Research Topic
With the rise in popularity of movies over the course of the last century and the recent surge in video game popularity, rating systems for media have emerged in an effort to direct content towards particular audiences and away from others. But how effective are these rating systems? To what degree do parents adhere to video game and movie rating systems when deciding on what their child can interact with or witness? What traits and characteristics correlate with a parent’s adherence or failure to adhere to rating systems?
As the knowledge gap theory dictates, those with access to technology will continue to garner benefits from it while those with limited access will have incredible difficulty catching up. I am curious to see if the knowledge gap as illustrated by such factors as socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and religion has any correlation to a parent’s willingness to adhere to established rating systems.
Rationale and Hypothesis
I hypothesize that many factors correlate with a parent’s willingness to adhere to established rating systems, including socioeconomic status, age, the level of education attained by the parents, and the level of education attained by the parents’ parents. Other aspects might also correlate, including ethnicity and religiousness. I posit that a lower level of education and socioeconomic status is likely to correlate with a disregard for established rating systems, placing mature content into the hands and heads of an immature audience.
Literature Review
The Motion Picture Association of America established an age-based rating system in 1968, allowing filmmakers to produce films that no longer needed to meet a one-size-fits-all seal of approval (Leone, 2005). Instead, films would be given a rating based on the content within. Video games possess their own version of the MPAA’s rating system.
The Entertainment Software Rating Board, also known as the ESRB, has established a rating system similar to the MPAA’s movie rating system, but different in some ways. Instead of going along with the G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17 system, the ESRB established their own scale: EC (Early Childhood), E (Everyone), T (Teen), M (Mature), and AO (Adults Only) (Tocci, 2007). EC games are uncommon. E games are designed for children and often make use of licenses and existing intellectual properties. Many children’s movies make use of video game tie-ins, producing a video game version of Pixar’s Cars 2 for instance. Further divisions in the ESRB’s rating system might clarify that a game is rated “E 10+,” making it appropriate for children ten years of age or older. E 10+ games might feature more violence than standard E games. T games feature violence but shy away from blood and gore, which is the territory of M games. T and E rated games have been used in tie-ins with fast food restaurants (York, 2009). M games might feature violence, blood, gore, sexual content, and horror elements.
Research has shown that parents do make use of the ESRB’s rating system, but tend to claim they are more knowledgeable about its nuances than they actually are (Jomini, Chernin, 2004). Beyond this, there has not been significant research conducted on factors that correlate with a parent’s willingness to adhere to established rating systems.
Possible Research Subjects and Methods
To adequately gauge the correlation between societal factors (socioeconomic status, education levels, age, ethnicity, and religion) and willingness to adhere to established rating systems, my research requires a large and diverse pool of subjects. As I am limiting my research to quantitative and easily measured data, I feel that a sample size 100 is not out of the question. The subjects will be drawn from three pools, based on their children’s attendance at one of three schools. The schools I will study are Lake Harriet Community School, Anthony Middle School, and Pratt Community School, all of which are Minneapolis Public Schools with diverse populations in attendance. The subjects must all be parents that have purchased video games and movies or movie tickets for their children.
My research method involves having participants fill out a short questionnaire soliciting demographic information along with socioeconomic status (in terms of income), religious or nonreligious affiliation, and education levels. After providing the previous information, the subjects will answer a series of brief questions about their perceived likelihood to adhere to rating systems when purchasing video games and movies or movie tickets for their children.
The questionnares will be sent home with students. Upon returning a completed questionnaire, signed by the parent or guardians, the student will receive a small incentive such as candy or a coupon for free food at a popular restaurant. Even with an incentive in play, it is unlikely that all my questionnaires will return, completed. As such, to meet my sample size of 100, I will send out at least 150 questionnaires.
Questionnaire Questions
What race/ethnicity do you consider yourself?
What is your household income?
How many children live in your household?
Would you define yourself as religious or non-religious?
What is your age?
What is the highest level of education you have completed?
What is the highest level of education your parents achieved?
How would you rate your familiarity with the movie rating system?
Have you ever purchased tickets to an R rated movie for your child under the age of 17?
Have you ever purchased tickets to a PG-13 movie for your child under the age of 13?
How would you rate your familiarity with the video game rating system?
Have you ever purchased an M rated game for your child under the age of 17?
Have you ever purchased a T rated game for your child under the age of 13?
My Interest
I have been working with children in various capacities for twelve years. A recurring theme has shown up over the years. A lot of the children I work with have been exposed to horribly violent media at an early age. Some of the students I work with now have seen many more horror movies than I have, even though I am more than three times their age. As I noticed these trends, I wondered what these children and their families had in common. What traits correlate with a parent’s unwillingness to adhere to established rating systems? I want to keep the study quantitative to keep my own views as distant from it as possible. Perhaps it is my own misguided sense of entitlement, but I predict to find that lower education level and lower socioeconomic status will correlate with an unwillingness to respect established rating systems when deciding on media for a child’s consumption.
References
Jomini, Talia; Chernin, Ariel. (2004). Video games and the ESRB: An evaluation of parental beliefs about the rating system. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 2004 Annual Meeting, 1, 1-19.
Leone, Ron; Bissell, Kimberly L.. (2005). Movie ratings and third person perception. Atlantic Journal of Communication,13, 272-291.
Tocci, Jason. (2007). Rated M for moral panic: Content consideration in video game legislation. Conference Papers -- National Communication Association, 1, 1-25.
York, Emily Bryson. (2009). Video game tie-ins with fast feeders leave both sides winners. Advertising Age, 00018899, 7/13/2009, Vol. 80, Issue 25
