A field study was conducted to examine how teenag

ers view their parents and what characters are similar to the roles their parents play in their lives. It is important to aim this survey towards recent television shows because it will provide the current data regarding stereotyping on television. Testing teenagers and young adults ranging from the ages of 13 to 21 will limit the search in terms of opinions and ideas. The age range of the subjects has been chosen in order to avoid any biases towards older television programs. Multiple choice questions have been preferred because they will not bore the subjects, they are right to the point and they can be easily graphed and charted. Several open ended questions will also be used to provide some personal feedback regarding how the subjects feel about the family and its members portrayed on television. Four shows will be utilized to analyse the values and roles of the sample group: The Simpsons, Married with Children, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Malcolm in the Middle. The survey will then ask which of these shows are most popular among teenagers. After doing this, it will be clear whether or not the values of these teenagers match the values of the television show.

Overall, a society is a very complex system with many institutions each with their own influences. To be certain of the connection between these institutions, one must be aware of their format and influences. One can see the connection between family television shows and the family as an institution by seeing how they influence each other. Cause and effect relationships exist within institutions in a society such as the relationship between contemporary family television programs and the family as an institution. A change in the family institution will cause a change in the television shows about families. Thus, just like Andy Warhol said, “life imitates art, and art imitates life” holds true with respect to today’s television programs; television imitates the family just as much as the family imitates television. A further question to this research could be to study the influence of other forms of media over the socialization process of ch

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