jackie Gleason, Art Linkletter, Arthur Godfrey, Jack Benny, Amos ‘n’ Andy, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Red Skelton, the witty comedy team of George Burns and Gracie Allen, and the puppets Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, Howdy Doody, and Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. Most of these entertainers had started their careers in vaudeville and made the transition to radio. Now they were transmitting recreations of the early days of vaudeville into the living rooms of the United States. The content of popular cultural entertainment had changed little since the 19th century. Only the delivery system had changed.

Furthermore, some of the best dramas ever shown on television were the plays broadcast live from New York studios in the 1950s. The major Hollywood movie studios, fearing competition from the new medium, refused to allow their facilities to be used to produce television programmes. Four of the best known live dramas of the golden age of television were Rod Serling’s Requiem for a Heavyweight, starring Jack Palance; J. P. Miller’s Days of Wine and Roses, starring Cliff Robertson and Piper Laurie; Reginald Rose’s 12 Angry Men; and Patty Chayefsky’s Marty. All four were later made into movies, with Marty receiving the Academy Award as best picture of the year. Because they were done live and were confined to the studio sets, these high-quality dramas focused on character development and analysis rather than on car chases and elaborate scenery.

Subsequently, quiz shows which had been popular on radio offered greater rewards when transferred to television. For instance, Radio’s $64 Question became TV’s $64,000 Question. The popularity of these shows grew as people could vicariously share in the delight of winning big money by knowing the right answers to questions. However, in 1959 television was rocked by a major scandal when it was revealed that certain quiz-show contestants had been given the questions prior to the broadcasts. This was done to ensure that the most popular contestants would win and return the next week. Until this time, TV programmes were produced by advertising agencies and the shows’ sponsors. As a result of the scandal, the FCC required quiz shows to issue disclosures whenever assistance was given to contestants, and the networks were forced to take over production of the programmes to ensure compliance with ethical standards.

It took almost 40 years for the quiz shows to return to the network prime time schedules, but they returned with a big hit in 1999 when ABC introduced Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The programme, aired almost nightly for several weeks, scored well for the network in the ratings, resulting in it being given a regular slot three times a week in 2000. The other networks figured that if one quiz show could be successful, so could four- one in each network. Fox was quick to follow with its show, Greed, while CBS introduced Winning Lines and NBC went back into its past to resurrect Twenty-one, one of the programmes first exposed as giving answers to the contestants in the 1959 quiz-show scandals.

TV entertainment moved from live quiz and variety shows, domestic comedies, and drama to pre-recorded dramatic series by the late 1950s. One of the first genres to develop was the Western, which had long been popular in movies and on radio. Shows such as Gunsmoke and Have Gun, Will Travel (which had been popular on radio), Wyatt Earp, Rawhide (with a very young Clint Eastwood), The Rifleman, and The Virginian (television’s first 90-minute prime-time series) occupied the TV screens. By 1959, there were 30 Westerns on prime time each week. In 1959 also, a programme called Bonanza began airing on NBC to sell colour television sets for its parent company, RCA. The programme transmitted the American myth that the rugged rural life of the ‘good old days’ was a glamorous and comfortable time. It also revolved around three grown sons, at least two of them in their 30s, still at home and subject to the authority of their father. Some sociologists believed the show appealed to people who missed the parental authority and support they had given up to leave home and marry. Whatever the reason, Bonanza was one of the most popular shows on the air for 15 years.

Other genres that became popular during this period include doctor, police, detective, and courtroom shows, in which similar to the Western, good always prevailed over evil. These adventure stories were somtimes referred to as “urban Westerns” because the moral themes were the same as in the Westerns. However, only the location and time period were changed. Some examples of the urban Westerns were Dragnet, Highway Patrol, Racket Squad, The Lineup, Perry Mason, and the Defenders. A few years later several series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, and Mission: Impossible, dealing with international intrigues and spy chasing, also reflected these themes (and the Cold War mentality) as the “good guys” pursued the forces of evil around the world.

There were several variety shows that evolved in the 1960s to provide cheerful escape for the teaming audience. The shows were hosted by performers such as Carol Burnett, Bob Hope, Dean Martin, Flip Wilson, and Sonny and Cher. By the late 1960s one variety show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, was introducing realism and social commentary into evening entertainment. In keeping with the cultural unrest and growing displeasure with the Vietnam war that was sweeping the country, the show ridiculed the war and other social ills and soon was cancelled by CBS in a dispute over censorship. The network executives believed that the audiences did not want controversy and realism mixed with their entertainment.

In 1968 another variety show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In made its debut and became popular with younger audiences by dealing with sexual and political themes, topics that reflected the new openness that had swept the nation during the 1960s. Its hosts, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, were able to touch on these topics without irritating network executives the way Smothers Brothers did. This type of programming survived in the 1990s on such shows as Saturday Night Live. However, the more traditional variety shows had all but disappeared by the mid-1970s, except for an occasional special.

The most popular of all TV entertainment genres from the beginning has been the situation comedy (Sitcom). Other forms of television entertainment, such as the Western and the variety show had come and gone, but the sitcoms endured. In an effort to appeal to middle-class America, early TV continued to produce the family sitcoms that had been popular on radio. The settings were always the same: a happy, white, middle-class home with humorous but bland family problems to cope with and solve by the end of each 30-minute show. Father Knows Best, Make Room for Daddy, Leave It to Beaver, I Love Lucy, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and My Three Sons were a few of the more popular shows in this category.

In the mid-1970s, the networks tried to break down traditional viewing habits by intorducing a new format, the mini series. The idea was to get people hooked on the series in the first episode, usually broadcast on Sunday night, so they would tune in again the next several evenings. The Mini-series proved to be very popular and they were often scheduled during “sweeps periods,” when TV stations are monitored to determine audience sizes.

The mini-series concept actually came from public broadcasting, which began showing BBC produced serials such as The Forsyte Saga and Upstairs Downstairs. In 1977 ABC introduced Roots, a mini-series based on Alex Haley’s book of the same name, which kept millions of viewers glued to the TV set for eight nights. The series, which traced Haley’s ancestors from Africa through American slavery and into the 20th century, set ratings records and helped keep Haley’s book at the top of the best-seller list for months. By the 1990s, the mini-series was usually limited to a two-part movie because of the diminishing level of audience attention. Only a quality mini-series such as Lonesome Dove could sustain viewer interest over several evenings. America’s television watchers had too many choices available to tie themselves down with one long story spread out over a week.

Sports which had played an important role in providing leisure enjoyment for the masses since the 19th century, was not left behind in becoming an important part of television programming. The popularity of electronically mediated athletics grew rapidly after the development in the 1960s of such new technology as instant-replay videotape recorders. It could be said that television permanently took over as the “electronic ballpark” of 20th and 21st century. The ABC network led the way with its innovative Wide World Sports, which cut between live, taped, and filmed sports events, some of which had taken place days before in various places around the world. In 1970, ABC paid $9 million for the rights to Monday Night Football. Eventually ABC found itself number one in the ratings of entertainment programmes.

Soap Operas today have become a very crucial aspect of entertainment television programming. ABC premiered the first prime time soap opera, Peyton Place in 1964, based loosely on a steamy best-seller by Grace Metalious. First shown two and then three nights a week, it launched the careers of Mia Farrow and Ryan O’Neal and demonstrated yet again the durability and versatility of the genre. By 1978 CBS launched Dallas as a weekly serial, and during the 1980s Dallas and its imitators, Dynasty, Knots Landing, and Falcon Crest, topped the evening ratings by bringing the continuing stories and day time troubles of TV families to night time viewers. These shows appealed to the average person’s interest in the rich and elite, and all seemed to revolve around one central theme: that rich families are plagued with turmoil and strife, and the American cultural myth that money can’t always buy happiness. It is important to note that that Dallas and Dynasty became the most popular American TV shows in Canada, Australia, Chile, Japan, and many western European countries during the 1980s. In the 1990s, the Fox Television Network successfully launched three prime time continuing dramas: Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, and Party of Five.

