CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Part I – Hypothesis And
CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Part I – Hypothesis And
CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Part I – Hypothesis And
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<strong>CHAPTER</strong> 4<br />
<strong>RESEARCH</strong> <strong>METHODOLOGY</strong><br />
<strong>Part</strong> I - <strong>Hypothesis</strong> and Operationalisation of the Concepts<br />
The government of Pakistan relaxed the electronic media policy in 2000 and allowed<br />
cable operators to work legally. Consequently, cable industry has grown rapidly and<br />
started transmitting local and foreign satellite television channels through their<br />
networks. The number of subscribers increased swiftly and exposed to the western and<br />
Indian societies. This has not only broken the monopoly of the state-owned electronic<br />
media in the country and provided a variety in channels and programmes but also<br />
elevated the concern over its effects on viewers. Hence, this study was carried out to<br />
probe the effects of cable television in Pakistan.<br />
Fundamental aim of this study was to ascertain the effects of cable television on<br />
women in Lahore, Pakistan, and suggest some recommendations for policy-makers and<br />
broadcasters. The study intends to record the demographic characteristics of cable<br />
television subscribers (women aged 18-40 years only), their consumption patterns and<br />
measures their level of viewing. It also probes whether or not there is any gender<br />
discrimination in cable television viewing and explores that how the viewing of cable<br />
television is affecting the lives of women residing in Lahore.<br />
4.1 Major <strong>Hypothesis</strong><br />
The major hypothesis designed for the study was “Greater the exposure to cable<br />
television greater the effect on the lives of women in Lahore, Pakistan”.<br />
The core purpose of this study was to dig out the influence of foreign channels or<br />
local channels with foreign contents on the social life, values and behaviour patterns of<br />
female viewers. Therefore, the researcher was interested in examining whether or not<br />
and how far is the cable television affecting women in Pakistan at grass-root level in<br />
terms of the following factors:<br />
· Domestic and other activities<br />
· Family and social interaction patterns<br />
· Appearance and style<br />
· Cultural practices i.e. food, language, dress, traditions and religion<br />
· Domestic and personal expenditure<br />
· Role of Pakistani women in society
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The researcher has selected the above-mentioned factors based on the conclusion<br />
drawn after reviewing the relevant literature. Most of the viewers were of the view<br />
that television viewing generates socio-economic and cultural changes. Therefore,<br />
the researcher has formed the following sub-hypothesis:<br />
4.1.1 Sub-Hypotheses<br />
· Heavy viewers of cable television experience greater degree of effect on their<br />
domestic and other activities than the moderate and light viewers<br />
· Heavy viewers of cable television experience a greater degree of change in their<br />
family and social interaction patterns than the moderate and light viewers<br />
· Heavy viewers of cable television tend to show a greater degree of acceptance of<br />
television characters’ appearance and style than the moderate and light viewers<br />
· Heavy viewers of cable television experience greater degree of effect on their<br />
cultural practices than the moderate and light viewers<br />
· Heavy viewers of cable television have experience a greater degree of effect on<br />
their domestic and personal expenditures than the moderate and light viewers<br />
· Heavy viewers of cable television tend to show a greater degree of acceptance of<br />
role of women as portrayed on Indian and western channels than the moderate<br />
and light viewers<br />
4.2 Variables of the Study<br />
The study has independent and dependent variables:<br />
4.2.1 Independent Variable<br />
“Exposure to cable television” was an independent variable of the study. It means the<br />
time spend viewing cable television by the respondent. Therefore greater the time spend<br />
against cable television greater will be the exposure.<br />
4.2.2 Dependant Variables<br />
“Effect on lives of women” as the dependent variable is explained below:<br />
· Domestic and other activities<br />
· Family and social interaction patterns<br />
· Appearance and style<br />
· Cultural practices i.e. food, language, dress, traditions and religion<br />
· Domestic and personal expenditure<br />
· Role of Pakistani women
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4.3 Conceptualization<br />
The major terms used in the study are defined below:<br />
4.3.1 Cable Television<br />
i. Formal<br />
Encyclopaedia Britannica (1986) describes cable television as: “Generally, a<br />
system that distributes television signals by means of coaxial or fiber optic<br />
cables. The term also includes systems that distribute signals solely via satellite.”<br />
ii. Operational<br />
In this research, it (cable television) is referred only to those cable television<br />
networks which were working in Lahore, Pakistan, and transmitting local,<br />
western and Indian channels through coaxial or fiber optic cables.<br />
4.3.2 Exposure<br />
i. Formal<br />
“Lying open to reader an accessible, liable to action or influence.” (Oxford<br />
Dictionary (1958).<br />
“An action of exposing, lying open, setting for the programme and liable to<br />
action and influence (Webster, 1967, p. 802).<br />
ii. Operational<br />
By exposure to cable television, the researcher intends to define the time that<br />
women allocate towards viewing cable television channels. Moreover, this also<br />
pertains to the type of channels and programmes that the female viewers prefer<br />
to watch, so that it can determine the kind of “exposure” consequential to the<br />
“change in their life patterns”.<br />
4.3.3 Level of Viewing<br />
The number of hours devoted to viewing cable television programmes per day<br />
determines the level of viewing for this study. The researcher divided the viewers into<br />
three categories i.e. heavy, moderate and light viewers, instead of two because the main<br />
aim of the study was to compare two extremes i.e. heavy and light viewers.<br />
i. Heavy Viewer<br />
The respondents who watch cable television channels for 4 and more than 4<br />
hours per day are considered as heavy viewer.
