The Article Main Concern
The article in question considers the issue of entertainment media influence on the adult education, its influence on the educators in their personal and professional life. This article provides issue analysis in terms of the mixed method research approach which makes it possible to consider the issue from different facets and, thus, examine it more thoroughly.
The Article Purpose and Problem Statement
The purpose of the article under consideration is to explore “US adult educators’ consumption of entertainment media” and to define “how it affects their thinking about group identities, and how they draw on it in their teaching and learning, particularly in regard to teaching about diversity issues” (Tisdell & Thompson, 2007, p.652).
The problem statement of the article is based on the lack of study of “the more specific area of critical media studies/literacy” and its role “in adult education” which is “especially relevant in teaching about diversity and equity” (Tisdell & Thompson, 2007, p.652).
Analytical Technique Used In The Article Is Design
The article analytical technique is based on the mix-methods design, which presupposes extraction of the data (in this case quantitative) and designing the pattern for the further qualitative data collection and analysis. This analytical technique enables to collect and analyze the data thoroughly, and it also reveals the close and precise examining of the influence of media on the educators.
Thus, the purpose of the article was to define the impact of media on educators and their personal and professional life, which was impossible to define without qualitative data analysis, which would not be so accurate without quantitative data evaluation.
The Main Questions Addressed To Quantitative And Qualitative Data
The quantitative data were aimed at showing the main trends. These data were collected via questionnaire of more than 200 people where participants answered questions about “frequency and type of entertainment media viewed”, “general preferences in TV and cinema”, personal characteristics (race, gender, sexual orientation), “the amount and type of informal discussion of entertainment media among family, friends, and colleagues”, “the use of media in teaching”, “demographic information” (Tisdell & Thompson, 2007, p.657).
The qualitative data were obtained during the interview held after the quantitative data evaluation, and focused on the “types of entertainment media” participants watched and why and “what meaning they make of portrayal of characters, and their ‘learning’ about people of different gender, race and sexual orientation groups” (Tisdell & Thompson, 2007, p.657).
Data Collection and Analysis
In the present article primary data sources were used: questionnaire and interview (Mertens, 2005, p. 343). The article provides “pragmatic sequential mixed-methods design” in evaluating the results of the survey (Mertens, 2005, p. 298). Thus, the results of the questionnaire were analyzed with the help of SPSS program, on the basis of these results definite group of people for interviews were chosen.
It is necessary to add that the results of the survey are analyzed in terms of analytical technique based on “explanation building” (Green et al., 2006, p.118). The data were collected sequentially, which corresponds to the mixed-methods approach implementation (Creswell, 2003, p.225).
Thus, after defining the major trends and choosing the appropriate people for interview on the basis of quantitative data, the article reveals the qualitative data which illustrate the major participants’ ideas about the issue. The article represents accurate table of quantitative data which were used in qualitative data collection and analysis. Qualitative data were thoroughly presented, illustrated by samples and analyzed. On this basis the article drives at the precise conclusions about the influence of media in terms of diversity issue.
Ethical Issue of the Article
The article under consideration deals with the media influence in terms with the issue of diversity. It reveals different points of view on the issues of ethics as well, since it considers such problems as gender, racial and sexual diversity. The article examines the impact of media on the educators who implement the new knowledge not only in their personal life, but in their professional life, too.
Thus, educators may be influenced by media, though they also can influence students, providing this or that ideas on the issue. The article results show that mainly media reveal the ideas of the majority, though sometimes touch the issues of minorities. The article also revealed that the majority of the educators use the media in their teaching practice.
In this perspective it is essential to pay attention to forming (checking / discussing) critical media literacy in educators even more than in students. It is necessary to admit that the issue of gender, racial, ethnical, sexually diversity is still very disputable and quite controversial, which makes it important to pay much attention to it.
The Survey Reliability
Thus, the article represents precise survey based on the mixed-method analysis, which considers the issue of media impact on the educators’ personal and professional life. The survey results are reliable since they were driven from the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. Such sequential data collecting and analysis enables survey to provide precise sampling and conclusions on the topic.
Reference List
Creswell, J.W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Green, J.L., Camilli, G., Elmore, P.B. (2006). Handbook of Complementary Methods in Education Research. London: Routledge.
Mertens, D.M. (2005). Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology: Integrating Diversity with Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Tisdell, E. J., & Thompson, P. M. (2007). Seeing From a Different Angle: The Role of Pop Culture in Teaching for Diversity and Critical Media Literacy in Adult Education. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 26(6), 651-673.