As the American culture evolved so did the entertainment genres on television. In the 1980s, a new format developed that was a combination of a number of other shows. It borrowed the ongoing story line from the soaps; character development of early-day TV dramas; action-adventure from the Western, police and lawyer shows; comedy from sitcoms; and fast-paced action from vaudeville and TV variety shows. The genre was referred to as Hybrid TV and was pioneered by Steven Bochco in 1981 with Hill Street Blues. Brandon Tartikoff NBC programming chief wanted an MTV cop show and he got Miami Vice, which was known for its rock music background. In 1990, Bochco added a new dimension to the MTV cop shows when he launched Cop Rock. Unlike Miami Vice, in which rock music was its background, Cop Rock was a musical that featured cops and criminals who actually sang and danced. The departure from regular action-adventure proved to be too radical, and the series was canceled shortly after it began.

Bochco again broke new barriers in 1993 when he used this hybrid TV format to launch NYPD Blue, another police action-adventure show. However, this time he added nudity and explicit language to the show. This received wide criticisms especially from christian clerics. One of such was Reverend Donald Wildmon, a fundamentalist preacher from Mississippi, who ran full-page ads in newspapers across the country denouncing ABC for running R-rated shows that included “nudity, more extreme violence and more profanity.” Despite the fact that ABC affiliates refused to carry the show, the controversy and its publicity helped the show earn high ratings. Nevertheless, many of the affiliates that had declined to show the programme during its first season later lifted the ban and began airing it.

2.3.2 HAROLD MENDELSOHN’S MASS ENTERTAINMENT DISCOURSE

In the preceeding pages the emergence and development of entertainment programming and television in America were discussed. Nontheless, there is need to provide justification for entertainment in the media especially on television. Harold Mendelsohn in his book Mass Entertainment, published in 1966 did a discourse on the need for entertainment in the society via the mass media. He proposed the Mass Entertainment Theory which asserts that television and other mass media perform a vital social function because they relax or otherwise entertain the average people in the society. Mendelsohn further, argued that average people needed the relaxation and harmless escapism that television entertainment offer and if television entertainment was not available, people would find other avenues for easing the strain and stress of daily life. Moreover, television simply served these needs more easily, powerfully, and efficiently than other alternatives (Baran & Davis, 2003).

Although his work was based on empirical research findings, he had lots of criticisms especially from ‘elite critics’ of media (mostly mass society theorists), who fostered misconceptions about mass entertainment. Mendelsohn rejected the mass society criticisms of mass entertainment and accused their criticisms as speculations that were inconsistent with empirical data. He further argued that they were upset because television entertainment attracted people away from the boring forms of education, politics, or religion that they themselves wanted to promote (Mendelsohn, 1966).

According to Baran & Davis (2003, p. 174), Mendelsohn emphasized that “Television entertainment did not disrupt or debase high culture, it merely gave average people a more attractive alternative to operas or symphony concerts. It did not distract people from important activities like religion, politics, or family life; rather, it helped them relax so that they could later engage in these activities with renewed interest and energy.” Nevertheless, he admitted that a small number of the entertainment audience might suffer because they became addicted to television entertainment, however, these same people would most likely have become addicted to something else if television was not available. Therefore, he viewed addiction to television as rather benign: It didn’t hurt other people and might even be slightly educational (Baran & Davis, 2003).

2.3.3 TELEVISION AND ITS ROLE IN THE SOCIALIZATION PROCESS OF TEENAGERS

This aspect of the review of relevant literatures will not be complete without briefly looking at the role the media, especially television, plays in the socialization process of teenagers. As a form of introduction, socialization in very broad terms involves the learning of laws, norms, values, customs, belief structures, attitudes and world view of the broader society, the family, within institutions, the community and in any social system (John, 2007).

These values and norms are imparted by usually authority figures in the society, the community, the family, institutions, even peer groups, cliques, etc to each new or emerging member. This is done through verbal or non-verbal communication - a message or signal which then reaches the recipient. The recipient then hears, sees or observes, and through the process of internalization, interprets the incoming message or signal or stimulus. Once an interpretation is made, and an understanding of that which is being imparted to him is reached, it becomes part of the memory, conscious, even perhaps the subconscious of the recipient, who must then decide if he will accept or reject the norm, idea, rule, etc (John, 2007). There are also then, a number of agents of socialization. These include: the Media, the Family, Schools, Religious Groups, and a host of agencies, corporations, and associations.

The media are one of the most powerful agents of socialization on the planet today and widely believed to play a part in the early socialization of children and long term socialization of adults (McQuail, 2005). Because socialization is such a long-term process and partly because any effect from the media interacts with other social background influences and variable modes of socialization within families, the nature of the role the media play is somewhat difficult to determine (Hedinsson, 1981). According to McQuail (2005, p. 494):

The thesis of media socialization has, in fact, two sides to it: on the one hand, the media can reinforce and support other agencies of socialization; on the other, they are also viewed as a potential threat to the values set by parents, educators and other agents of social control. The main logic underlying the thesis is that the media can teach norms and values by way of symbolic reward and punishment for different kinds of behaviour as represented in the media. An alternative view is that it is a learning process whereby we all learn how to behave in certain situations and the espectations which go with a given role or status in society. Thus the media are continually offering pictures of life and models of behaviour in advance of actual experience.

There is no doubt that television as a medium of communication plays a vital role in the socialization process. Some proponents of this view argue that television is an early window. This implies that, it allows children to see the world well before they are capable of competently interacting with it (Baran & Davis, 2003). Meyrowitz (1985) explained that television escorts children across the globe even before they have permission to cross the street. Therefore, there is nothing like children’s television. Meyrowitz (1985, p. 242) argues:

Television allows the very young child to be “present” at adult interactions. Television removes barriers that once divided people of different ages and reading abilities into different social situations. The widespread use of television is equivalent to a broad social decision to allow young children to be present at wars and funerals, courtships and seductions, criminal plots and cocktail parties. Young children may not fully understand the issues of sex, death, crime, and money that are presented to them on television. Or put differently, they may understand these issues only in childlike ways. Yet television nevertheless exposes them to topics and behaviours that adults have spent several centuries trying to keep hidden from children. Television thrusts children into a complex adult world, and it provides the impetus for children to ask the meanings of actions and words they would not yet have heard or read about without television.

Moreover, it has been suggested by some media scholars that one thing that children and teenagers do learn from television from the early window is gender or sex roles. For instance, Comstock (1991) through decades of research on children’s sex role socialization concluded that a “modest but positive association” exists between children’s exposure to television and the holding of traditional notions and beliefs of gender and sex roles. “Portrayals in television and other media of highly attractive persons may encourage dissatisfaction or lowered evaluations of the attractiveness of those of the pertinent sex in real life” (Comstock, 1991, p. 176).

However, Baran & Davis (2003) opine that the question remains as to the contribution of socialization from media, especially television, on young children and teenagers’ behaviour. Although Ball-Rokeach (2001, p. 16) states the most accepted contemporary view that “children have many influences operating on them, the media (television) stand out as the best resource for surveying and understanding the larger social enviroment, its threats and its opportunities.”

2.4 SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW

From the review of literature it was deduced that television has become one of the hottest media in the 20th and 21st centuries, and without doubt the medium has the ability to capture its audience with its potentials of sight and sound; and its dramatic and demonstrative powers. It was also identified that television has become a part of everyday life, because statistics were given of the percentage of households (95 per cent) that own at least one television set, and on an average, television plays for about seven hours daily in those households. The medium has been of tremendous influence in our daily living and has revolutionized the way people learn and socialize in their immediate enviroment and social groups.