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ii. Moderate viewer<br />
The respondents who watch cable television channels for more than two but less<br />
than four hours per day are considered as moderate viewer.<br />
iii. Light Viewer<br />
The respondents who watch cable television channels up to two hours per day<br />
are considered as light viewer.<br />
Table 4.2: Viewers Category by Hours of viewing<br />
Viewers category<br />
Heavy viewer<br />
Moderate viewer<br />
Light viewer<br />
Hours of viewing per day<br />
4 and more than 4 hours<br />
More than 2 but less than 4 hours<br />
Up to 2 hours<br />
4.3.4 Women<br />
i. Formal<br />
A woman is an adult female in contrast to a man, adult male, a girl and a female<br />
child. The term woman is used to indicate distinction based on sex and cultural<br />
bgender role or both.<br />
ii. Operational<br />
In this dissertation, the researcher has defined woman as a female of the<br />
reproductive age of 18-40 years old. The researcher has deliberately avoided<br />
those females who have reached this age bracket but are studying in any<br />
institution. The reason of keeping them out of the sample was that they might get<br />
affected from their peer group instead of directly viewing of cable television.<br />
Hence, the researcher considered only those 18-40 years old women who were<br />
working or house managers but not studying in any institution.<br />
4.3.5 Change in Life<br />
i. Formal<br />
Change means people engaged in such activities that are different from those<br />
which they or their parents were engaged in. (Saif, and Syed, 1999).<br />
Life is the quality that humans, animals and plants have when they are not dead.<br />
It distinguishes them from objects, materials and substances and is responsible<br />
for their growth and development (Websters’ Dictionary, 1967).
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ii. Operational<br />
The researcher has taken into account some of the aspects of target women’s life<br />
which were being affected by cable television channels.<br />
4.3.6 Domestic and Other Activities<br />
i. Formal<br />
Domestic role is especially significant in a Pakistani woman’s life. The<br />
wife/house manager is the one who generally does most of the household work<br />
such as cooking, cleaning, washing, taking care of children and helping them in<br />
their studies, buying groceries or household goods and so on and so forth. Other<br />
activities of women include reading newspapers, magazines, books, listening to<br />
music, praying, reading of religious books, going out for shopping and outing<br />
etc. The researcher was interested in seeing the effects of paying time to watch<br />
cable television on women’s activities’ Eashwer (1994) did a study in India<br />
which revealed that 16 out of 30 women spent over 4 hours a day watching cable<br />
television and 10 of them spent 2 to 3 hours a day. Major activities affected are:<br />
· Exposure to other media and reading habits<br />
· Interaction with children, husband, other family members, friends and<br />
neighbours<br />
· Cooking and other household work<br />
ii. Operational<br />
This factor was operationalized. One dependent variable which deals with<br />
changes in women’s daily routine life and its effect on their domestic and other<br />
activities i.e. household chores, newspapers, magazines and book reading, going<br />
out for shopping, outing and cinema, listening to music, prayer and religious<br />
book reading, etc.<br />
4.3.7 Family and Social Interaction Patterns<br />
i. Formal<br />
Traditionally, families in Pakistan have close relationship and interact with each<br />
other affectionately. Majority is used to live in joint family system and spend<br />
leisure time with parents, friends and relatives. They are used to share their<br />
feelings, emotions and family matters with each other. Similarly, social<br />
interaction is a part of Pakistan’s culture. People meet frequently with their<br />
friends and peers. They arrange gatherings, visit their neighbours and welcome
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them at their homes. It seems that due to cable television channels, people prefer<br />
watching dramas and movies rather than interacting with family members or<br />
going out and meeting friends and neighbours. Media contents might be a topic<br />
of discussion among them. But their concentration might be more towards the<br />
television programmes instead of family and social issues. This may affect the<br />
family and social interaction. Therefore, this research was aimed at identifying<br />
the changes occurring in the family and social interaction patterns of women.<br />
ii. Operational<br />
The study operationalized this factor into ten items which broadly deal with:<br />
· Social interaction: Change in interaction patterns with relatives, neighbours<br />
and friends in terms of time and visit<br />
· Family interaction: Change in family interaction patterns i.e. with husband<br />
and children in terms of time at home, outing and interruption during<br />
watching cable television<br />
4.3.8 Appearance and Style<br />
i. Formal<br />
Lifestyle is defined as the integration of decisions in the realm of career,<br />
personal and family relationship and leisure that results in guiding principles<br />
which directs one’s life (cited in Vijayalakshmi, 2005, p. 61). Lifestyle also<br />
includes clothing, food, accent and leisure pursuits. A person’s qualification,<br />
educational experience, occupation and levels of responsibility within his/her<br />
culture also determine his/her lifestyle.<br />
It is general observation that people follow celebrities shown in<br />
television programmes. They are seen as role models. Fashion and style<br />
introduced by them is considered as latest and advanced. It is general<br />
observation that media content remains the topic of discussion among people<br />
these days. Therefore, concentration might be more towards fashion, characters<br />
and predictions about what is going to happen next. Shopping of items related to<br />
personal appearance might be changing due to the exposure to foreign channels<br />
through cable television. The researcher has personally viewed that such items<br />
like jewellery and outfits with the names of television drama characters are<br />
available in the shopping areas in Lahore.
