Researching how popular films affect political attitudes using experiments /
Over the last decade, television and radio pundits have suggested that a variety of films, ranging from The Dark Knight Rises to The Lorax to The Muppets, contain political messages. Can popular movies change our political attitudes? To find out, Todd Adkins and I conducted a laboratory experiment i...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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London :
SAGE Publications Ltd,
2019.
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| Series: | SAGE Research Methods. Cases.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | Over the last decade, television and radio pundits have suggested that a variety of films, ranging from The Dark Knight Rises to The Lorax to The Muppets, contain political messages. Can popular movies change our political attitudes? To find out, Todd Adkins and I conducted a laboratory experiment in which undergraduates were exposed to one of three movies: a control with no political messages (That Thing You Do!), a treatment with subtle pro-health care reform messages (As Good As It Gets), or a treatment with overt pro-health care reform messages (The Rainmaker). In this case study, I discuss how we designed and conducted this laboratory experiment. I argue that one key to designing good laboratory experiments is continually asking the question, "What can go wrong, and how can we try to prevent it?" throughout the design and administration phases. In particular, this question can help us identify and account for threats to key goals such as respondent participation, internal validity, and external validity, thereby maximizing the study's ability to answer the research question. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781526464675 1526464675 |