Subsequently, the emergence and development of entertainment on television was discussed. First, it was identified that through archaeological findings and records, entertainment evolved as elites of ancient civilizations enjoyed entertainment during lavished banquets from performing entertainers like acrobats, musicians and dancers. Also, sports and athletics became institutionalized entertainment with the Olympic games in large stadia in ancient Greece. The earlier forms of entertainment were accused of negatively influencing the social behaviour of teenagers, and importantly with the development of the cinema in the 20th century there was dissemination of false ideals to the teenagers through the medium. Russell (1917) warned that the cinema’s vulgarity and silliness and the distorted, unreal, Americanized view of life presented must have a deteriorating effect and lead, at the best to the formation of false ideals.

Furthermore, with the development of technology in the media, the earlier forms of entertainment evolved into television. For instance, the conventions of vaudeville entertainment formed the basis for the quick cuts and actions of modern day entertainment television. The early entertainment programmes on television included a variety of shows, puppet comedy shows, stand-up comedies, sitcoms, game shows, etc.

Nevertheless, in order to provide a justification for entertainment on television, Harold Mendelsohn proposed the Mass Entertainment Theory that asserts television’s vital social function of making average people in the society relax or otherwise entertain them. Therefore, if television entertainment was not available, people would find other releases from the tensions of daily life.

In conclusion, it was established that television plays an important role in the socialization process of teenagers. This is because television is described as the early window through which teenagers and children see the world beyond their immediate environment, and therefore helps shape their perception about reality.

2.5 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

In the course of this study, the ways by which television has influenced the attitudes and behaviour of teenagers were looked at. This is situated within the context of media effects studies, especially television. Therefore, in a bid to give theoretical backing to the study of how entertainment television shapes teenagers social behaviour, the social learning theory and cultivation theory were critically examined.

2.5.1 THE SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

The Social Learning Theory was propounded by Albert Bandura who was a psychologist at Stanford University. The theory suggests that much learning takes place through observing the behaviour of others (Anaeto, et al, 2008). Bandura (1986) says that “people learn behaviours, emotional reactions, and attitudes from role models whom they wish to emulate.” In his earliest studies to support this theory, fondly called the “Bobo Doll Studies”, pre-school children watched a film in which an adult pummeled, kicked, threw, and hammered a 3.5 feet tall, inflatable Bobo the clown doll. One-third of the children watched the film that ended with the adult aggressor being rewarded; one-third watched a film that ended with the adult aggressor being punished and one-third saw a no-consequence version of the film. All the children were then turned loose in a playroom filled with attractive toys, including a Bobo doll. Children who saw rewarded or inconsequential aggression were more likely to beat up the Bobo doll than were children who saw punished aggression. The results therefore, showed that whether or not the children acted aggressively depended on their observations of another person’s experiences with reward and punishment, and not on their own personal experiences (American Psychological Association, n.d.).

Bandura as cited in Wirtz (2009) said that “children and adults acquire attitudes, emotional responses, and new styles of conduct through filmed and televised modelling.” Therefore, he placed a caution that TV viewing might create a violent reality, which has to be feared for its capacity to influence the way we deal with people everyday. His theory can be summarized as follows:

1. He says that we learn by observing others

2. He focuses on the power of examples and the importance of role models

3. He stresses the importance of vicarious behaviour as a means of modifing behaviour (Wirtz, 2008).

According to Lefkowitz, Eron, Walder and Huesmann (1977) as cited in Wirtz (2008), three stages can be identified in the link between passive violence (just watching) and active violence (actually carrying it out).

1. Attention: the first step is to grab a social learner’s attention and television achieves this through advertisments and programmes- the more explicit and violent, the better, because it does achieve its goal.

2. Retention: people learn things by vicariously experiencing them. A TV viewer can watch the most graphic, explicit and or violent acts and experience the thrills, the fear, the strength in the safety of his own room, in his house, before his TV screen. Therefore, a TV viewer interpret’s these TV experiences according to his cognitive and emotional levels and then stores them in his memory. These memories may remain unused and untapped for years; they may contribute towards shaping future active or passive experiences.

3. Motivation: it was suggested that when a person vicariously learns something that deeply affects him, he will be tempted to try it out for him or herself and see what happens. The question is usually, would he/she experience the same results as the on-screen character? In other words, the person tries out the experience on the basis of what he perceives the outcome to be, rather than what may be the actual outcome.

The social learning theory has a general application to socializing effects of media and the adoption of various models of action as it applies to many everyday matters such as clothing, appearance, style, eating and drinking, modes of interaction and personal consumption. Television is rarely the only source of social learning and its influence depends on other sources such as parents, friends, teachers, etc (McQuail, 2005).

From the discussion, it can be reliably argued that this theory appropriately addresses how entertainment TV helps in shaping the social behaviour of teenagers. This is because as they are exposed to the entertainment programmes, they engage in a form of social learning process through some of the attributes as portrayed on TV. Clark (1994) is of the view that it is not the medium that influences learning, instead there are certain attributes of TV that can be modeled by learners and can shape the development of unique “cognitive processes.”

It is important to note that several researchers and organisations apply social learning in their educational entertainment programmes. They have created long-running serial dramas aimed at reducing the spread of HIV, slowing population growth, preventing unwanted pregnancies, promoting literacy, and empowering women. For instance, the Population Communications International (PCI), a non-profit group according to American Psychological Association (n.d.) airs serial dramas in countries as diverse as Bolivia, China, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tanzania. PCI also uses controlled studies to monitor the success of these programmes in changing audience’s behaviours. In Mexico and Kenya for instance, serialized dramas that highlighted family planning heralded 32% and 58% increases in new contraceptive users respectively. In Tanzania, serialized drama that addressed the spread of AIDS was associated with a reduction in reported numbers of sexual partners.

2.5.2 THE CULTIVATION THEORY

The Cultivation Theory was choosen to give backing to the social learning theory in this study. In examining the relevance of this theory to the context of the study, our concern is with the volume of exposure to entertainment TV by teenagers and their perception of what constitutes reality and the acceptable forms of social behaviour.

The theory was designed by George Gerbner and Larry Gross of the University of Pennsylvania. Cultivation theory was derived from several large-scale projects “concerned with the effects of television programming (particularly violent programming) on the attitudes and behaviours of the American public” (Miller, 2005, p. 281). According to Miller (2005, p. 282), cultivation theory was not developed to study "targeted and specific effects (e.g. watching Superman will lead children to attempt to fly by jumping out of the window) rather in terms of the cumulative and overeaching impact television has on the way we see the world in which we live."
Cultivation theory in its most basic form, then, suggests that exposure to television over time, subtly "cultivates" viewers' perceptions of reality. This cultivation can have an impact even on light viewers of TV, because the impact on heavy viewers has an impact on our entire culture. Gerbner and Gross (1976, p. 175) opine that "television is a medium of the socialization of most people into standardized roles and behaviors. Its function is in a word, enculturation".
Stated most simply, the central hypothesis explored in cultivation research is that those who spend more time watching television are more likely to perceive the real world in ways that reflect the most common and recurrent messages of the television world, compared with people who watch less television, but are otherwise comparable in terms of important demographic characteristics (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, Signorielli, & Shanahan, 2002). Anaeto, et al (2008, p. 103-104) summarizes the assumptions and principles of the theory thus: 1. Cultivation analysis basically means that heavy TV viewers will cultivate the perception of reality portrayed by the TV. 2. People indicate their judgements- about and their actions- in the world on the cultivated reality provided by television. 3. Television is essentially and fundamentally different from other mass media. It is the only medium in history with which people can interact. 4. The medium is the “central cultural arm” of society as typified by America. There, television is the “chief creator of synthetic cultural patterns” (entertainment and information). 5. The substance of the consciousness cultivated by television is not much specific attitudes and opinions as more basic assumptions about the ‘facts’ of life and standards of judgement on which consciousness is based. 6. Television’s major cultural function is to stabilize social patterns; it is a medium of socialization and acculturation. 7. The observable, measurable, independent contributions of television to the culture are relatively small. Simply, though we cannot always see media effects, they do occur and eventually will change the culture in possible, profound ways.
At this juncture, it is important to note that Gerbner et al. (1986, p. 23) go on to argue that the impact of television on its viewers is not unidirectional; that the "use of the term cultivation for television's contribution to conception of social reality... (does not) necessarily imply a one-way, monolithic process. The effects of a pervasive medium upon the composition and structure of the symbolic environment are subtle, complex, and intermingled with other influences. This perspective, therefore, assumes an interaction between the medium and its publics".
Cultivation Theory is equally viewed as a top- down, linear, closed communication model regards audiences as passive, presenting ideas to society as a mass with meaning, open to little or no interpretation. The ideas presented to a passive audience are often accepted, therefore influencing large groups into conforming with ideas, meaning that the media exerts a significant influence over audiences. This audience is seen as very vulnerable and easily manipulated.
Cultivation Theory looks at media as having a long term passive effect on audiences, which starts off small at first but has a compound effect, an example of this is body image and the bombardment of images (Morgan, 2009).

