340
QUESTIONNAIRE FORMS: 1979
INTERVIEW: COMMUNITY STANDARDS FOR BROADCAST TELEVISION CASE: PILOT 1: Amarillo, TX -- C.B.S. --"Flesh and Blood"
Introduction: Hello, my name is and I'm a researcher with the Southwest Educational Delopment Lab in Austin. We're doing a study for the National Institute of Education to determine the impact of television on Family Life. In particular, we want to find out what kinds of programs people feel might be too controversial for broadcast.
This interview will take almost an hour of your time. We're talking with a small number of families in Amarillo to discover the best way to research sensitive issues. Everything we discuss will be absolutely confidential, and your name will not appear on any of the questionnaires, to assure this. But we also don't want to probe into any areas that you feel are too personal. So if there is any question you'd rather not answer, just let us know.
We chose Amarillo because some members of this community have raised some objections to the showing of a program on Sunday and Tuesday on KDFA. This program is supposed to be about an incestuous relationship.
1. Are you aware that KDFA is going to show this program?
2. Where did you first hear about it?
3. Have you discussed the program with anybody? Who? Where?
4. Have you participated in any protest about the program? How?
341
PILOT P. 2 CODE#
NOW WE'D LIKE TO ASK A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT YOURSELF and your family's relationship to the community:
1. Are you an active member of a church? Which one?
2. Do you regularly attend community organization meetings? Which one(s)?
3. How long has your family lived in this area?
4. Do you have relatives in this area?
5. What nationality would you say you are?
Where did your ancestors come from?
Do any of your family use a foreign language at home?
A few phrases?
NOW WE'D LIKE TO KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT your TV viewing habits:
1. What kinds of programs do you generally watch? Comedy? Adventure?
Drama? News?
342
PILOT P. 3 Code #
2. Do you have particular favorites that you especially try not to miss?
3. Is the TV on during dinner?
usually
seldom
never
4. Is the TV on all evening when
you're home?
usually
seldom
never
5. What do you do if there's nothing on at a time you want to watch?
6. Do you decide what to watch in advance, using TV guide or the newspaper?
7. Do you watch with your children?
usually
seldom
8. Do you make any rules about when they can watch? What they can watch? Any other rules?
9. Do you prohibit your children from watching certain shows?
For example
Why (probe)
343
PILOT P. 4 CODE #
NOW WE'D LIKE TO FIND OUT HOW YOUR FEEL about TV. For example:
1. Do you think TV quality has gotten better or worse in the last few years? How?
2. Is there any kind of program you especially dislike? (probe)
3. Dou you think TV gives a pretty fair view of real life?
what things on TV seem particularly realistic?
what seems particularly unrealistic?
4. What things just shouldn't be shown on TV?
5. Have you seen anything on TV recently that offended you?
6. What do you think the average person can do about programs they don't like?
7. Have you ever done anything to protest a program you didn't like? (probe yes)
344
PILOT P. 5 CODE #
8. Do you think TV has any effect on the way people act in real life?
9. Do you think TV has any effect on the way children behave?
WE ARE PARTICULARLY INTERESTED in the CBS Program which will be shown in the next few days called Flesh and Blood, which is about an incestuous relationship. So we'd like to ask you a few questions about this subject.
1. Why do you think they're showing a program on incest?
2. Do you think incest is a proper subject for a television program? (probe)
3. Do you have any idea what kind of program it will be? For example, a drama, or a documentary?
4. Do you plan to see the program? Why/Why not?
5. Do you think this program will give accurate information about incest?
345
PILOT P. 6 CODE #
6. How would you correct any wrong impressions this program might give?
7. Do you think children should view this program? Teenagers?
8. Do you want your child to view this program?
9. Have you ever read a book about an incestuous relationship?
A Newspaper article?
A magazine article?
Would you read a story about incest?
THANK YOU FOR HELPING US. There are a few more things we'd like to know about you, and about your opinions. Here's a few questions about you and your family...number of people, age, employment, for example, which will help us compare the results. This section will be anonymous, and approximate answers are OK. Next, we'd like you to consider a list of controversial topics and decide if you think it would be wrong to have a program on any of the subjects, and what kinds of program would be wrong. Third, there is a short test to discover what you think the real situation about incestuous relationships is. And finally, we ask if you would write your phone number and your first name, or initials, or just anyway we can identify you in a couple of weeks, we'll call you to discuss any further ideas you might have.
346
Code #
DATA SHEET: COMMUNITY STANDARDS
Your age Sex
Age of Spouse
Children's Ages and sex
Highest grade you completed in school Spouse
How many people work outside the home
Approximate income:
under $10,000
$10,000-$20,000
$20,000-30,000
Over $30,000
Here is a list of topics you might think should not be on TV. For each one make an X if you think this would not be a good subject for a drama, a comedy, a documentary or a news story:
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Drug Use | ||||
| Unwed Mothers | ||||
| Police Corruption | ||||
| Child Abuse | ||||
| Homosexuality | ||||
| Incest | ||||
| Death & Dying | ||||
| Prostitution | ||||
| Venereal Disease | ||||
| Pre-Marital Sex | ||||
| Nuclear Accidents | ||||
| Infidelity |
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1. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS best describes your feeling about the subject of incest:
A) It is a serious social problem which the public needs to know more about.
B) It is a private matter for families to take care of, and nobody outside the family should be concerned.
C) It is a Criminal problem which should be handled by police and the courts when it is reported.
D) It is a hidden problem of society and social workers and other specialists should help identify and treat any cases they can uncover.
E) OTHER (Explain)
2. How did you first become aware
of the subject of incest?
Through family discussion
Discussion with friends
Read about it (Where?)
Other (explain)
3. What age group do you think
is most likely to be involved?
a) 5-9 b) 10-13 c) 14-18
4. What is the most common form of incest of those listed below? (circle one)
father-daughter, father-son, mother-daughter, mother-son
5. What is the next most common? The rarest?
6. Which ethnic group do you think would be most incestuous?
7.From your point of view, which of the following relationships would you say is incestuous (check each that applies)
your:
mother/father sister/brother
lst cousin 2nd cousin
brother/sister-in-law half-brother
son/daughter-in-law step-brother/sister
step-father/mother grandmother/father
neice/nephew god-parent
8. Are most adults who ingage in incest mentally ill? Yes No
9. Are other family members likely to be aware of an incestuous relationship, if it does not directly involve them? Yes No
10. Is the sexually abused child more likely to suffer psychological damage if the community discovers the situation-or if the situation is kept secret?
discovered Secret
11. Is parent-child incest a criminal act in Texas? Yes No
12. Have you ever known anybody
involved in incest?
Did you discuss it with them?
13- Have you ever discussed the
subject with your children?
Your Spouse? Your Parent
Initials Telephone Best time to
call