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ii. Operational<br />
This research tried to discover the target audience associating their personal<br />
appearance and lifestyle with television characters. The study described<br />
appearance and lifestyle as of dressing up hairstyle, make up, jewellery and<br />
accent adopted by women. Thus this dimension was operationalized into six<br />
dependant variables i.e. acceptance of resemblance with television characters,<br />
imitating television character’s hairstyles, accent, make-up, jewellery, etc.<br />
4.3.9 Culture Practices<br />
i. Formal<br />
Culture can be defined in several ways. It is the way of life in a particular<br />
society. Every culture has its own values system. In socialization, culture guides<br />
people what to do and what not to do. But there is no standardized definition of<br />
culture. Various scholars have defined it in different ways. Williams (1977) says<br />
culture is the sum of available description through which society makes sense<br />
and reflects their common experience. Williams states “culture is a way of life”.<br />
Culture is conceptualized in a variety of ways and is also widely used in<br />
inter-cultural communication. Although culture is defined in terms of a<br />
nation/state, most people conceptualized culture in terms of race, social class and<br />
gender identity etc. Culture patterns are normative to the extent that they<br />
represent the fundamental values and practices accepted by the whole society.<br />
(Vijayalaskshmi, 2005, p. 46). John F. Cuber (1968) states “there is one<br />
fundamental and inescapable attribute of culture: the fact of unending change.<br />
Phrases like “stagnant cultures” and “unchanging cultures” are misleading. All<br />
that squares with facts is that some societies sometimes change slowly, and<br />
hence in comparison to other societies seem not to be changing at all. But they<br />
are changing even though not radically or obviously so”.<br />
Jamias (1993) has reviewed the knowledge on new communication<br />
technologies pertaining to cultural identity. He summarizes that fear burns rife<br />
over the negative impact potential of the new communication technologies on<br />
cultural identity in rural Asia. Yet technology is not neutral. Technology is good<br />
or bad depending on the use. Shariffadeen (1995) research study looks at some<br />
of the major economic, cultural and social issues faced by developing countries<br />
arising from the new technology. It is suggested that developing nations promote
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a learning culture among their people in order to gain a foothold in the emerging<br />
information-based economy.<br />
According to the above-mentioned statements, it is obvious that culture<br />
in Pakistan is changing with the passage of time. Therefore, it was intriguing for<br />
the researcher to find out changes occurring in the cultural practices in Pakistan<br />
and its relationship (if any) with the viewing of cable television. Thus, the<br />
researcher has taken language, food, religion and some traditions as indicators of<br />
culture practices.<br />
Language<br />
Language is a strong part of the culture and cable television channels have<br />
affected it. Urdu and English are the official languages of Pakistan. Formally and<br />
informally, people speak regional and Urdu languages. People watch more Hindi<br />
channels on cable television as the Hindi language is close to Urdu and they<br />
have a better understanding of it. English channels are also creating impact on<br />
language. In Pakistani culture, people feel proud when they speak English and<br />
those who cannot speak English frequently try to incorporate English words in<br />
their regional and Urdu language to leave an impression. This study evaluates<br />
whether and how these channels are affecting the language of Pakistani women.<br />
Food Habits<br />
At homes Pakistani people generally prefer light and simple food i.e. Daal, rice,<br />
Roti vegetables, chicken, meat, fruit, etc. Family members sit together at dining<br />
table and talk about family and social issues while having their meal and this is<br />
the best time to discuss their family matters. It is general observation that these<br />
days 24 hours access to the cable television and variety of channels is creating<br />
impact and the eating trend is in the process of change and people prefer to take<br />
their meals in front of television. Television channels are regularly showing food<br />
preparation programmes so it was assumed that this might have changed their<br />
food and eating habits. Further, in Lahori culture, eating is considered as the<br />
greatest passion and all the recreation activities revolve around this. On the basis<br />
of the above information, this study tried to assess that whether the food habits<br />
are changing among women viewers residing in Lahore as changed food habits<br />
in women will directly affect the food habits of the whole family.