REFERENCES

American Psychological Association (n.d). Putting the power of television to good use. Retrieved 30 April from http:///www.apa.org/research/action/tv.aspx.

Anaeto, S. G., Onabanjo, S. O., & Osifeso, B. J. (2008). Models and theories of communication. Maryland: African Renaissance Books Incorporated.

Ball-Rockeach, S. J. (2001). The politics of studying media violence: reflections 30 years after the violence commission. Mass Communication & Society, 4, pp. 3-18.

Bandura, A. (1965). Influence of models' reinforcement contingencies on the acquisition of imitative responses. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 1, 589-595.

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice-Hall.

Baran, J. S. & Davis, K. D. (2003). Mass communication theory: foundations, ferment, and future. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Baran, J. S. (2009). Introduction to mass communication: media literacy and culture. New York: Mc Graw Hill.

Clark, R. E. (1994). Media Will Never Influence Learning. Journal of Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(2), 21-29.

Comstock, G. (1991). Television and the American child. San Diego: Academic.

Dominick, R. J. (2005). The dynamics of mass communication: media in the digital age (8th ed.). New York: Mc Graw Hill.

George-Okoro, T. G. (2008). The effects of movies with sex content on teenage sexual attitudes and values. Unpublished undergraduate thesis of the Department of Human Resource Development (Psychology), College of Development Studies, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State.

Gerbner, G., & Gross, L. (1976). Living with television: The violence profile. Journal of Communication, 26, 172-199.

Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (1986). Living with television: The dynamics of the cultivation process. In J. Bryant & D. Zillman (eds), Perspectives on media effects (pp. 17–40). Hilldale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (2002). Growing up with television: cultivation processes. In J. Bryant & D. Zillman (eds), Media effects, pp. 19-42. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Hedinsson, E. (1981). Television, family and society: the social origins and effects of adolescent TV use. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell.

John, K. (2007). What is the role of the media in the socialisation of teenagers. Retrieved 13 June, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/media_manip.

Martino, C. S., Collins, L. R., Elliott, N. M., Strachman, A., Kanouse, E. D. & Berry, H. S. (2006). Exposure to degrading versus non-degrading music lyrics and sexual behaviour among youth. Pediatrics, Vol. 118, No. 2, pp. e430-e441(doi: 10.1542/peds.2006-0131).

McQuail, D. (2005). Mass communication theory (5th ed.). London:Sage Publications.

Mendelsohn, H. (1966). Mass entertainment. New Haven, CT: College and University Press.

Meyrowitz, J. (1985). No sense of place: the impact of electronic media on social behaviour. New York: Oxford University Press

Miller, K. (2005). Communications theories: perspectives, processes, and contexts. New York: Mc GrawHill.

Morgan, M. (2009). Cultivation analysis and media Effects. London: The SAGE Handbook of Media Processes and Effects.

Muncie, J. (2004). Youth and crime (2nd ed.). London: Sage Publications Inc.

Russell, C. (1917). The problem of juvenile crime. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Vivian, J. (2009). The media of mass communication (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Wilson, R. J. & Wilson, R. S. (2001). Mass media, mass culture: an introduction (5th ed.). New York: Mc Graw Hill.

Wirtz, B. (2008). What is social learning theory? Retrieved 30 April, 2010 from http://www,xyhd.tv/2008/uncategirised/what-is-social-learning-theory.

CHAPTER THREE

METHOD OF STUDY

1. Study Design

In order to ensure an effective study, the researcher used a dual research method – Survey and Focus group discussion. The survey research method is a veritable way of eliciting the views of a group, people or population of study about an event, activity or phenomenon. The survey technique is the most commonly used research method in the behaviourial sciences and it involves drawing up a set of questions on various subjects or aspects of a subject and a selected number of a population are requested to answer (Sobowale, 1983). Focus group on the other hand is a research design that involves a small group (usually three to eight people) who are drawn together for an in-depth discussion on a specific issue. This is like an in-depth interview but using a group rather than an individual (Fawole, et al, 2006).

Therefore, the rational for using the two research methods was because, survey provides the best means of collecting the views of the teenagers concerning how entertainment television aids in shaping their social behaviour while focus group discusion will give the researcher a deeper insight into the views of the teenagers concerning the issue. For the survey aspect of the work, a 33 item questionnaire was developed by the researcher based on the research objectives and administered to the sample selected from Covenant University undergraduate students who fall within the ages of 13-19. For the focus group discussion, an interview guide was also developed and strictly applied to the selected individuals who fall within the research focus. Both instruments were administered to a scientifically selected sample and the results were analyzed using appropriate statistics.

2. Population of Study

All persons or things that fall under the umbrella of the research topic to be examined are referred to as the population of the study (Ohaja, 2003). Therefore, the population for this study were all teenagers between the ages 13-19 years (undergraduate students) in Covenant University. The researcher purposively selected Covenant University because of some reasons: first, the admission policy stipulates that prospective students of the University are only suitable for admission if they are between the ages of 14-21 years old. Second, the family background of the students was also a factor taken into consideration. A larger proportion of the students come from affluent and financially bouyant family backgrounds, where they can afford Pay TV which gives them limitless access to a variety of entertainment television stations. Third, they have the necessary exposure and expected capacity to be able to adequately respond to the questions raised in the research instruments (questionnaire and focus group guide).

3. Sample Size

The researcher used simple random sampling technique to select two schools each from the two colleges(College of Science & Technology and College of Development Studies) thereby having four schools. He further selected two departments each from the four schools randomly, making eight departments. The researcher, therefore, went to the Centre for Systems and Information Services (CSIS) in the University and collected the list of 100 Level students in the eight selected departments that are between the age 14 and 19 years old, which became the sample frame. The total number was 678 and then 50 per cent of the total number was taken in order to get the sample size. Therefore, the sample size for the study was 339 students.

3.4 Sampling Technique

In order to ensure a systematic or scientific selection of the sample to be studied, the issue of sampling cannot be over emphasized. Sampling is therefore, a process or technique of selecting a suitable sample of the population for the study (Tejumaiye, 2003). The researcher employed three sampling techniques: purposive, simple random sampling and stratified sampling. The institution has two colleges namely: College of Science and Technology (CST), and College of Development Studies (CDS). Each of the colleges has three schools, therefore, using simple random sampling whereby the names of all the schools in the colleges were put in a box, the researcher selected two schools each from the two colleges.

1. College of Science and Technology

a. School of Engineering and Technology

b. School of Enviromental Sciences

2. College of Development Studies

a. School of Business

b. School of Human Resource Development

In the College of Science and Technology, the Schools of Engineering and Technology, and Enviromental Sciences were selected. While in the College of Development Studies, the Schools of Business and Human Resource Development were selected.

With the aid of stratified sampling, the researcher grouped the programmes in the four selected schools into departments. The researcher further selected two departments from each of the schools through simple random sampling.

