Citation

Victoroff D. Bull. Psychol. (Paris) 1976; 30(10-13): 425-428.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1976, Universite de Paris. Groupe D Etudes de Psychologie)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Identifies 3 categories of studies on mass communication and violence by type of research methodology: (a) Clinical research includes only a few investigations, but these provide for study in depth using data from interviews, personality testing, and life histories. (b) Laboratory research employs a variety of ingenious methods, but data are obtained from artificial settings. (c) Field research provides global data from questionnaires, surveys, and direct observation, with limited control of independent variables. Reservations are expressed about findings of statistical studies attributing causality for violence to mass media: (a) Most of the studies have been limited to violence presented in works of fiction. (b) Studies lack rigor in defining dependent and independent variables, and are too global. (c) Attention tends to be focused on the surface characteristics of a theme rather than on the essence, i.e., the quality and level of behavior involved in presentation of a theme. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Keywords

Mass Media; Violence; Communications Media; Methodology; Experimentation; methodological problems; research on mass communication & violence