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Dress<br />
In urban areas the educated are dressed in a semi-western style at home. The<br />
local dress consists of the Kurta and Shalwar. Achkan and Sherwani are worn on<br />
formal occasions. The women's dress is generally more colorful. The important<br />
items of the women clothing are Shalwar Kamiz and Dopatta or Chaddar to<br />
cover their heads and upper parts of their body. Sari is only worn by women of<br />
the upper classes in cities on formal occasion. Shoes are worn by those living in<br />
city while women folk wear sandals and slippers; Purdah is not generally<br />
observed by city women.<br />
Religion<br />
Cable television is not only providing Pakistani channels but also transferring<br />
European, American, Indian and other channels. Through their programmes,<br />
religions other than Islam, are exposed to the public in Pakistan which have<br />
different values. The researcher assumed that such conditions might affect the<br />
religious trends in Pakistan. Some of the researches have proved that Indian<br />
channels are giving undue exposure to Hinduism through their dramas and<br />
movies (Pervez, 2006). Vulgarity and action scenes in these movies might<br />
influence their attitudes towards religion and their routine lives. Therefore, this<br />
research tried to evaluate effects on religious attitudes of light and heavy<br />
viewers.<br />
Traditions<br />
Pakistani people practice hospitality and show generosity towards others. They<br />
obey and respect each other, particularly their elders. Moreover, in Pakistan joint<br />
family system is as praised as compared to nuclear family. They share their<br />
happiness as well as sorrows. Now a days, people in Pakistan are being exposed<br />
to Indian, western and other culture’s rituals, traditions and celebrations like<br />
Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Holly, etc. not aligned with Pakistani norms and<br />
traditions. The rituals of Pakistani marriages have been changed as many norms<br />
and traditions of India are being followed now by the women in Pakistan. This<br />
statement is verified by a study conducted by Tariq (2004) on “Invasion of<br />
Indian culture through movies”. This study confirmed the influence of Indian<br />
movies on marriage traditions/celebrations in high class of Lahore, Pakistan.<br />
Keeping in view, the above-mentioned particulars, the researcher tried to figure<br />
out what types of changes are occurring in our traditions.
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ii. Operational<br />
This factor was operationalized into 24 items which deal with the five<br />
parameters including language, food, dressing, religion and some of traditions as<br />
indicators of culture practices.<br />
· Food: Acceptance of television as the best source of learning new dishes and<br />
the usage of western and Indian dishes and changed pattern of dining<br />
· Dressing: Acceptance of television as best source of fashion and dress<br />
designs and usage of western and Indian dresses as casual and party wear<br />
· Language: Acceptance of television as the best source of learning languages<br />
and the usage of Indian and English language<br />
· Traditions: Acceptance and practice of Indian and western traditions<br />
· Religion: Acceptance of television as the best source of religious<br />
information and changing trends<br />
4.3.10 Domestic and Personal Expenditure<br />
i. Formal<br />
Many research studies have proved that exposure to television, especially to<br />
commercials, is affecting peoples household budgets. This imbalance of budge<br />
may compel the family members to discover new ways of earnings. Through<br />
cable television, women of Pakistan are getting exposed a variety of western and<br />
Indian channels. It is quite obvious that it disturbs their budget. Thus the<br />
research tried to discover the changes occurring in domestic and personal<br />
expenditures. The affect on expenditure is also assessed by the tendency of<br />
women to indulge themselves in any business service or some other means of<br />
earning. This may happen because of advertisements on cable television<br />
channels. People get motivated to purchase new products and try them which<br />
may affect their daily budget.<br />
ii. Operational<br />
Domestic and personal expenditures operationalized that how cable television<br />
affects their domestic and personal expenditures and are they ready to become an<br />
earning hand?