1. College of Development Studies

a. School of Business

i. Accounting

ii. Banking and Finance

b. School of Human Resource Development

i. Mass Communication

ii. Sociology

2. College of Science and Technology

a. School of Engineering and Technology

i. Electrical & Electronics Engineering

ii. Mechanical Engineering

b. School of Enviromental Sciences

i. Architecture

ii. Estate Management

The researcher collected a list of all the students in the selected departments from the Centre for Systems and Information Services (CSIS) that fall within the age 13 and 19 years old. The total number of the students which are also the respondents was 678, and a sample size of 339 students was selected. The researcher divided the sample size by the eight Departments (339÷8) to get about 42 respondents per selected Department. This was applied except where the selected department in question did not have enough students to meet up with the alloted figure. In such situations, the Departments that had more of the population were given more figures. From this, the following were selected from the Departments:

1. Accounting - 47

2. Banking & Finance - 45

3. Mass Communication- 45

4. Sociology - 31

5. Electrical & Electronics Engineering- 45

6. Mechanical Engineering- 42

7. Architecture- 42

8. Estate Managment- 42

Total- 339

The 339 respondents were selected using the simple random sampling technique from the names on the list that was collected from CSIS. But this was done at the Departmental level using the frame for each Department. The target for each Department was 42. Where this was not possible, every member of the sample was selected. Where we had more than 42 like in Accounting, Banking & Finance, Electrical & Electronics Engineering, the technique was applied to select the required sample. After the selection, the researcher with the help of the trained research assistants went to the Departments with the names of the respondents to administer the questionnaire five minutes before the end of their compulsory courses as identified on the University time table.

For the focus group discussion, the researcher purposively selected twelve respondents based on the characteristic that the fall within the age group for the study. He further divided them into two equal groups: six males and six females.

3.5 Instrument for Data Collection

The research instruments for data collection mean the tools which will be used to collect data for the purpose of testing hypotheses or answering research questions (Ojo, 2003). The instruments used for collecting data in this study were questionnaire for survey and the focus group discussion guide and a miget or tape recorder for the focus group discussion. A questionnaire is a data gathering instrument, which provides uniformed questions to be answered by respondents in written form. The choice of a questionnaire was used because of the following reasons.

1. It gives greater confidence to the respondents to express themselves freely because of anonymity.

2. Due to lack of pressure, questions are factually answered.

3. Uniformity is achieved due to standardized questions.

4. It facilitates data processing through easy coding.

The questionnaire is divided into two sections: the first section sought data that aided the researcher’s purpose; the second section contained demographic characteristics such as: age, gender, etc. Closed and open ended questions were used in the questionnaire and since the study is a perception study, the Likert Scale was mostly used in the form of closed ended questions. It required respondents to select an answer from the list of responses already provided. The closed ended questions were twenty-seven in number, while the open ended questions were three in number.

The focus group discussion guide provides a set of questions that will guide the moderator of the discussion group and the miget or tape recorder will help record the views and verbal expressions of the participants. The focus group discussion guide is divided into three sections: the first section (face sheet) sought the data of the moderator, the assistant, and the participants in the discussion. The second section has an outline of ten discussion questions. The moderator will ask each of the participants from the questions and their responses will be recorded on the miget for further analysis. The third section contains the post-interview comment sheet, where the researcher is expected to put down in writing his general impression about the session, and interpretation of important words and gestures displayed by the participants during the session. Also, mention need be made that Note taking was also used by the researcher so as to compliment the use of the miget or tape recorder. Both the questionnaire and focus group discussion guide were generated by the researcher in line with the research hypothesis and objectives.

6. Method of Data Presentation and Analysis

The data collected via the questionnaire were analyzed with the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The research questions were analyzed with frequency distribution tables and bar charts, while the hypotheses were tested using Chi-square analysis and cross tabulation tables.

7. Validity and Reliability of Instrument

In the evaluation of variables in a study, validity and reliability of the instruments are crucial issues to be attended to. Hardy & Bryman (2004, p. 23) view validity as “being concerned with the issue of whether a variable really measures what it is supposed to measure.” This presupposes that the items in the questionnaire be rigourously examined to ensure their correspondence with the theoretical literature on consumption. Reliability on the other hand looks at the consistency of a variable. “If a variable is externally reliable it does not fluctuate overtime; in other words, it is stable” (Hardy & Bryman, 2004, p. 22). Therefore, in order to ensure validity of the instrument, the measure should be be able to identify what it claims, and will be reliable if the researcher is able to test for reliability (Hardy & Bryman, 2004, p. 23).

Therefore, this supposes that after the researcher will adminster the instruments he will examine the degrees to which the responses of the respondents are identical for the two sets of data. The questions on the questionnaire were rephrased and repeated in different circumstances to check for consistency of responses and to ensure that the objectives of the study were met. This was achieved through a pilot study, because the result of the study led to major amendments in the questionnaire. Also the project supervisor scrutinized the entire instruments to ensure that the major issues raised were covered, and this gave the instruments face validity or credibility.

REFERENCES

Fawole, I., Egbokhare, F. O., Itiola, O. A., Odejide, A. I. & Olayinka, A. I. (2006). Definition, spectrum and types of research. In Olayinka, A. I., Taiwo, O. V., Raji-Oyelade, A. & Farai, P. I. (ed.), Methodology of basic and applied research (2nd ed). Ibadan: The Post-graduate School, University of Ibadan.

Hardy, M. & Bryman, A. (2004). Handbook of data analysis. London: Sage Publications.

Ohaja, E. (2003). Mass communication research and project report writing. Lagos: John Letterman Limited.

Ojo, O. (2003). Fundamentals of research methods. Lagos: Nelson Clemmy Press.

Sobowale, I. (1983). Scientific journalism. Lagos: John West Publications Ltd.

Tejumaiye, A.(2003). Mass communication research: Introduction. Lagos:Sceptre Print Limited.

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS

4.1 DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

In the preceding chapter of this study, it was identified that the sample size for the study is 339. Copies of the questionnaire were administered to the 339 respondents from the departments that were selected: Accounting, Banking and Finance, Mass Communication, Sociology, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Architecture and Estate Management. From the 339 copies of questionnaire that were administered, 337 copies were properly filled and returned. Thus representing a high response rate of 99.4% and a mortality rate of 0.6%. The distribution for the sex of the respondents showed that, females were 183 representing 54.3%, while 154 representing 45.7% were males. In terms of age, 8 of them representing 2.4% of the respondents were 15 years, 74 representing 22% were 16 years, 127 representing 37.7% were 17 years, 72 of them representing 21.4% were 18 years, and 56 representing 16.6% were 19 years. However, none of the respondents were 13 and 14 years old.

The respondents were asked if they watched entertainment TV stations. Table 4.1 below summarises their responses. The table also includes their responses on whether the watched entertainment TV regularly and the minimum time they spend watching entertainment on TV.

TABLE 4.1

DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS THAT WATCH ENTERTAINMENT TV

|Responses |Watch entertainment TV|Spend minimum of an hour |Watch entertainment TV |
| |regularly |everyday watching entertainment|stations |
| | |TV | |
| |Strongly agree |40.1% |38.3% |68.8% |
| |Agree |41.8% |27.3% |29.4% |
| |Undecided |8.6% |13.4% |% |
| |Disagree |8.6% |16.3% |.9% |
| |Strongly disagree |.9% |4.7% |.6% |
| |Total |100.0% |100.0% |100.0% |
| | |n=337 |n=337 |n=337 |

FIGURE 4.1

PERCEPTION THAT TEENAGERS SPEND MINIMUM OF AN HOUR EVERYDAY WATCHING ENTERTAINMENT TV [pic]

When the respondents were further asked if they watched entertainment programmes more than any programme on TV, Table 4.2 and Fig. 4.2 show their responses thus:

TABLE 4.2

TEENAGERS WATCH ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES MORE THAN ANY PROGRAMME ON TV

|Responses |Watch entertainment programmes more than any programme on|
| |TV |
| |Strongly agree |38.6% |
| |Agree |31.2% |
| |Undecided |9.5% |
| |Disagree |13.6% |
| |Strongly Disagree |7.1% |
| |Total |100.0% |
| | |n=337 |

FIGURE 4.2
PERCEPTION THAT TEENAGERS WATCH ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES MORE THAN ANY PROGRAMME ON TV

[pic]

The respondents were asked the kind of entertainment programmes they watched on the TV stations. They indicated that they watched movies, fashion shows, reality shows, music videos, soap operas and entertainment news on the entertainment TV stations. Table 4.3 presents a summary of their responses.

