Finds that soap operas analyzed in 1994 contain more frequent sexual incidence on an hourly average, both within the same soaps analyzed a decade earlier and even more so on two additional very popular soaps. Shows that the more frequent sex centers on physical intercourse, primarily among partners not married to anyone; and sexual activity is…

In 1994 the Kaiser Family Foundation commissioned a monitoring project which assessed the frequency and representation of sexual behaviors in five daytime television soap operas. A new study sought to provide up-to-date quantitative information and to extend the previous project by examining more specifically the representation of planning for and…

Offers a new approach for the study of soap opera, aimed at discovering the social boundaries within which a particular culture negotiates its primordial relationships. Reveals the interaction between culture, power, genre, and gender by tracing the complex kinship structures of family and romance among soap opera characters and by observing how…

The structure of televised conversations were compared with theoretical structures of such conversations, based on data drawn from commercial television soap operas. Results show that portions resemble naturally occurring speech as represented in theoretical frameworks, but others do not; implications for language teachers are noted. (17…

During the course of this pilot project, two models for environmental interactive radio instruction (IRI) were developed. The first model used a traditional IRI storyline where the setting of the radio show and the interaction over the air simulates a classroom environment. Teachers and students experimented with environmental information through…

Investigates the effects of India's first long-running television soap opera that was designed to promote women's status in Indian society. Finds that exposure to the program was positively associated with viewers' involvement with the characters in the program and with viewer's television dependency, but did not make viewers more aware of women's…

A study investigated whether adolescents' schemas about contraceptive use would influence their perceptions that a soap opera couple used birth control during sex. The study also examined the effects of increasing explicitness of characters' conversations about contraceptives on viewers' perceptions of the couple's contraceptive use. Thirty-six…

Examines the impact of background media on Dutch students' performance and time spent on paper-and-pencil and memorization homework assignments. Notes that doing homework combined with watching a soap opera interfered with students' performance on both types of assignments. Indicates that music in the background left homework performance…

Describes development of an objective content analytic category scheme for measuring the sexiness of women's business attire in media presentations. Finds women's business attire in television soap operas significantly more provocative than real-world attire. Finds a significant positive correlation between the degree of sexiness as measured by…

Explores parallels between the soap opera and both fairy tales and therapy. Presents a detailed analysis of a recurrent narrative element in soaps--that of the "bad" and/or missing mother of young women heroines in "The Young and the Restless." Emphasizes the repressive over the liberating aspects of the soap opera. (SR)

A case study examined the cooperative consultation between a writer for the television serial "All My Children" and a health educator. The consultation spanned six years. The story of the alcoholic "Arlene" began to air on the serial in January 1991. Scenes involving Arlene were recorded. Consultation between the health…

This paper questions some of the assumptions that permeate the current literature about soap operas and television, examining particularly the model according to which soap operas are the expression of an "essential" and universal feminine nature. The paper suggests the pertinence of a crosscultural approach to the study of melodrama as…

Hypothesizes that instrumental media motivation, selectivity, attention, and involvement are positive predictors of satisfaction, parasocial interaction, and cultivation effects from watching daytime television serials; avoidance, distraction, and skepticism were seen as negative predictors. Finds support for these expectations through three path…

Examines an approach to teaching conversation in New Zealand to adult migrants studying English as a Second Language, using language data from a television soap opera. Compares teacher-made samples of conversation and the scripted conversation of television soaps and points to advantages of using videoed television samples. (15 references)…

Examines television viewers' interpretations of a particular narrative from the British soap opera "Coronation Street" after they had watched it unfold over some time in natural viewing circumstances. Identifies and discusses the interpretations of four clusters of viewers ranked in terms of their relative allegiance to the characters.…