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4.3.11 Role of Pakistani Women in Society<br />
i. Formal<br />
Women in Pakistan are expected to be more fostering, integrative and conjugal.<br />
Principally, they are responsible for child-rearing and home-making while men<br />
are responsible for generating income and management. Women are made to<br />
realize from early days of life that they are frail, childish, dependent, domestic,<br />
gullible, irrational, scheming creatures and not susceptible to taking important<br />
decisions or doing important things. Such realizations persuade women to accept<br />
their role in society only as housewife, regardless of their education, aspirations<br />
or intellect.<br />
Traditionally, Pakistan has a culture for arrange marriages. Most of the<br />
time parents or relatives select the match for their children particularly for their<br />
daughters. Caste and status is also considered before making decision. Majority<br />
of the families have a joint set-up. Therefore, women in families other than<br />
house- keeping, preparing food and taking care of children, also have to look<br />
after the elders of the family. Education and increasing expenditures are pushing<br />
women out of home to join workplaces but they do not receive encouragement<br />
from their homes and society. Working women sometimes get little help from<br />
their families in making adjustment with regard to demand on their time and<br />
pressure of work. But their prime duty is still considered as home-making,<br />
fulfilling the responsibilities as daughter, wife and mother and their careers do<br />
get the same weightage. Therefore, such women always remain under stress.<br />
It is clear that media, both broadcast and print, play an important role in<br />
defining what we think, who we are and what is our place is in the society.<br />
Media also helps define how issues are interpreted and evaluated. Western<br />
channels show both husband and wife sharing the tasks of earning and<br />
homemaking. These channels portray women as independent, enjoying freedom,<br />
having strong careers and making decisions independently. Therefore, it would<br />
be important and exciting to discover whether exposure to cable television has<br />
brought any change in Pakistani women’s perspective of their role in the society.<br />
ii. Operational<br />
Behaviour of the female viewers, cognition and the way of reasoning also<br />
involves a problem-solving attitude of the subjects under study. This concept<br />
extends out to structuring and re-structuring of the social role, cultural,
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linguistic, religious and moral values of viewers. Through this concept, the<br />
researcher intends to go up to the level of finding out whether or not the contents<br />
of the cable television have deformed and reformed the social role of viewers<br />
and how is this reformation effecting their personality, pattern of earning, getting<br />
their rights and freedoms, methods of bringing up their children and taking care<br />
of their homes.<br />
This factor was operationalized into eight items which deal with<br />
following indicators:<br />
· Acceptance of career women: Acceptance of career for women equivalent<br />
to the men<br />
· Sharing of family responsibilities by men and women: Acceptance of<br />
equally sharing family responsibilities by husband and wife i.e. nurturing<br />
children, sharing of household chores and income generation<br />
· Equal rights, respect and freedom of women: Acceptance of the idea that<br />
women and men should have equal rights, independence and respect in the<br />
society.
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<strong>Part</strong> II - <strong>RESEARCH</strong> DESIGN<br />
4.4 Survey<br />
In this study, survey method has been applied to obtain the data that is quantitative in<br />
nature from large representative but diverse and widely scattered population. The survey<br />
has aided the researcher in collecting information directly from the cable television<br />
viewers (heavy, moderate and light viewers) so that a proper analysis could be made by<br />
comparing their lives. The changes in their lives have hence figured out through the<br />
information provided on a quantitative scale. This research was conducted during<br />
February 2004 to May 2007. The data was collected in 2005.<br />
4.4.1 Population<br />
Due to the time and budgetary limitations, the total area covered by the study was Lahore<br />
only. Wimmer and Dominick (1993) define population as “A group or a class of subjects,<br />
variables, concepts or phenomena.” In the light of the above definition, total population of<br />
this study comprises all female cable television viewers aged 18 to 40 years and residing<br />
in Lahore. The researcher preferred this age group of women for the study because it is<br />
the most vibrant, active and dynamic part of their lives. According to PEMRA the<br />
estimated number of cable television subscribers in Lahore was 350,000. The estimated<br />
total viewership in Lahore was 2,000,000 to 2,200,000. The expected number of women<br />
targeted in this study was one fourth of the total viewership, which were about 500,000. It<br />
was not feasible for the researcher to approach the total population therefore sampling<br />
technique was applied.<br />
4.5 Sampling Method<br />
Even a modest sized survey typically requires considerable time, material, money and<br />
assistance. Thus the researcher has applied sampling technique to collect the data<br />
considering the definition of Wimmer and Dominick (1993) “a sample is the subset of the<br />
population that is taken to be the representative of the entire population”.<br />