TABLE 4.3

DISTRIBUTION OF THE KINDS OF ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES TEENAGERS WATCH ON THE TV STATIONS

|Responses |Fashion Shows |Reality TV Shows |Music Videos |Soap Operas |Entertain-ment News |
| |Strongly agree |27.3% |15.4% |
| |Strongly agree |22.6% |19.9% |34.4% |
| |Agree |36.8% |40.9% |34.7% |
| |Undecided |24.0% |26.7% |19.0% |
| |Disagree |11.6% |9.8% |9.8% |
| |Strongly |5.0% |2.7% |2.1% |
| |disagree | | | |
| |Total |100.0% |100.0% |100.0% |
| | |n=337 |n=337 |n=337 |

TABLE 4.6

DISTRIBUTION OF PERCEPTION THAT ENTERTAINMENT TV PROGRAMMES SHAPE TEENAGERS WORLD VIEW CONCERNING SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

|Responses |Entertainment programmes have negative impact |Entertainment TV programmes shape teenagers |
| |on teenagers social behaviour |world view concerning social behaviour |
| |Strongly agree |19.6% |20.8% |
| |Agree |31.8% |46.9% |
| |Undecided |24.3% |17.8% |
| |Disagree |15.1% |11.0% |
| |Strongly disagree |9.2% |3.6% |
| |Total |100.0% |100.0% |
| | |n=337 |n=337 |

FIGURE 4.3
ENTERTAINMENT TV PROGRAMMES SHAPE TEENAGERS WORLD VIEW CONCERNING SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

[pic]

Hypotheses Test

Our intent here is to test the null hypothesis that entertainment television plays an insignificant role in shaping the social behaviour of teenagers. This is illustrated in Table 4.7 below:

TABLE 4.7

EXPOSURE TO ENTERTAINMENT TV SHAPE’S TEENAGERS WORLD VIEW CONCERNING SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

|Responses |Observed N |Expected N |Residual |
|Strongly agree |75 |67.4 |7.6 |
|Agree |149 |67.4 |81.6 |
|Undecided |68 |67.4 |.6 |
|Disagree |40 |67.4 |-27.4 |
|Strongly disagree |5 |67.4 |-62.4 |
|Total |n=337 | | |

The results in the table will be further analysed with the following formular:

1. If X2 computed is less than X2 tabulated, reject the null hypothesis.

2. If X2 computed is less than X2 tabulated, accept the null hypothesis.

TABLE 4.7b
Chi Square Test I
| |Exposure to entertainment TV shape’s |
| |teenagers world view concerning social |
| |behaviour |
|Chi-Square(a) |168.564 |
|df |4 |
|Asymp. Sig. |.000 |

The chi square value of 168.564 which is X2 , degree of freedom 4 at a low significance value (typically less than 0.05) will be checked in the chi square table. The result is 9.488 and based on formular 1, we will reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, entertainment television plays a significant role in shaping the social behaviour of teenagers.

For the second hypothesis we will want to find out whether teenagers frequency of exposure to entertainment television plays an insignificant role in shaping their social behaviour. In testing the hypothesis, we will refer to the formular stated earlier. Furthermore, the strength and relationship among the variables in the chi square test will be examined.

TABLE 4.8

TEENAGERS FREQUENCY OF EXPOSURE TO ENTERTAINMENT TV SHAPE’S THEIR WORLD VIEW CONCERNING SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

| |Entertainment TV programmes shape teenagers world view concerning social | |
| |behaviour | |
| |Strongly agree |Agree |Undecided |
|Pearson Chi-Square |40.675(a) |16 |.001 |
|Likelihood Ratio |37.678 |16 |.002 |
|Linear-by-Linear Association |21.255 |1 |.000 |
|N of Valid Cases |337 | | |
| |

In order to find out whether there was a significant relationship between the variables, Somer’s d was used to test the significance, strength and direction of the relationship between the variables in the row and column of the crosstabulation.

TABLE 4.8c
Somer’s d Directional Measures

| | |Value |Asymp. Std. |Approx. T(b) |Approx. Sig. |
| | | |Error(a) | | |
|Ordina|Somers' d |Symmetric |.230 |.045 |5.051 |.000 |
|l by | | | | | | |
|Ordina| | | | | | |
|l | | | | | | |
|1 |I watch entertainment TV stations. | | | | | |
|2 |I watch entertainment TV stations regularly. | | | | | |
|3 |I spend a minimum of an hour everyday to watch entertainment TV stations. | | | | | |
|4 |I don’t watch any other TV station besides entertainment TV stations. | | | | | |
|5 |I watch entertainment programmes more than any other programme on television. | | | | | |
|6 |I am addicted to entertainment programmes. | | | | | |
|7 |I watch movies on entertainment TV stations. | | | | | |
|8 |I watch fashion shows on entertainment TV stations. | | | | | |
|9 |I watch reality TV shows on entertainment TV stations. | | | | | |
|10 |I watch music videos on entertainment TV stations. | | | | | |
|11 |I watch soap operas on entertainment TV stations. | | | | | |
|12 |I watch entertainment news on entertainment TV stations. | | | | | |
|13 |Watching entertainment programmes keep me informed on what is happening in my | | | | | |
| |immediate enviroment. | | | | | |
|14 |The more I watch entertainment on TV the more I learn how to interact with my | | | | | |
| |peers. | | | | | |
|15 |I learn how to interact with my peers from other social institutions rather than | | | | | |
| |entertainment TV. | | | | | |
|16 |I learn how to use some words in English and other languages from entertainment | | | | | |
| |programmes. | | | | | |
|17 |What attracts me to the entertainment programmes is the fashion and lifestyle. | | | | | |
|18 |What attracts me to the entertainment programmes is the celebrities and their | | | | | |
| |lifestyle shown in them. | | | | | |
|19 |I watch some entertainment programmes like music videos because of the party mood | | | | | |
| |and atmosphere created in them. | | | | | |
|20 |I am attracted to some of the entertainment programmes because of the violence | | | | | |
| |shown. | | | | | |
|21 |I watch some of the entertainment programmes because of the love and romance | | | | | |
| |portrayed. | | | | | |
|22 |The programmes shown on the entertainment TV portray the modern lifestyle. | | | | | |
|23 |The ideal and acceptable lifestyle is as portrayed in the entertainment programmes.| | | | | |
|24 |I strongly desire to live the kind of life that is portrayed in the entertainment | | | | | |
| |programmes. | | | | | |
|25 |I honestly feel entertainment programmes on TV stations have negative impacts on | | | | | |
| |teenagers social behaviour. | | | | | |
|26 |Regular exposure to entertainment TV and programmes help to shape my world view | | | | | |
| |concerning social behaviour. | | | | | |
|27 |Entertainment TV programmes influence my world view concerning social behaviour. | | | | | |

Section B
28. What kind of entertainment programmes do you watch on TV stations?
1._____________________________ 2._______________________________
3._____________________________ 4._______________________________
5._____________________________ 6._______________________________

29. Entertainment TV programmes influence my social behaviour through the following ways (Pls tick as many as appropriate)
a. Language ( ) b. Lifestyle ( ) c. Fashion ( ) d.Others, (pls specify) ...............................................................................................................................................

