"Classification of Educational Radio Research" (January 1, 1941)

(8) Those civic groups that are concerned with the influence of radio programs on the attitudes of young people will require a large volume of ob¬ jective data before they can be sure that their recommendations are desirable and feasible. It should be clear that testimony of teachers and parents, even though large in volume and wide in spread, is not a substitute for research data. Information is urgently needed telling in detail which opinions and which attitudes are most influenced for young people of different ages, of different economic status, in different parts of the country, in the cities and on farms. Civic groups interested in the effect of the radio on the attitudes of adults include groups interested in political propaganda and in adult edu¬ cation. It is evident that the publicity sections of the major political parties take it for granted that opinions can be influenced by radio, or at least that the radio can be used effectively to maintain attitudes already professed. How¬ ever, the first thorough study of the place of radio and other media in influencing voters was made during the 19^0 Roosevelt-Willkie campaign.* The directors of adult education projects and workers’ schools, and trades union directors have some information on these points but more data will mean less energy wasted on ineffective programs. (9) Little information is available concerning constructive effects of radio listening on thinking . The unpublished reports of the Evaluation of ochool Broadcasts group show that any improvement in critical thinking as a result of listening to radio programs designed for that purpose must be very small, if indeed it exists at all. However, this conclusion by no means settles the question: Can the radio serve in adult education? The effectiveness of language courses over the air is now being studied. There can be little doubt that such radio courses as WLXAL’s Modern Radio Course taught many of its listeners a great deal. However, the listening group is highly selected and the subject well adapted to radio teaching. One could not venture a general con¬ clusion on the basis of these data concerning the effectiveness of radio in teaching people to think. ■ It is highly probable that radio will become a unique teaching tool for certain groups, for example - for the isolated families in the Kentucky Mountains using the listening centers established by Station WKBY. The writers believe that the foregoing classification should prove useful for the various potential users of research. In order to make this classification of practical value it will be necessary to make a fairly exhaus¬ tive study of the research done so far, classified along the lines outlined by Chart I on page 3, Showing the preferences for and effects of radio classified by sub¬ groups of the audience should be a fundamental consideration in analyzing the results of such research. Such "stratification" by education, by section of country, by income group, by age, by sex, by size-of-community, etc., always helps the users of research. It is of especial importance to those interested in educational broadcasting because they rarely are interested in the entire radio audience but rather must direct each program toward a certain group. * - A publication covering this study by Columbia University*s Office of Radio Research will be published by Chicago University Press early in 19^1. -12-