The researcher selected Lahore as the field of study because it is the traditional<br />
capital city of Punjab and an urban center. It is the second largest city of Pakistan and<br />
cosmopolitan in nature. It consists of heterogeneous population comprising Punjabis,<br />
Pathan, Baluchis, Sindhis, and Kashmiris etc belonging to different religions and<br />
speaking different languages (see Appendix II for further details).<br />
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Lahore is considered as the hub of media industry. Almost all national dailies have<br />
their offices and are published from here. An established and oldest set up of Pakistan<br />
Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) located in Lahore is working productively since the<br />
creation of the country. Besides PBC, various FM radio channels are effectively working<br />
here. All television channels have their bureau offices in Lahore. According to PEMRA<br />
regional office Lahore, the Authority has issued 83 head end licensees till 2006, out of<br />
which 68 are active and 276 loop holders are successfully handling the cable operation<br />
and serving the 0.35 million subscribers. Every cable operator and loop holder provides<br />
more than 100 channels to the connection holder. Most of these channels are western and<br />
Indian, transmitting programmes in English and Hindi languages. English language, used<br />
as the medium of instruction in most of the educational institutions in Lahore, is also<br />
considered as a status symbol in Pakistan, particularly in cosmopolitan cities like Lahore.<br />
So people are familiar with the language and thus take interest in English language<br />
channels and programmes. On the other hand the main cause of popularity of Indian<br />
channels among the public in Pakistan is the similarities of Urdu and Hindi languages.<br />
These two languages are closer to each other and people understand them without putting<br />
any extra effort and thus feel comfortable watching Indian channels.<br />
The researcher was interested in collecting the data from large population but due<br />
to time and financial constraints, total 432 women cable television viewers belonging to<br />
Lahore were selected as a sample of the study. Lahore was divided into six towns by the<br />
government for administrative purposes, including<br />
· Aziz Bhatti Town<br />
· Data Gunj Bakash Town<br />
· Allama Iqbal Town<br />
· Nishtar Town<br />
· Ravi Town<br />
· Shalimar Town<br />
(see Appendix III for further details)<br />
The government administrative “Division” was used because each division consists of<br />
demographically diverse population. The researcher was able to target different groups of<br />
women of the society based on income, education, marital status, working and house<br />
managers, etc. Upon discussion with MS. Max Media (decoder provider to the cable<br />
operators) it appeared that subscribers were almost equally distributed in all the towns.<br />
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Since no authentic and systematic list of viewers was available to the researcher, it<br />
was decided to select equal respondents from each town by applying non-probability<br />
quota sampling. Allocation of Equal quota to each town was utilized to ensure that<br />
findings can be generalised to all of Lahore.<br />
Pakistan and in particular Lahore has witnessed rapid growth of cable television<br />
network after its legalization in year 2000. The researcher was also interested to find out<br />
the duration for which women of Lahore have been watching cable television. Women<br />
viewing cable television for less than 2 years were excluded from the sample because the<br />
researcher believes that time period less than 2 years is insufficient to cause effects on<br />
viewers. Based on this criterion four categories were made:<br />
· Watching cable television for the last 2 years<br />
· Watching cable television for the last 3 years<br />
· Watching cable television for the last 4 years<br />
· Watching cable television for more then 4 years<br />
The selected women for interview fulfilled the criterion of sample i.e. women aged<br />
between 18-40 years, residing in Lahore and viewing cable television for minimum of<br />
two years. Initially the researcher decided to draw a sample of 75 (being a modest no.)<br />
from each town making it a total of 450. Finally applying quota (a sampling method) and<br />
allocation of equal quota for each town and category it ended up at 18.75 per category. To<br />
avoid any complication of decimal and to have an even number, researcher decided to<br />
round it up at 18 (being an even number) and have a sample of 72 from each town which<br />
made total sample of 432 units. One respondent was considered as one unit of analysis.<br />
The researcher tried to create a balance among respondents from all categories i.e. heavy,<br />
moderate and light viewers for better results. A screener was used to identify the<br />
respondent. The screener asked about the availability of television, cable television<br />
connection and women aged 18-40 years (see Questionnaire, Appendix-VI). Only one<br />
respondent was selected from one household. In case, more than one respondent were<br />
available in one household the Kish Grid (see Appendix IV) was utilized to select the<br />
respondent.<br />
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4.5.1 Sampling Dynamics<br />
Table 4.3 indicates the division of the sample size.<br />
Table 4.3: Sampling Dynamics (N- 432)<br />
Duration<br />
of cable<br />
connection<br />
Aziz Bhatti<br />
Town<br />
Data<br />
Gunj<br />
Bakash<br />
Town<br />
Allama<br />
Iqbal<br />
Town<br />
Nishtar<br />
Town<br />
Ravi<br />
Town<br />