Section C
30. Age: 13 ( ) 14 ( ) 15 ( ) 16 ( ) 17 ( ) 18 ( ) 19 ( )
31. Sex: Male ( ) Female ( )
32. College: Development Studies ( ) Science and Technology ( )
33. Department..............................................................................................

APPENDIX II

COVENANT UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE

SECTION A: FACE SHEET

Name of Moderator....................................................................................

Name of Assistant......................................................................................

Date.................................................. Time..............................................

Participants Information

|Name |Age |Sex |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |

SECTION B:DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Introduction

Good day. My name is.................................................. and my colleague here is............................ Thank you for coming. This focus group is a relaxed discussion session in which you share your opinion about the topic raised. There is no right or wrong answer to the questions that will be asked, so please feel free to say exactly what is on your mind.

Purpose

We are from the Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University and we are here to talk about the role of entertainment television in shaping your social behaviour. The purpose therefore is to get your opinion whether entertainment television significantly or insignificantly shapes your world view on how you learn and interact in your immediate environment. By way of brief definition entertainment TV in this discussion includes but not restricted to MTV, MTV Base, Channel O, Silverbird Television, Entertainment Television, Fashion TV, Africa Magic and Movie Magic. Entertainment programmes focus on movies, music videos, fashion shows, reality TV shows, soap operas and entertainment news.

We are not here to give our opinion or share any information, your opinion is what matters. Please feel comfortable to express yourself and you can disagree with any point raised.

Procedure

My colleague here will be taking notes and recording the session so that I can pay attention to everything you say. The session is confidential, so no one will know what your contributions are. For us to have a relaxed discussion, you are free to respond without waiting to be called upon. I will however, appreciate it if only one person talks at a time for easy documentation. This discussion will last about 30 minutes. Thank you for coming.

Participant introduction

Let’s begin with a brief introduction. Tell us your name and any other information you want us to know.

Discussion Questions

1. Which entertainment television stations do you watch? State them.............................

2. What entertainment programmes do you watch the most on the TV stations?

3. What do you pay attention to in the entertainment programmes you watch?

4. How much time do you spend watching entertainment television stations?

5. What attracts you the most to the entertainment programmes you watch?

6. What social values do you learn from the entertainment programmes you watch?

7. Does what you watch in the entertainment programmes reflect the ideal kind of lifestyle you desire?

8. Has the desire to live the glamorous kind of lifestyle you watch on the entertainment programmes motivate you to engage in some social vices?

9. Do you learn how to interact with your peers from the entertainment programmes you watch?

10. What is your perception about the role of entertainment TV and its programmes in shaping social behaviour amongst teenagers? Is it negative? Why? If it is positive, how?

Thank you very much for coming to this session. Your time is very much appreciated and your comments have been very helpful.

SECTION C: POST-INTERVIEW COMMENT SHEET

General impression about the session:

Interpretation of important words and gestures displayed during the session:

Other comments:

APPENDIX III

CODING GUIDE

|S/N |ITEMS ON THE QUESTIONNAIRE |ATTRIBUTES |CODES |COLUMN |
|1 |I watch entertainment TV stations |Strongly Agree |1 |1 |
| | |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|2 |I watch entertainment TV regularly |Strongly Agree |1 |2 |
| | |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|3 |Spend minimum of an hour everyday watching |Strongly Agree |1 |3 |
| |entertainment TV |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|4 |Don’t watch any other TV station besides entertainment|Strongly Agree |1 |4 |
| |TV stations |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|5 |Watch entertainment programmes more than any programme|Strongly Agree |1 |5 |
| |on TV |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|6 |I am addicted to entertainment programmes |Strongly Agree |1 |6 |
| | |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|7 |I watch movies on entertainment TV stations |Strongly Agree |1 |7 |
| | |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|8 |I watch fashion shows on entertainment TV stations |Strongly Agree |1 |8 |
| | |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|9 |I watch reality TV shows on entertainment TV stations |Strongly Agree |1 |9 |
| | |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|10 |I watch music videos on entertainment TV stations |Strongly Agree |1 |10 |
| | |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|11 |I watch soap operas on entertainment TV stations |Strongly Agree |1 |11 |
| | |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|12 |I watch entertainment news on entertainment TV |Strongly Agree |1 |12 |
| |stations |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|13 |Watching entertainment programmes keep me informed on |Strongly Agree |1 |13 |
| |happenings in my enviroment |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|14 |Watching more of entertainment on TV the more I learn |Strongly Agree |1 |14 |
| |how to interact with my peers |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|15 |Learn how to interact with my peers from other social |Strongly Agree |1 |15 |
| |institutions |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|16 |Learn how to use some words in English and other |Strongly Agree |1 |16 |
| |languages from entertainment programmes |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|17 |Attraction to entertainment programmes is fashion and |Strongly Agree |1 |17 |
| |lifestyle |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|18 |Attraction to entertainment programmes is celebrities |Strongly Agree |1 |18 |
| |and their lifestyle |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|19 |Watch music videos because of the party mood and |Strongly Agree |1 |19 |
| |atmosphere |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|20 |Attraction to some entertainment programmes is because|Strongly Agree |1 |20 |
| |of violence |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|21 |Watch some entertainment programmes because of love |Strongly Agree |1 |21 |
| |and romance |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|22 |Programmes shown on entertainment TV portray the |Strongly Agree |1 |22 |
| |modern lifestyle |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|23 |Ideal and acceptable lifestyle is as portrayed in |Strongly Agree |1 |23 |
| |entertainment programmes |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|24 |Strongly desire to live the kind of life as portrayed |Strongly Agree |1 |24 |
| |in entertainment programmes |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|25 |Entertainment programmes have negative impact on |Strongly Agree |1 |25 |
| |teenagers social behaviour |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|26 |Regular exposure to entertainment TV/ programmes shape|Strongly Agree |1 |26 |
| |my world view concerning social behaviour |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|27 |Entertainment TV programmes influence my world view |Strongly Agree |1 |27 |
| |concerning social behaviour |Agree |2 | |
| | |Undecided |3 | |
| | |Disagree |4 | |
| | |Strongly Disagree |5 | |
|28 |Entertainment TV programmes influence my social |Language |1 |28 |
| |behaviour through the following ways |Lifestyle |2 | |
| | |Fashion |3 | |
| | |Others |4 | |
|29 |Age |13 |1 |29 |
| | |14 |2 | |
| | |15 |3 | |
| | |16 |4 | |
| | |17 |5 | |
| | |18 |6 | |
| | |19 |7 | |
|30 |Sex |Male |1 |30 |
| | |Female |2 | |
|31 |College |Development Studies |1 |31 |
| | |Science and Technology | | |
| | | |2 | |
|32 |Department |Accounting |1 | |
| | |Banking and Finance |2 | |
| | |Mass Communication | | |
| | |Sociology |3 | |
| | |E.I.E | | |
| | |Mechanical Engineering |4 | |
| | |Architecture |5 | |
| | |Estate Management |6 | |
| | | | | |
| | | |7 | |
| | | |8 | |

APPENDIX IV

FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION TABLES

WATCH ENTERTAINMENT TV STATIONS

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |232 |68.8% |
| |Agree |99 |29.4% |
| |Undecided |1 |.3% |
| |Disagree |3 |.9% |
| |Strongly disagree |2 |.6% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

WATCH ENTERTAINMENT TV REGULARLY

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |135 |40.1% |
| |Agree |141 |41.8% |
| |Undecided |29 |8.6% |
| |Disagree |29 |8.6% |
| |Strongly disagree |3 |.9% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

SPEND MINIMUM OF AN HOUR EVERYDAY WATCHING ENTERTAINMENT TV

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |129 |38.3% |
| |Agree |92 |27.3% |
| |Undecided |45 |13.4% |
| |Disagree |55 |16.3% |
| |Strongly disagree |16 |4.7% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

DON'T WATCH ANY OTHER TV STATION BESIDE ENTERTAINMENT TV

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |32 |9.5% |
| |Agree |36 |10.7% |
| |Undecided |35 |10.4% |
| |Disagree |152 |45.1% |
| |Strongly disagree |82 |24.3% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

