TELEVISION STUDIES Library Project - Research Paper Example

They therefore designed some fieldwork involving 20 under-two year olds, ten male and ten female, who watched the same episode of Teletubbies in their usual home or playgroup environment while being video-recorded. The tapes were then synchronised with the actual Teletubby recording, in such a way that the child’s movements, verbalizations and expressions can be seen as they relate frame by frame with the program. The tapes were analysed according to criteria of attention level, parasocial responses, TV literacy response, verbal echoing, cognitive response, pleasure, action around the TV set, and sharing with a companion.

The study made various conclusions regarding the impressive attention spans that were demonstrated in particular sections of the program and the good basis that this data delivered for further “theorizing the interactivity of our young respondents with media texts” (p. 334). This article provides an excellent methodological model, based on observation and simple technology, which could be very useful for those wishing to explore issues around media designed for the under two age group or any other group who may not be able to verbalize their responses effectively.

This chapter from an academic book was written by a Professor from Amsterdam in the Netherlands who leads a research center for research on children, adolescents and the media. It traces in detail the way that a child’s early development levels relate to the way that the child interacts with various media. What is interesting about this chapter is that it shows things from the child’s point of view, and warns against an adult, or parent, perception of what the child is doing or what the program is trying to do.

So, for example, programs like Teletubbies which appear boring, repetitive and monotone to an adult, are in fact very sophisticated media texts which use carefully chosen stimuli like