Role of Two New Measures

¶ … Role of Two New Measures of Media Use in Political Socialization Responses on Youth" considers various influences on the political awareness and participation of the youth. The author bases the hypotheses and findings upon a thorough literature study. The findings indicate that young people are influenced by a variety of factors, including the interactive media, parental influence, and school communication, have a significant effect upon both the youth's awareness of and participation in political activity.

In order to do this, the introduction of the paper provides background material in terms of the general perception and study of youth participation in politics. Furthermore, the introduction outlines the intention of the paper, to expand upon the Use -- and gratifications theory, which tends to overlook specific features of the media that the youth uses.

The study also expands research on the Media Choice Model by means of a nationwide survey of adolescents to examine the role of media features in what the author refers to as "political socialization." The author also states that interactive media tends to predict the "thinking" stages of socialization, while creating interactive media tends to indicate action-oriented, or participative, socialization. The literature review includes the work of several authors as related to the topic under consideration.

The review is thorough and of sufficient length to provide a solid basis for the investigation. Several indications come to light, such as that there is a dominant causal relationship between media exposure and political interest. In this light, it is important to understand that, in addition to politics, the youth today also use interactive media to define their relationships with school, parents, friends, and so on.

Directly related to this is the scholarly differentiation between internal and external efficacy, where the former refers to the belief in one's ability to understand and participate in politics, while the latter refers to the belief in the ability of political participation to truly influence politicians and government. The literature, as expounded by the author, appears to indicate that the news and entertainment media provides positive indications for both internal and external efficacy.

The literature review also provides considerable background information on the Media Choice Model, which concerns the choice of media by people. In the light of this model, the author proposes two primary and five secondary hypotheses. These suggest that the consumption-entertainment feature of media use will negatively predict political elaboration an knowledge. The consumption-news feature of the media, on the other hand, is hypothesized to positively predict political interest, elaboration, knowledge, efficacy, and participation.

The third and fourth hypothesis groups in turn relate to interactive participation not only in the media, but also in interpersonal relationships, such as family and school. These are hypothesized to predict positive participation, interest and elaboration in politics by the youth. The hypotheses thoroughly consider all the aspects of the study conducted and the issues surrounding the likelihood of the youth to be politically active.

Furthermore, not only the media, but also various types of current media such as interactive platforms as well as interpersonal relationships and environments, are considered in terms of their influence on the political participation habits of young people. The study therefore elaborates on existing information related to the media and its specific influences on young people. By specifying both media and interactive influences on the political participation of young people, the study provides new information on an important social paradigm.

Understanding this could significantly impact the way in which young people are educated by means of the media and school environment. The research was structured by means of questionnaires mailed in two waves to the same respondents. Small incentives were offered for participation. An interesting result is that agreement rates varied widely across demographic categories. This finding is important in terms of understanding the underlying conceptions of political participation and its importance among various demographic groups.

It is also important to note that an attempt was made to obtain as diverse a sample across the demographic as possible. The main limiting variable was that the study focused upon households with children between 12 and 17 years of age. The results and discussion indicate that most hypotheses were substantiated. School talk, for example, is a significant factor in political efficacy and knowledge. This makes sense, as children spend most of their time at school. The school environment can be conducive to the awareness.