Payne Fund Studies
Series of studies investigating the effects of media on minors / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Payne Fund Studies were a series of thirteen studies conducted over a four-year period from 1929 to 1933, and later published between 1933 and 1936 which aimed to determine the effects of movies on the behaviour of children and adolescents.[1] They were the first attempt to rigorously study the media, as well as the first attempt to develop a social science research model using quantitative and qualitative methods to measure the effects that mass media have on individuals.[2] The Payne Fund Studies are still considered the most extensive evaluation of the role that motion pictures play on individuals in American society.[3]
These studies emerged due to an initial aim of developing a national policy in the United States regarding the regulation of motion pictures.[1] At the time of these studies, the mass media only included recorded music, the radio, the press and the movies. In post World War One America, educators and government officials were becoming increasingly concerned about the role that movies played on children's behaviour. Academics began to ask questions such as whether people were susceptible to persuasion by modern communications or whether the media could make people's behaviour worse.[3] Initially, the main research question for the Payne Fund studies was "How were movies affecting the Youth of America?" Later, the research aim developed to "providing a broader understanding of the total effect at home and abroad of motion pictures." However, after this, the researchers decided not to investigate international effects due to the technical complexity of conducting the study. This meant that the final research aim was "to provide data for answering completely or in part of a wide range of separate queries relating to effects of motion pictures on the youth of America.[1]
These studies were conducted at Yale University, New York University, Penn State University and The Ohio State University. Professor W.W. Charters was the research director of the Payne Fund Studies. He was the head of the Department of Education Research at The Ohio State University. Reverend William H. Short, who was the Director of the Motion Picture Research Council, was the person who came up with the idea for the Payne Fund Studies. Short was interested in "the vast influence of the motion picture in shaping attitudes and social values." Short had personal connections with the Payne Study and Experimental Fund, a foundation which was dedicated to youth welfare, which is what led to this fund financing the Payne Fund Studies.[3]
During the progress of these studies, Charters developed a formula which was intended to determine the total influence of movies on children:[1]
General Influence x Content x Attendance = Total Influence
There were a wide variety of research methods used in these studies, including questionnaires, unstructured interviews, content analysis, autobiographies, physiological measurement and standardised tests.[1]