Successful Quantitative Abstract
(using form on Instructor’s Website)
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH ABSTRACT
Article:
Wilkins, K. G. (2000). The role of media in public disengagement from political life.
Journal of Broadcast & Electronic Media 44(4) 569-580.
1. Purpose: one or two sentences that most directly express what the study is about.
This study aims to determine the connection between television viewing and political
engagement. The author examines the relationship between political participation and
social capital and then discusses how this relationship is influenced by television
viewing. p. 569-see also article abstract
INSTRUCTOR’s COMMENTS: make sure you are relying on more than just the abstract
to determine the statement of the problem (research questions/hypotheses)
2. Sample: sampling method, procedure, size, etc.
The sample for this survey was selected using random digit dialing (RDD), based on
proportions of known prefixes, of adult residents in the state of Texas. 848 persons were
telephoned with a response rate of 41%.
Previous experience by the research organization, the University of Texas @ Austin,
Office of Survey Research, guided the process of RDD.
p. 573
3. Dependent Variables: the effects, the “outputs,” what they are measuring
 Political Participation: party member, registered to vote, voted in local & national
elections
 Civic Engagement: community group member, active in community
 Political Trust: trust U.S. president, confidence in political system, trust gov’t to
enforce laws
p. 574
4. Independent Variables: the causes, the “inputs”
 Television viewing: hours, news
 Newspaper Reading
 Computer Use for Political Info
 Background (covariate) variables: education, race
p. 574
5. Methodology: e.g., survey, experiment, content analysis.
Telephone survey conducted in November 1996 after the national election.
p. 573
6. Statistics: tests (e.g., correlations, factor analysis, Analysis of Variance, t-tests,
frequencies, mean scores, cross-tabs), analytical procedures, etc. (HINT: look at the
results section, or the Methodology section)
Data was evaluated using a variety of analyses. Hypotheses were tested using bivariate
analyses, using gamma an appropriate statistics for ordinal-level variables. Analysis of
variance as a multivariate approach was also used.
Scales were created to measure political participation and interpreted with multivariate
analyses, using the Cochran’s Chi Square for reliability. A separate scale for political
distrust was developed by combining answers to the three five-point Likert items.
p. 574-575
7. Results: findings of the study.
Related to Political Participation:
 People involved in community activity are more likely to be political participants
 Political trust works in a negative direction in relation to political participation:
o People who distrust are more likely to be involved politically
o People who trust are less likely to be involved politically
p. 575-576
Related to the Role of the Media:
 People who watch television news & read newspapers are more likely to be political
participants
 Media is not a significant statistical factor in political trust or community involvement
o Computer use for political information is linked to political trust, but may
be more of a result of education (not tested directly in this study)
p.576-577
8. Evaluation: what do you think about the study? (Be specific, was it credible?
What strengths or weaknesses?)
I found this study to be extremely well designed. The designers understood the issues and
knew the appropriate means for measuring the results. They need a good job of including
the most important variables, using enough to gather the information without getting
confusing.
The only weaknesses I observed related to the size of the sample and the fact that this
was a one-time survey done after a national election. Would the results be different at
other times of the year or during a year when there was no election? As the author
observes in the conclusion, a long-term study is needed to verify these results.
I viewed this research as very credible as it was conducted by a reputable research
organization with experience in the phone survey research method.
To fully understand how this research was conducted and analyzed, readers need a fairly
sophisticated understanding of social science research methods.