Becker Flashcards
What is the aim of Becker?
Evaluate the impact of western television on disordered eating among ethnic Fijian adolescent girls
What is the sample of Becker?
Similar ages and BMI scores
Study 1 (1995): within a few weeks of introducing western television to 63 girls
Study 2 (1998): after exposure to western television for 3 years to 65 girls
What is the procedure of Becker?
Naturalistic, cross-sectional design, completed 26-item eating attitudes test (scores over 20 was considered to be high), semi-structured interview (if reported bingeing or purging behaviours)
1998: additional survey questions elicited data on body image, dieting and potential intergenerational disparities between subjects and their parents with respect to traditions concerning diet and weight
What are the results of Becker?
EAT-26 scores greater than 20 was 12.7% in 1995 but 29.2% in 1998
Reports of self-induced vomiting to control weight was 0% in 1995 but reached 11.3% by 1998
77% reported television had influenced their own body image
Living in households with television set were more than 3 times as likely to have an EAT-26 score above 20
What is the conclusion of Becker?
Girls feel pressure to imitate the slim appearance of models seen on western television even if it goes against Fijian culture (emphasises fuller, more muscular figure)
What is a strength of Becker regarding standardisation?
Standardised questionnaire of EAT-26 so we can repeat the procedure using the same EAT-26 questionnaire to see if the results about the impact of TV are reliable
What is a weakness of Becker regarding social desirability?
They may have lied in the EAT-26 questionnaire and interviews to look good about their eating behaviours so results about impact of television on body image may not be valid as it isn’t their true experience/feelings
What is a strength of Becker using semi-structured interviews?
More valid data with follow up questions from using some set questions and some varied questions so the results about impact of television will be more indepth, increasing the validity
What is a weakness of Becker using a naturalistic setting?
Extraneous variables (e.g. increase in consumerism) aren’t controlled for and may contribute to the increase in prevalence of disordered eating so makes the results about how television influences their eating behaviours are less valid as other factors may have played a role
What is a strength of Becker in regards to using a real-world environment?
High in ecological validity as the Fijian girls are living their normal lives so results about the impact of television on their body image can be applied to real world behaviour
What is a weakness of Becker regarding the sample?
Small, ethnocentric, gynocentric sample so results about the impact of television on individuals may not generalisable to disordered eating to the other cultures and males, meaning it looks population validity