Shalimar<br />
Town<br />
More than 4<br />
years<br />
18 18 18 18 18 18<br />
4 years 18 18 18 18 18 18<br />
3 years 18 18 18 18 18 18<br />
2 years 18 18 18 18 18 18<br />
Total 72 72 72 72 72 72<br />
4.5.2 Household Route<br />
The universe of the study was Lahore and for data collection government administrative<br />
division was used which divided Lahore into six towns and 150 union councils. Every<br />
town has different number of union councils. Details are as follow:<br />
Table 4.4: Towns and No. of Union Councils<br />
Town<br />
No of union councils<br />
Aziz Bhatti Town 13<br />
Data Gunj Bakash Town 33<br />
Allama Iqbal Town 26<br />
Nishtar Town 25<br />
Ravi Town 30<br />
Shalimar Town 23<br />
Sourse: Office of the District Nazim.<br />
(see Appendix V for further details)<br />
Addresses of town offices and union councils were collected and effort was made<br />
to approach maximum households in all towns (see Appendix V). The researcher, with<br />
the help of town offices, defined the household route. The researcher applied right hand<br />
rule and started selecting respondents from the first household at right hand side of the<br />
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town offices. Then the screener was applied and respondents were selected on the basis of<br />
sampling method for interview.<br />
4.6 Data Collection<br />
4.6.1 Tool of Data Collection<br />
In this research, interviews’ schedule (verbal interview based on questionnaire) was<br />
selected as a tool for data collection because some of the respondents were illiterate and<br />
would not be able to read and answer the questionnaire.<br />
4.6.2 Pre Testing and reliability test<br />
The interview schedule was pre-tested. Pre-testing was done by interviewing one<br />
respondent in each category from every town. The result revealed certain shortcomings in<br />
the instrument so the researcher made modifications before finalizing it. To test the<br />
reliability of the instrument, Cronbach’s alpha approach was applied. This method of<br />
testing the reliability is commonly used when study of knowledge, attitude and practice is<br />
conducted and questions are in the form of Likert’s scale (Likert’s-1952). In a Likert’s<br />
scale a person expresses an opinion by rating his agreement with a series of statements<br />
(Hanif, & Ahmad, 2004).<br />
4.6.3 Collection of Data and Field Experiences<br />
The researcher engaged six female interviewers who personally had the experience of<br />
conducting interviews for media research. Still the researcher gave them a thorough<br />
orientation regarding the instrument. The enumerators were trained on how to conduct an<br />
interview and what to do if the respondent is distracted, loses interest or runs out of time.<br />
After a thorough review of the questionnaire, the interviewers started data collection.<br />
Efforts were made to get the female interviewees of different socio-economic<br />
background. Total sample consisted of 432 women of reproductive age i.e.18-40 years<br />
residing in Lahore.<br />
Data collection was completed in four months (August-November 2005). The<br />
instrument was formulated in English which was translated into standard Urdu language<br />
for the convenience of the interviewees. The interviewers had to face some difficulties in<br />
finding the target audience and in conducting interviews because of non-cooperative<br />
attitude of some of the respondents. Some of the respondents hesitated to respond to some<br />
of the questions. Some of the respondents had difficulty due to personal reasons to answer<br />
at the time interviewers approached them.<br />
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4.7 Data Processing<br />
The researcher has used the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS<br />
Version 13.0) for analyzing the data. Besides, Excel and MS Word were used for<br />
designing charts, tables, graphs and composing the thesis script. Similarly, for composing<br />
and designing the Urdu version questionnaire, “In Page” Urdu software was used. For<br />
data entry and analysis, the researcher had taken a very rigorous training course,<br />
particularly to learn SPSS. The researcher by experience felt that without the knowledge<br />
of computer in general and understanding the SPSS in particular, this research study<br />
might have not been successfully accomplished.<br />
4.7.1 Measure for Analysis<br />
After data collection scores were assigned to the respective categories of the questions<br />
which were necessary for quantification of variables. The researcher entered the data<br />
through SPSS. Data sheet was prepared by transferring information obtained from the<br />
respondents for the purpose of scoring.<br />
Data was analyzed separately to examine each hypothesis. As the study evaluated<br />
the association between exposure to cable television and change in lifestyles of women, a<br />
statistical tool, Chi-Square was used. The Chi-Square test is often used in research work<br />
where the data consists of frequencies or counts. The most common use of the test is<br />
probably with categorical data. The data of this research was of categorical nature hence<br />
the researcher applied Chi-Square to analyse it. The results were tested at 5 % level of<br />
significance which means that researcher is 95% confident in making the correct decision<br />
(Chaudhry, S. & Kamal, S. 2006, p. 129).<br />
Each of dependant variables was operationalized into a set of parameters and the<br />
answers were obtained on Likert 3 <strong>–</strong> point scale as mentioned in table 4.5.<br />
Table 4.5: Opinion and Respective Values<br />
Opinion<br />
Value<br />
Agree 3<br />
Undecided 2<br />
Disagree 1<br />
