Becker et al Flashcards
1
Q
Aim of Becker et al
A
- To investigate eating behaviour and attitudes following prolonged exposure to television among ethnic Fijian adolescent girls
2
Q
What type of study Becker et al?
A
- Cross sectional study takes information from a group in one instance, multiple factors are considered and it measures the dominant characteristics of that population in a given time
- Natural study is a empirical study in which individual are exposure to the experimental and control conditions that are determined by nature or by other factors outside the control of the investigators
3
Q
Participants of Becker et al
A
- Group 1: 63, 17 year old girls in 1995 (before TV exposure)
- Group 2: 65, 17 year old girls in 1998 (after TV exposure)
4
Q
Procedure of Becker et al
A
- Looked at the different towards attitudes towards eating before and after the introduction of television
- An independent groups design, comparing a group of teenage girls and after TV’s widespread introduction
- The procedure was to compared the questionnaire and interview data between two sets of similarly aged teenage girls:
Group 1: Data collected before Western TV become widespread
Group 2: Data collected after 1998 - Both groups completed a modified version of EAT-26 Questionnaire which measure genera attitudes to eating behaviour and body image in a semi structured interview format
- Participants completed their questionnaires and were also interviewed in their homes
- A translator was present in each case to prevent difficulties and misunderstanding of the questions
- The participants weight and height were also measured
- Girls who were over the threshold for dysfunctional eating based on EAT-26 were given further interview
5
Q
Question asked to 1998 group (Becker et al)
A
- Have you ever tried to change your diet in order to change your weight?
- Do your parents or family ever say you should eat more?
- How important is it that your like your weight?
- Do you think you should eat less?
6
Q
Findings of Becker et al (Quantitative)
A
- The two groups had similar BMI, binging behaviour
- The two groups however had difference in TV ownership, vomiting behaviour and EAT-26
7
Q
Findings of Becker et al (Qualitative)
A
- 83% responded that they felt differently about and changed their body shape or weight
- 77% reported that TV had influence their own body image and had a desire to lose weight or reshape their body in order to be more like Western TV characters
- Subjects with a high EAT-26 or vomiting were more likely to report TV influence on their own body image
8
Q
Conclusion of Becker et al
A
- From this study, Becker concluded that in Fiji that TV had influenced change in eating attitudes in women which ran counter to the traditional attitudes towards eating and body image which had previously dominated the culture
9
Q
Strength of Becker et al
A
- A strength is that the qualitative data and quantitative data both confirm the effects of TV models on the eating behaviours of girls
- The quantitative data shows a significant change in the eating behaviours and attitudes if Fijian girls
- The qualitative interviews show the girls attribute their desire to be thinner to wanting to be more like the thinner models and celebrities shown on TV
- This usage of fata triangulation effectively identities TV as the source of the change in eating attitudes allowing us to establish a cause effect relationship
10
Q
Weakness of Becker et al
A
- A weakness of the study is that it involved an unrepresentative sample which can make the findings difficult to generalise
- It may be difficult to generalise these finding to a Western culture as Fiji is distinctive in that higher BMI was traditionally considered attractive
- This clash were much greater than is the case in most countires
- Therefore the results about how TV affects body image may not be applicable to other countries due to Fiji’s unique culture
