The effects of factual information on the attitudes of people toward a given culture : an American and Iranian example
The purpose of this study was to determine if the attitudes of a selected group of American high school students towards a different nation in general and Iranian's in particular would be affected as a result of presenting them with factual information about that culture through the use of audi...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Others |
| Published: |
2011
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/177521 http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/776631 |
| Summary: | The purpose of this study was to determine if the attitudes of a selected group of American high school students towards a different nation in general and Iranian's in particular would be affected as a result of presenting them with factual information about that culture through the use of audio-visual aids.One hundred and twenty high school students between ages of 13 - 18 who attended Burris Laboratory School in Muncie, IN. were randomly selected and assigned to an experimental and a control group. The number of students who responded to the questionnaire and participated in the study was 77. There were 40 students in the experimental and 37 students in the control group. A new semantic differential scale was developed by the researcher in order to obtain measures of attitude towards Iranians. In order to validate the measurement instrument a pilot study was performed. The study utilized a Posttest- only design.The experimental group received factual information about Iranian culture through a handout and also two series of slide-tape presentations, which were prepared by the investigator. The control group received no treatment. The information on the handout and slides was about Iranian life style, education, religion, art, tribes, industry, clothing, and architecture. The information was intended to be factual rather than political propaganda. Two weeks after the experimental group received the second series of slides the revised semantic differential scale was administered to both control and experimental groups. The data was analyzed by a 2 by 2 by 2 multivariate analysis of variance. The following null hypotheses were tested:1 - There is no significant difference between the means of the experimental and control groups for various outcome factors of the semantic differential scale when considered simultaneously.2 - There is no significant difference between the means of male and female respondents for experimental and control groups for various outcome factors of the semantic differential scale when considered simultaneously. Findings:1- There were no significant multivariate interactions (2 or 3 ways).2- There were no significant sex differences.3- There was a significant treatment difference in a multivariate sense. However the interpretation of the univariates did not permit the attribution of differences to either factor singly. Rather a linear composite of the 2 factors is needed to explain the difference found. Generally these linear composites are not interpretable in a conceptual sense.Conclusion:The results of the study suggest that giving factual information about Iranian culture through use of slide-tape presentation can bring about some change in the attitude of high school students about Iranian people. However the study failed to identify the nature of this change. Further study is needed to identify better the nature of the change as a result of giving factual information. === Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education |
|---|