Character Recognition as an Alternate Measure of Television Exposure Among Children: Findings From the Alam Simsim Program in Egypt

Abstract

Evaluation of effects of mass media–based health interventions requires accurate assessments of exposure, which can be difficult to obtain when young children are the primary audience. Alam Simsim, the Egyptian version of Sesame Street, aired nationally in Egypt to teach preschoolers about numeracy, literacy, and gender-equitable attitudes. The purpose of this article was to assess the effect of the program through a first-of-its-kind household-level survey that interviewed caretakers (n = 426) and preschoolers (n = 486). The authors introduced and tested the efficacy of a parsimonious measure of exposure: children's recognition of the primary characters of the program. Overall, the authors' models explained as much as 53% of the variance in children's learning; exposure to the program was significantly associated with learning. Furthermore, the parsimonious measure of exposure was as effective as a more elaborate child-reported measure. Relative to these two measures of exposure, caretakers' report of children's viewing was not as good a predictor of learning.

Acknowledgments

This study was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development. The contents are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or of the United States Government. The authors acknowledge the support of the Global Education Department at Sesame Workshop, Dr. June H. Lee (assistant vice president, Global Research), and Dr. Charlotte F. Cole (senior vice president, Global Education). The authors also acknowledge the assistance of Ms. Molly Federowicz. This work was undertaken during the first author's tenure at Johns Hopkins University.

Notes

^a Zero-order Pearson correlation between predictor and numeracy.

^b Standardized beta coefficient with all the variables up to the step in question added into the equation. The first set of betas corresponds to the equations with the child-reported exposure measure as the independent variable (Step 3A); the second set of betas corresponds to caretakers' reports of child's viewing as the independent variable; the third set of betas corresponds to recognition of characters as the independent variable.

^c Steps 3A, 3B, and 3C correspond to separate regressions; that is, Step 3B did not include the child-reported measure. Questions about character recognition were asked only of those who reported seeing the program (n = 369).

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

^a Zero-order Pearson correlation between predictor and literacy skills.

^b Standardized beta coefficient with all the variables up to the step in question added into the equation. The first set of betas corresponds to the equations with the child-reported measure as the independent variable (Step 3A); the second set of betas corresponds to caretakers' reports of child's viewing as the independent variable; the third set of betas corresponds to recognition of characters as the independent variable.

^c Steps 3A, 3B, and 3C correspond to separate regressions; that is, Step 3B did not include the child-reported measure. Questions about character recognition were asked only of those who reported seeing the program (n = 369).

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

^a Zero-order Pearson correlation between predictor and gender-equitable attitudes.

^b Standardized beta coefficient with all the variables up to the step in question added into the equation. The first set of betas corresponds to the equations with the child-reported measure as the independent variable (Step 3A); the second set of betas corresponds to caretakers' reports of child's viewing as the independent variable; the third set of betas corresponds to recognition of characters as the independent variable.

^c Steps 3A, 3B, and 3C correspond to separate regressions; that is, Step 3B did not include the child-reported measure. Questions about character recognition were asked only of those who reported seeing the program (n = 369).

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.