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Construction of Scale<br />
The next step in measure is construction of scale. The researcher made a three-point scale,<br />
comprising three points as high, medium and low for dependent variable.<br />
The minimum and maximum score actually received by a respondent for a factor<br />
was divided into three categories i.e. high, medium and low to measure the intensity of<br />
the effect.<br />
i. Effect on Domestic Activities<br />
Score Index for Q14<br />
· Minimum Value = 1<br />
· Maximum Value = 3<br />
In this question the researcher could get a maximum score of 3 and minimum<br />
score of 1. The responses were categorized into three categories i.e. low, medium<br />
and high on the basis of standard score.<br />
Category<br />
Score<br />
Low effect 1<br />
Medium effect 2<br />
High effect 3<br />
ii. Effect on Social Interaction<br />
Score index for Q15 to Q15: F<br />
· Minimum value was = 7<br />
· Maximum value was = 21<br />
The values are divided into three categories i.e. low, medium and high.<br />
Category<br />
Score<br />
From no to low effect 7 to 11<br />
Medium effect 12 to 16<br />
High effect 17 to 21<br />
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iii. Interaction of Husband and Wife<br />
Q15G<br />
· Minimum value = 1<br />
· Maximum value = 3<br />
The values are divided into three categories of low, medium and high.<br />
Category<br />
Score<br />
No to low effect 1<br />
Medium effect 2<br />
High effect 3<br />
iv. Mother-Child Interaction<br />
Q15H<br />
· Minimum value = 1<br />
· Maximum value = 3<br />
The values are divided into three categories of No to low, medium and high<br />
effects.<br />
Category<br />
Score<br />
No to low effect 1<br />
Medium effect 2<br />
High effect 3<br />
v. Appearance and Style<br />
Q16_16:E<br />
· Minimum value was = 6<br />
· Maximum value was= 18<br />
The values are divided into three categories of low, medium and high.<br />
Category<br />
Score<br />
No to low effect 6 to 9<br />
Medium effect 10 to 13<br />
High effect 14 to 18<br />
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vi. Cultural Practices<br />
Q 17.1- 17.5: A<br />
· Minimum expected value was 25 points but on the data analyses it was found<br />
that not a single respondent scored below 27 points. Therefore, 27 was taken<br />
as the minimum value.<br />
· Maximum value was= 75<br />
The values are divided into three categories like low, medium and high.<br />
Category<br />
Score<br />
No to low effect 27 to 43<br />
Medium effect 44 to 59<br />
High effect Above 59<br />
vii. Personal and Domestic Expenditure<br />
Q18-18: B<br />
· Minimum value is = 3<br />
· Maximum value is= 9<br />
The values are divided into three categories of low, medium and high.<br />
Category<br />
Score<br />
No to low effect 3 to 5<br />
Medium effect 6 to 7<br />
High effect 8 to 9<br />
viii. Social Role of Pakistani women<br />
Q19- 19: G<br />
· Minimum expected value was 8. During data analysis it was noticed that<br />
minimum scored value was 10.<br />
· Maximum value was= 24<br />
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The values are divided into three categories of low, medium and high.<br />
Category<br />
Score<br />
No to low effect 10 to 14<br />
Medium effect<br />
15 to19<br />
High effect 20 to 24<br />
4.8 Application of Statistical Test<br />
The following statistics were used to analyze the data.<br />
4.8.1 Univariate Analysis<br />
This study has examined the relationship between exposure to cable television channels<br />
and changes in life pattern of women in Lahore, Pakistan. The researcher was also<br />
interested in recording the demographic characteristics of cable television viewers, their<br />
patterns of viewing and to find whether there was any gender discrimination in cable<br />
television viewing. Therefore, univariate analysis was also used through percentage<br />
distribution and cross tab and presented the data in form of figures, tables, etc.<br />
4.8.2 Bivariate Analysis<br />
For the hypotheses testing and verification of the association between the exposure and<br />
changes in life patterns of women, the Chi-Square statistical analysis was applied.<br />
As the observation of the samples was classified according to two variables, Chi-<br />
Square (x2) Test for contingency table was applied to see whether the 2 variables of<br />
classification independent or dependant have any association.<br />
Procedure for Testing <strong>Hypothesis</strong><br />
Testing hypothesis of associations for contingency tables:<br />
1: Formula the null and alternative hypothesis:<br />
H o : The two variables of classification are not associated.<br />
H 1 : The two variables of classification are associated.<br />
2: Decide the significance level α<br />
3: Test statistic to be used is<br />
r c<br />
( oij<br />
-eij<br />
)<br />
2<br />
c = åå<br />
e<br />
i= 1 j=<br />
1<br />
ij<br />
2<br />
Which if H o is true has an approximate Chi-Square distribution with (r-1) (c-1)<br />
degrees of freedom.<br />
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4: Compute the expected frequencies under Ho<br />
( Ai<br />
)( B<br />
j<br />
)<br />
eij<br />
=<br />
n<br />
th<br />
th<br />
( i rowtotal)(<br />
j column total)<br />
=<br />
Numberof observations<br />
Also calculate the value of x² and the d.f.<br />
5: Determine the critical region which depends upon and the number of d.f.<br />
6: Decide as below:<br />
Reject Ho if the computed value of x² >= x² α (r-1) (c-1). Accept Ho, otherwise.<br />
For a (2x2) table only test statistic is changed, rest of the procedure is same. Test<br />
statistic used in the case is<br />
x ² =<br />
( a+b+c+d)(ad-bc)²<br />
(a+b)(b+d)(c+d)(a+c)<br />
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