Becker (2002)

Question 1

what was the aim of becker

Answer 1

dr Anne Becker aimed to investigate the effect of prolonged exposure of tv on attitudes to eating and eating behaviours in Fijian adolescent girls

Question 2

what was the procedure of becker

Answer 2

• naturalistic experiment made up of prospective multi wave cross sectional design using 2 separate samples of adolescent females
• the first sample of 63 girls was studied in 1995, several weeks before the intro of tv
• the second sample of 65 girls was studied three years later
• the key question was ‘would exposure to tv have an effect on the traditional values and eating habits associated with the fijian culture
• dieting and exercise have been traditionally discouraged by the Fijian culture
• both groups completed a modified version of the EAT-26 survey that investigated binging and purging behaviours
• survey allowed researchers to obtain quantitative and qualitative data about the participants attitudes towards eating
• a score of 20 was deemed high
• the significance of this score is that it indicates that the person is completing the tests themselves
• those who responded highly (above 20) were then asked to do an interview
• in the second sample, further questions were added on body image and dieting as well as questions to determine any disparities between themselves
• the 30 girls from the original 65 were followed up with an interview

Question 3

results of becker

Answer 3

2 significant differences were noted
% of subjects with a score of more than 20 had more than doubled from 12.7% to 29.2%
the proportion of the sample that used self induced vomitinf as means of weight control increased from 0% to 11.3%

admiration of tv characters - 83% felt that tv had influenced the way they and their friends looked at their bodies
eating less might actually improve career prospects with 40% of participants interviewed justifying their desire to eat less
an awareness of generational differences towards eating, parental generations felt that girls should eat more

Question 4

conclusion of becker

Answer 4

intro of tv influenced changes to eating attitudes in women which ran counter to the traditional attitudes towards eating and body image that had previously dominated that culture

Question 5

strengths of becker

Answer 5

good reliability as becker draws similar conclusions about the influence of the media to previous studies yet is the first to examine media influence on disordered eating attitudes
practical application and can be used to press for more regulation of extreme body sizes
high level of ecological validity because the study examines a naturally occurring event

Question 6

weaknesses of becker

Answer 6

issues with diagnosis as it is not a formal clinical diagnosis so the eating attitudes cannot necessarily be equated with the presence of an eating disorder
samples = 2 samples were matched as closely as possible but not directly comparable so comparisons were problematic. not representative of the whole population
other variable could also increase disordered eating habits such as developing consumerism or peer group influences recorded high scores on the questionnaire equating to 8 girls at the beginning of the study. only an additional 12 girls scored high on the questionnaire 3 years later