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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 8, Issue 4, April-2021

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

22]. Additionally, boys and men in children’s television programs are more often depicted

engaging in construction and physical activities than their female counterparts [19, 23]. On the

other hand, girls and women are more likely to be portrayed engaging in visual arts, domestic

activities [23, 25], and performing arts [26, 27].

Gender-typed appearance. Characters in children’s television shows were depicted

stereotypically in terms of appearance, including wearing stereotypical colors, clothing, and

accessories [22-24]. Additionally, studies have shown that media tend to emphasize certain

body types for different genders: thinness for girls and women and muscular bodies for boys

and men [4, 5].

Benefits of Creating an Index

Most content analyses examine representations within a genre (e.g., action adventure) or age

group (e.g., preschool television). Although useful, a content analysis alone will not identify

stereotypical representations at the level of individual shows. Studies conducted at the show

level [12, 13] have selected a single show and explored that content in depth. Parents may be

seeking information on how each show is stereotyped, and in what ways, to inform their

decisions on television for their children. Some parents may be especially invested in limiting

the gender-stereotyped content their children watch but may not have time or resources to

search at length for individual studies. Additionally, an index of the stereotypicality of shows

may inform researchers interested in using experimental paradigms in studies on gender-typed

preschool media. As such, this index may inform future research on gender in preschool

television. By creating an index, parents, teachers, and researchers can easily access this

information.

METHOD

The data described in the current study were previously analyzed to assess gender-stereotyped

representations in the landscape of preschool television [9]. However, these data can also be

used to provide insight into how gender stereotypes are represented at the level of each

individual program.

Selection of Preschool Television Shows

Television shows aired in the U.S. and were directed at a preschool audience were selected

based on three criteria: (1) shows with three new episodes (2) airing in 2015 or 2016 (3) with

full episodes available online. As a result, 34 preschool programs from four cable networks

(Disney Jr., Nick Jr., PBS, and Sprout) were included in the current study. Although these shows

were selected based on airing in the U.S. it is important to note that shows were produced and

aired in multiple countries, signaling the ubiquity of preschool television available to children.

For the current study, three episodes, varying in length from 17 to 30 minutes, were randomly

selected from full episodes available online to be coded for each variable of inquiry for gender- stereotypical behavior and appearance, for a total of 102 episodes in the current study.

Coding

The author and a female undergraduate research assistant coded each episodes after reaching

satisfactory intercoder reliability for each variable. Intra-class correlations (ICC) were

calculated to assess inter-coder reliability. Good reliability is indicated when ICC values are

0.75; excellent reliability is reflected when ICC values exceed 0.90 [28]. The lowest reported