Ross, Karen (1990) Ethnic stereotypes and television : an examination of white students' attitudes towards ethnic stereotypes and television in six Midlands colleges. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This research study sets out to identify and examine the ways in which the
white majority have traditionally comprehended ethnic minority coninunities
with particular reference to the role played by television in representing
such coninunities. In the British context, television has come to dominate
social and cultural life to the extent that the Reithian principles for
television (that is, to educate, inform and entertain) have become
crucially important in the maintenance, if not absolute creation, of
notions of national culture. Given the concentration of ethnic minority
corrinunities in mainly inner-city areas, for the majority of white people,
their only contact with such corrrnunities is through the vicarious
experience afforded by television. The medium's role in representing
ethnic coninunities honestly and realistically is thus vital and if for no
other reason deserves careful examination.
My principal hypothesis is that television, through its characterisations
of ethnic minority comunities, maintains, reinforces and perpetuates
stereotypical assumptions already held by the white majority about such
corrinunities, which hinder the pursuit of a harmonious and multi-cultural
society.
In order to test this hypothesis, a survey was conducted with 650 white
students attending further education colleges in the Midlands which sought
to ascertain their attitudes towards ethnic stereotypes and television.
Professionals working in the television industry were also interviewed and
a short monitoring study of contemporary television fiction was later
conducted. The survey findings suggest, inter alia, that young white
people do make stereotypical judgments about ethnic minority people which
conform to traditional assumptions; that inter-ethnic friendship tends to
mediate the propensity to make more unfavourable assessments of ethnicallyspecific
characteristics; and that the perception of ethnic minority
coninunities in the real world closely parallel those which exist in the
world of television fiction.
The specific merit of this study lies in its detailed examination of a
significant and important sample population, the study both identifying
general attitudes towards ethnic minority coninunities and also relating
these general beliefs to student attitudes towards the ethnic portraits
typically found in television. The study is thus able to establish that
the ethnic stereotypes which exist in the popular white consciousness are
regularly rehearsed through the contemporary medium of television.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1990 Broadcasting
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Ethnicity on television, Minorities on television, Stereotypes (Social psychology) on television, Race awareness -- Great Britain, College students, White -- England -- Midlands -- Attitudes
Official Date:	July 1990
Dates:	Date Event July 1990 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations (Economic and Social Research Council)
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Goulbourne, Harry ; Johnson, Mark, 1948 Mar. 16-
Sponsors:	Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC)
Extent:	2 v. (vi, 307, [215] leaves)
Language:	eng

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