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Implications of a Natural Experiment in the Developed World for Research on Television in the Developing World

Three Canadian communities were studied, just before and two years after the inception of television reception in one of them. Some implications of the results of this natural experiment for research on television in the developing world are described in this article. The advantages of behavioral measures over ratings and potential bias in ratings due to sex role or other (e.g., racial) stereotypes are discussed, as are problems in conceptualizing and measuring TV use. The importance of studying television's effects due to displacement of other activities and the time-sharing of TV with other activities is outlined. The possibility that television affects the ways in which viewers process information, and the importance of this possibility for research in the developing world, is emphasized. Schema or script theory is put forth as a conceptual framework for studying television's content effects. The ways in which third variables such as intelligence and socioeconomic status may confound the relationship between TV use and other behavior also are discussed.