This dissertation has been 65-9388 microfilmed exactly as received TOPPING, Jr. , Malachi Combs, 1924- DEVELOPMENT OF A FORCED CHOICE INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE TELEVISION STATION IMAGES. The Ohio State University, Ph. D. , 1965 Speech- Theater University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan Copyright by MALACHI COMLS TOPPING, JH. lht-L DEVELOPMENT OF A FORCED CHOICE INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE TELEVISION STATION IMAGES DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University Malachi Combs Topping, A.B., M.A. The Ohio State University 1965 Approved by Advi ser Department of Speech VITA October 27, 1924 Born - Terre Haute, Indiana 1947 ............................ A.B., Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 1959-196l .... Teaching Assistant, Department of Speech, The Ohio State University, Col unbus, Ohio 1961-1962 .... Research Assistant, Department of Speech, The Ohio State University, Col unbus, Ohio 1 9 6 1 ............................ M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1962-1965.... Assistant Professor, Oklahoma State University, Stillw ater, Oklahoma i i i CONTENTS Page VITA ............................................................................................................................................................. i i TABLES........................................................................................................................................................ iv Chapter I. TELEVISION STATIONS AND THEIR IMAGES .................................................... 1 I I . CONCEPT OF STATION IMAGE..................................................................................... 23 I II. CONSTRUCTION OF THE FORCED CHOICE INSTRUMENT ............................... 38 IV. PILOT SURVEY OF FORCED CHOICE INSTRUMENT CONCERNED WITH IMAGE OF TELEVISION STATIONS..................................................... 53 V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.............................................. 71 APPENDIXES I . LIST OF PHRASES DESCRIBING A TELEVISION STATION .................... 78 I I. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SAMPLE OF 353 OKLAHOMA RESIDENTS REPLYING TO A QUESTIONNAIRE ESTABLISHING VALUES OF PHRASES AND STATEMENTS CONCERNING TELEVISION STATIONS ............................................................................................. 90 III. INDICES AND STANDARD DEVIATION FOR 150 FORCED CHOICE ITEMS AS ESTABLISHED BY 353 OKLAHOMA RESPONDENTS .... 92 IV. QUESTIONNAIRE FORM FOR PILOT TEST OF INSTRUMENT..................... 102 V. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SAMPLE OF 131 GUTHRIE RESIDENTS TAKING PART IN THE PILOT SURVEY OF THE INSTRUMENT . 107 VI. LETTER ESTABLISHING SIGNAL STRENGTH IN GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA............................................................................................................................. 109 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................................ 110 ill TABLES Table Page 1. Forced Choice Item Indices with Standard Errors and Standard Deviations of Items Arranged According to the Preference Index Rank .......................................................................... *+6 2 . 27 Pairs of Forced Choice Statements with the Indices for Each and i Scores Comparing Discrimination Indices of P airs ...........................................................................................................- 48 3. Raters of Stations and Their Preferences Compared to the Total Sample* s Rating of S ta tio n s .............................................. 57 4. Educational Attainment of the Guthrie Sample As Compared with i 960 Census Figures ......................................................... 57 5. Percentages of Those in the Sample According to Age Group As Compared to Similar Groups in the i 960 Census ........................................................................................................................................ 59 6 . Comparison of Mean Ranks for Raters According to Their Station Preference ..................................................................................... 6l 7. Mean Ranks of Three Stations Compared According to Educational Attainment ........................................................................................... 62 8 . Comparisons of the Mean Ranks of Three Stations According to Age Group of Guthrie Respondents ....................... 63 9. Mean Ranks of Respondents When Classified According to Occupation .................................................................................................................. 64 10. Comparison of the Mean Ranks of Respondents According to Their Viewing Habits ..................................................................................... 64 11. Share of Audience Ratings for Three Oklahoma City Television Stations for 11 Years ............................................................... 68 iv CHAPTER I TELEVISION STATIONS AND THEIR IMAGES Broadcasting has become a vital part of many phases of American life. Political fortunes can hang on the abilities of a make-up man. In one broadcast, religious leaders address congregations that outnvmber the total of those who heard Christ in person. Sponsorship of a popular program can mean astounding success for a business firm. Television, particularly, has made a profound mark on the life of the American family—performing the job of the biby sitte r, actually altering the bedtimes and eating habits of some families and, according to one writer, preserving marriages by preventing quarreling.^ Statistics te ll part of the story. A survey in 1963 revealed that 94 per cent of the American homes had a working radio set and 92 per cent were equipped to receive television.^ in 1963 the family television set was on for an average of a little more than six hours a day.3 The idea of a population spending a fourth of its time each week watching television programs is appalling to some writers, who point out that the program fare on television does not warrant close, serious attention. ^Stan Opotowsky, TV—The Big Picture (New York: Collier Books, 1962), p. 20. ^”1963—Good Year for Radio-Tv," Broadcasting. 1964 Yearbook Issue (January 1, 1964), p. 1 3 . 3Ibid.. p. 1 6 . 1 2 Controversy rages over the amount of influence that such great exposure to popular art has on our nation. There is little doubt that as the "mass media . drip into us" over a long period of time, there is some effect on our ideas and attitudes.^ The function of television in giving the nation information was dramatically demonstrated in 1963 during the events surrounding the death and funeral of President Kennedy . Some writers suggest the informational function of television has given both depth and range to the national awarenessi The TV has also pretty certainly extended the ranee of public opinion, in the sense of judgments formed with good a 6 well as potentially evil effects. In an age when we live so much in the atmosphere of crises that human beings cannot tear away their fascinated eyes and their captured ears from the daily news that spans the world with select images of everything from the news commentators 1 resuscitation of the nightmares of the Eichmann trial to "trial by TV" of a political, even presidential campaign, it is impossible really to escape the present .2 The economic impact of television and radio broadcasting on the United States is easier to record than the psychological and sociological changes it has engendered. Television alone had gross proceeds of nearly one and one-half billion dollars in 1 9 6 2 .^ The proceeds are paid to television stations and networks so that businesses and others may advertise their goods and services for sale. It should be noted that advertisers normally do not pay television stations directly for Wilbur Schramm, Responsibility in Mass Communlcations (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1957), p. 52. ^W. Y. E llio tt, "The Limits and Competence of Public Opinion," in The Citizen and the News (Milwaukee: The Marquette University Press, 1 9 6 2 ). p. 5 3 . 3 Broadcasting, o p. cit.. p. 13- 3 advertising. The company wanting to advertise its products nationally on television usually hires a specialist, who develops the commercial message and places the message on the networks and stations. Representa­ tive of the advertiser is the advertising agency, whose personnel are interested in a number of matters concerning the station or network of stations. The agency wants to know how many sets are located in the area served by the station or network. They ask how many sets might be tuned to the station when their product is advertised. The estimate of sets tuned at any given time to a station is provided by rating services— commercial concerns which sell the audience information to stations, networks, advertising agencies and others. So the simple transaction of advertising a product before a television audience becomes an act of sharing values among several business enterprises. The station, either alone or through its network, in effect, sets a value on the number and quality of the people it can muster to watch a certain portion of air time which has been leased to an advertiser. Establishing the Value of Ajr Time Many facts and figures can be gathered to establish the value of a ir time on a television station. The advertiser or his agency examine population figures; he can compare station^ advertising rates;