Abstract
The debate on late night comedy has been inconclusive, with some scholars arguing that this genre increases political knowledge, and others seeing late night comedy as harmful to effective citizenry. We add to the debate and to the research on media effects more generally, by proposing a model that measures political knowledge. The model utilizes item response theory (IRT) to account for individual characteristics, knowledge item difficulty, and response format that influences the likelihood of providing a correct response. Drawing on the 2004 National Annenberg Election Study, we employ this model to test knowledge gain from late night comedy. Using a meta-analysis across 35 political knowledge items, we show that late night comedy increases knowledge, but primarily on easy political items that have fewer correct response options, and mainly among the inattentive citizens. We discuss theoretical implications and provide practical suggestions for scholarship on media effects.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 783-809 |
| Number of pages | 27 |
| Journal | Communication Research |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 Dec 1 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Communication
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language
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Don't expect too much! learning from late-night comedy and knowledge item difficulty. / Baek, Young Min; Wojcieszak, Magdalena E.
In: Communication Research, Vol. 36, No. 6, 01.12.2009, p. 783-809.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Don't expect too much! learning from late-night comedy and knowledge item difficulty
AU - Baek, Young Min
AU - Wojcieszak, Magdalena E.
PY - 2009/12/1
Y1 - 2009/12/1
N2 - The debate on late night comedy has been inconclusive, with some scholars arguing that this genre increases political knowledge, and others seeing late night comedy as harmful to effective citizenry. We add to the debate and to the research on media effects more generally, by proposing a model that measures political knowledge. The model utilizes item response theory (IRT) to account for individual characteristics, knowledge item difficulty, and response format that influences the likelihood of providing a correct response. Drawing on the 2004 National Annenberg Election Study, we employ this model to test knowledge gain from late night comedy. Using a meta-analysis across 35 political knowledge items, we show that late night comedy increases knowledge, but primarily on easy political items that have fewer correct response options, and mainly among the inattentive citizens. We discuss theoretical implications and provide practical suggestions for scholarship on media effects.
AB - The debate on late night comedy has been inconclusive, with some scholars arguing that this genre increases political knowledge, and others seeing late night comedy as harmful to effective citizenry. We add to the debate and to the research on media effects more generally, by proposing a model that measures political knowledge. The model utilizes item response theory (IRT) to account for individual characteristics, knowledge item difficulty, and response format that influences the likelihood of providing a correct response. Drawing on the 2004 National Annenberg Election Study, we employ this model to test knowledge gain from late night comedy. Using a meta-analysis across 35 political knowledge items, we show that late night comedy increases knowledge, but primarily on easy political items that have fewer correct response options, and mainly among the inattentive citizens. We discuss theoretical implications and provide practical suggestions for scholarship on media effects.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=70350761435&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0093650209346805
DO - 10.1177/0093650209346805
M3 - Article
VL - 36
SP - 783
EP - 809
JO - Communication Research
JF - Communication Research
SN - 0093-6502
IS - 6
ER -