Some Opportunity Costs of Television Viewing / Gary W. Selnow and Hal Reynolds.

Interviews were conducted with 184 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students to determine patterns of pastime activities that stand as alternatives to television viewing. In the first portion of the 35-minute interview, respondents were presented with a current daily television listing and asked to indicate which programs they normally watched. To collect data on alternative media consumption patterns, the interviewers probed the students' use of radio, records and tapes, newspapers and video games. Students were also asked about their membership in school, church, and other social clubs and groups and asked to furnish information about their hobbies, sleeping patterns, playing of musical instruments and other activities. Results indicated that as television viewing time increased, so did time spent listening to records and tapes, and to a smaller degree, listening to radio and engaging in hobby activities, as well as time spent playing video games in a video game parlor. However, as involvement with television increased, time spent sleeping and in group activities decreased. Finally, the interviews revealed that those who viewed more television engaged in active hobbies (sports) while those who viewed less television engaged in artistic or intellectual hobbies. (HOD)

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