Ap Psychology Essay
Whether it’s watching the girls on America’s Next Top Model fighting and screaming at each other or if it’s brutally murdered victims on CSI, violence finds its way into almost any TV show. As the crime rates and arrests increase many researchers and parents are beginning to believe that violent crimes are caused from watching violence on television. But is there a way to prove that? The New City research team has designed a correlational study to test whether the public statement from the New City police chief regarding the direct relationship between crimes and violent television can be proven true. The two variables involved in the study are the violent television shows and the number of crimes/arrests among teens. The study will be conducted in the New City Mall on Saturday September 27th 2008 using the survey method. Each willing participant will be asked various questions all pertaining to the types of violent shows they watch, how many hours per week they watch the shows, if they’ve ever committed a crime or been arrested, and so on. Ethical considerations for this procedure include the APA Ethical Guidelines for Research, particularly guideline number one and four. Rule one states that a “subject’s participation in research should be voluntary and based on informed consent.” Rule four instates that the “subject’s rights to privacy should never be violated.” Teens will not under any circumstances be forced to participate in the survey or disclose any private or personal information thus leaving the survey to be confidential. After conducting the study, researchers found a very strong positive correlation between the two variables leading many to believe that generally, most teens who watch more than four hours of violent television per week are more likely to commit violent crimes and be arrested than those who do not watch violent television at all. Despite the fact that the study revealed a positive correlation between teens watching violent