WATCH ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES MORE THAN ANY PROGRAMME ON TV

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |130 |38.6% |
| |Agree |105 |31.2% |
| |Undecided |32 |9.5% |
| |Disagree |46 |13.6% |
| |Strongly disagree |24 |7.1% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

ADDICTED TO ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES

|RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |58 |17.2% |
| |Agree |42 |12.5% |
| |Undecided |45 |13.4% |
| |Disagree |106 |31.5% |
| |Strongly disagree |86 |25.5% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

WATCH MOVIES ON ENTERTAINMENT TV STATIONS

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |171 |50.7% |
| |Agree |139 |41.2% |
| |Undecided |15 |4.5% |
| |Disagree |10 |3.0% |
| |Strongly disagree |2 |.6% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

WATCH FASHION SHOWS ON ENTERTAINMENT TV STATIONS

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |104 |30.9% |
| |Agree |117 |34.7% |
| |Undecided |28 |8.3% |
| |Disagree |55 |16.3% |
| |Strongly disagree |33 |9.8% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

WATCH REALITY TV SHOWS ON ENTERTAINMENT TV STATIONS

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |125 |37.1% |
| |Agree |165 |49.0% |
| |Undecided |30 |8.9% |
| |Disagree |14 |4.2% |
| |Strongly disagree |3 |.9% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

WATCH MUSIC VIDEOS ON ENTERTAINMENT TV STATIONS

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |161 |47.8% |
| |Agree |124 |36.8% |
| |Undecided |29 |8.6% |
| |Disagree |11 |3.3% |
| |Strongly disagree |12 |3.6% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

WATCH SOAP OPERAS ON ENTERTAINMENT TV STATIONS

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |108 |32.0% |
| |Agree |138 |40.9% |
| |Undecided |46 |13.6% |
| |Disagree |29 |8.6% |
| |Strongly disagree |16 |4.7% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

WATCH ENTERTAINMENT NEWS ON ENTERTAINMENT TV STATIONS

|RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |129 |38.3% |
| |Agree |145 |43.0% |
| |Undecided |36 |10.7% |
| |Disagree |15 |4.5% |
| |Strongly disagree |12 |3.6% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

WATCHING ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES KEEP ME INFORMED ON HAPPENINGS IN MY ENVIROMENT

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |116 |34.4% |
| |Agree |117 |34.7% |
| |Undecided |64 |19.0% |
| |Disagree |33 |9.8% |
| |Strongly disagree |7 |2.1% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

WATCHING MORE OF ENTERTAINMENT ON TV THE MORE TEENAGERS LEARN HOW TO INTERACT WITH PEERS

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |76 |22.6% |
| |Agree |124 |36.8% |
| |Undecided |81 |24.0% |
| |Disagree |39 |11.6% |
| |Strongly disagree |17 |5.0% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

LEARN HOW TO INTERACT WITH PEERS FROM OTHER SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |67 |19.9% |
| |Agree |138 |40.9% |
| |Undecided |90 |26.7% |
| |Disagree |33 |9.8% |
| |Strongly disagree |9 |2.7% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

LEARN HOW TO USE SOME WORDS IN ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES FROM ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |100 |29.7% |
| |Agree |152 |45.1% |
| |Undecided |55 |16.3% |
| |Disagree |20 |5.9% |
| |Strongly disagree |10 |3.0% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

ATTRACTION TO ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES IS FASHION AND LIFESTYLE

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |73 |21.7% |
| |Agree |111 |32.9% |
| |Undecided |67 |19.9% |
| |Disagree |61 |18.1% |
| |Strongly disagree |25 |7.4% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

ATTRACTION TO ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES IS CELEBRITIES AND THEIR LIFESTYLE

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |92 |27.3% |
| |Agree |122 |36.2% |
| |Undecided |55 |16.3% |
| |Disagree |48 |14.2% |
| |Strongly disagree |20 |5.9% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

WATCH MUSIC VIDEOS BECAUSE OF THE PARTY MOOD AND ATMOSPHERE

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |52 |15.4% |
| |Agree |99 |29.4% |
| |Undecided |71 |21.1% |
| |Disagree |86 |25.5% |
| |Strongly disagree |29 |8.6% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

ATTRACTION TO SOME ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES IS BECAUSE OF VIOLENCE

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |23 |6.8% |
| |Agree |36 |10.7% |
| |Undecided |48 |14.2% |
| |Disagree |118 |35.0% |
| |Strongly disagree |112 |33.2% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

WATCH SOME ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES BECAUSE OF LOVE AND ROMANCE

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |47 |13.9% |
| |Agree |113 |33.5% |
| |Undecided |68 |20.2% |
| |Disagree |77 |22.8% |
| |Strongly disagree |32 |9.5% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

PROGRAMMES SHOWN ON ENTERTAINMENT TV PORTRAY THE MODERN LIFESTYLE

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |113 |33.5% |
| |Agree |161 |47.8% |
| |Undecided |47 |13.9% |
| |Disagree |12 |3.6% |
| |Strongly disagree |4 |1.2% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

IDEAL AND ACCEPTABLE LIFESTYLE IS AS PORTRAYED IN ENTERTAINMENT

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |27 |8.0% |
| |Agree |70 |20.8% |
| |Undecided |109 |32.3% |
| |Disagree |98 |29.1% |
| |Strongly disagree |33 |9.8% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

STRONGLY DESIRE TO LIVE THE KIND OF LIFE AS PORTRAYED IN ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |22 |6.5% |
| |Agree |51 |15.1% |
| |Undecided |116 |34.4% |
| |Disagree |103 |30.6% |
| |Strongly disagree |45 |13.4% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES HAVE NEGATIVE IMPACT ON TEENAGERS SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |66 |19.6% |
| |Agree |107 |31.8% |
| |Undecided |82 |24.3% |
| |Disagree |51 |15.1% |
| |Strongly disagree |31 |9.2% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

REGULAR EXPOSURE TO ENTERTAINMENT TV SHAPE’S TEENAGERS WORLD VIEW CONCERNING SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |75 |22.3% |
| |Agree |149 |44.2% |
| |Undecided |68 |20.2% |
| |Disagree |40 |11.9% |
| |Strongly disagree |5 |1.5% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

ENTERTAINMENT TV PROGRAMMES INFLUENCES TEENAGER’S WORLD VIEW CONCERNING SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Strongly agree |70 |20.8% |
| |Agree |158 |46.9% |
| |Undecided |60 |17.8% |
| |Disagree |37 |11.0% |
| |Strongly disagree |12 |3.6% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

AGE OF RESPONDENTS

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |15 |8 |2.4% |
| |16 |74 |22.0% |
| |17 |127 |37.7% |
| |18 |72 |21.4% |
| |19 |56 |16.6% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

SEX OF RESPONDENTS

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Male |154 |45.7% |
| |Female |183 |54.3% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS PER COLLEGE

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Development Studies |164 |48.7% |
| |Science and Technology |171 |50.7% |
| | | | |
| |Total |337 |100% |

DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS PER DEPARTMENT

| RESPONSE |FREQUENCY |PERCENT |
| |Accounting |47 |13.9% |
| |Banking and Finance |43 |12.8% |
| |Mass Communication |45 |13.4% |
| |Sociology |31 |9.2% |
| |EIE |45 |13.4% |
| |Mechanical Engineering |42 |12.5% |
| |Architecture |42 |12.5% |
| |Estate Management |42 |12.5% |
| |Total |337 |100% |

-----------------------

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Undecided

Agree

Strongly Agree

Percent

125

100

75

50

25

0

Strongly
Disgree

Disagree

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Undecided

Agree

Strongly
Agree

Percent

125

100

75

50

25

0

Strongly disagree Disagree

Undecided

Agree

Strongly agree Percent

200

150

100

50

0