Experimental Research Design

Owing to the lack of adequate research on the impacts of muscular images on the body image of adolescent boys, Mulgrew, Volcevski-kostas, & Rendell (2014) sought to experimentally examine the impact of viewing attractive and muscular singers in music videos on the body image, mood, and schema activation of adolescent boys. To this end, 180 boys in 7^th, 9^th and 11^th grade ranging between the age of 12 and 16 years were asked to complete pre-test and post-test measures of body satisfaction and mood after viewing music videos depicting male singers of average or muscular appearance. They were also asked to complete measures of social comparison and schema activation after watching the videos. The results of the study suggested that boys who watched videos with muscular singers generally had lower self-esteem and confidence about their bodies compared to those who watched videos with singers who had an average appearance.

From the foregoing, it is evident that the authors used an experimental research design because their analysis generally entailed an experiment where they manipulated one variable and randomized the other variables (Srinagesh, 2006). The group that watched videos depicting singers with an average appearance acted as the control group and the subjects (boys) were randomly categorised into two groups. In essence, the researchers actively influenced the videos to which the boys were exposed and observed the consequences. To determine the impact of the videos on the boys, they carried out inter-correlations between the Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) to test the degree to which the constructs overlapped. Moreover, they used variance analysis to determine the equivalence of the groups and analysis of covariance to identify the differences in post-VAS scores on body satisfaction and mood.

Reference

Mulgrew, K. E., Volcevski-kostas, D., & Rendell, P. G. (2014). The Effect of Music Video Clips on Adolescent Boys’ Body Image, Mood, and Schema Activation. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(1), 92-103.

Srinagesh, K. (2006). The principles of experimental research. Boston, MA: Elsevier.