The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of viewing television violence on children. It was hypothesized that children who watch more than 3 to 4 hours of television daily, and who are exposed to inherently violent television programming in which physical and/or verbal confrontations and actions are commonplace, will be more likely than other peers to have received disciplinary referrals.
The study took place within an urban middle school serving children grades 6 through 8. A sample of 52 students was randomly selected, consisting of some students who had and some who had not received disciplinary referrals. A researcher-developed survey was used to collect data. Correlational analysis was used to test the hypothesis.
Findings partially supported the hypothesis: television-watching hours was positively correlated with disciplinary referrals; action and adventure content was not significantly correlated with disciplinary referrals; fighting was not significantly correlated with disciplinary referrals; and there was a significant correlation between the number of disciplinary referrals and the age of subject, with stronger correlations than between referrals and hours of television watching.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of viewing television violence on children. It was hypothesized that children who watch more than 3 to 4 hours of television daily, and who are exposed to inherently violent television programming in which physical and/or verbal confrontations and actions are commonplace, will be more likely than other peers to have received disciplinary referrals.</p> <p>The study took place within an urban middle school serving children grades 6 through 8. A sample of 52 students was randomly selected, consisting of some students who had and some who had not received disciplinary referrals. A researcher-developed survey was used to collect data. Correlational analysis was used to test the hypothesis.</p> <p>Findings partially supported the hypothesis: television-watching hours was positively correlated with disciplinary referrals; action and adventure content was not significantly correlated with disciplinary referrals; fighting was not significantly correlated with disciplinary referrals; and there was a significant correlation between the number of disciplinary referrals and the age of subject, with stronger correlations than between referrals and hours of television watching.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Morgan, Jennifer M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A. in School Psychology","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Educational Services and Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Klanderman, John"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2002,"date_issued":"2002-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2002-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:32Z","subjects":["School children; Violence on television","Educational Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1487","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Klanderman, John"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Morgan, Jennifer M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-05-18T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Services and Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. in School Psychology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["School children; Violence on television","Educational Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1487"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of viewing television violence on children. It was hypothesized that children who watch more than 3 to 4 hours of television daily, and who are exposed to inherently violent television programming in which physical and/or verbal confrontations and actions are commonplace, will be more likely than other peers to have received disciplinary referrals.
The study took place within an urban middle school serving children grades 6 through 8. A sample of 52 students was randomly selected, consisting of some students who had and some who had not received disciplinary referrals. A researcher-developed survey was used to collect data. Correlational analysis was used to test the hypothesis.
Findings partially supported the hypothesis: television-watching hours was positively correlated with disciplinary referrals; action and adventure content was not significantly correlated with disciplinary referrals; fighting was not significantly correlated with disciplinary referrals; and there was a significant correlation between the number of disciplinary referrals and the age of subject, with stronger correlations than between referrals and hours of television watching.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The effects of viewing television violence on school children"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Klanderman, John"],"dc:creator":["Morgan, Jennifer M."],"dc:date.available":["2016-05-18T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of viewing television violence on children. It was hypothesized that children who watch more than 3 to 4 hours of television daily, and who are exposed to inherently violent television programming in which physical and/or verbal confrontations and actions are commonplace, will be more likely than other peers to have received disciplinary referrals.
The study took place within an urban middle school serving children grades 6 through 8. A sample of 52 students was randomly selected, consisting of some students who had and some who had not received disciplinary referrals. A researcher-developed survey was used to collect data. Correlational analysis was used to test the hypothesis.
Findings partially supported the hypothesis: television-watching hours was positively correlated with disciplinary referrals; action and adventure content was not significantly correlated with disciplinary referrals; fighting was not significantly correlated with disciplinary referrals; and there was a significant correlation between the number of disciplinary referrals and the age of subject, with stronger correlations than between referrals and hours of television watching.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1487"],"dc:subject":["School children; Violence on television","Educational Psychology"],"dc:title":["The effects of viewing television violence on school children"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Services and Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. in School Psychology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:32Z"}