Background:

Media literacy is defined as; the ability to critically assess and analyze different channels of
media in order to understand the impact it has on people, communities and society. I created
this conceptual definition with the help of W. James Potter academic book titled, Theory of
Media Literacy, as well as from an up-to-date online resource called, Center of Media Literacy.
To understand Political Activism, it is important to know that this term is derived from the
concept of activism. To be an activist, one is involved in the efforts of promoting, impeding
action to raise awareness to an issue in society, politics, and the environment. Therefore, my
conceptual definition of Political Activism is, someone who is involved in politics that shows
efforts of promoting and impeding actions to raise awareness to political issues. I was able to
create this conceptual definition by understanding what activism was to begin with, thus
applying the definition strictly to political terms.
My hypothesis that will be tested for this survey is as followed; People who are more politically
active are more involved in media literacy than people who are not politically active.
I will be using a cross-sectional survey design to test this hypothesis. My sampling method I will
be using for this survey will be nonprobability sampling, specifically a convenience sampling
method. I will be surveying the population of East Providence homeowners between the ages of
35-65. I will attempt to go down to East Providence City Hall to obtain information on
homeowners in East Providence that are categorized by age. My sampling frame will be the
addresses of these homes. My sampling size will be large, roughly around 3,000 people
because I will be testing thirty years between two age groups giving me a large amount of that
population to survey. My reason behind using a nonprobability-convenience sampling method is
because I live in East Providence and it will be the easiest and cheapest way for me to find
population information and deliver the survey myself to each household. My reasoning behind
my sampling frame is my knowledge of the voters in East Providence. Instead of testing if the
younger generation is media literacy and political active, I want to test the most politically active
population in East Providence to test my hypothesis if media literacy has anything to do with it. I
will be asking close-ending questions throughout my survey so I will be able to clearly determine
the results. I will ask eight total multiple choice questions, five being part of my demographic
questions. I will then ask eight scaled questions from strongly disagree to strongly agree. I will
use two reversed scored questions (#4 Part 2 & #2 Part 3) as well as a semantic differential
scale and a likert scale question. All of my questions will be close-ended and on an even
number scale. My coding-scheme will simply be adding up my results. Because I have chosen
to do close-ended, even scaled questions, adding up the results will be easy and clear. If a
persons answer to a media literacy question is high in understanding, then I will be able to
determine they are on the high end of media literacy and vice versa for political activism. For my
reversed scored questions, I will reverse the score properly. My two variables will create
composite variables. Because each of my variables have multiple values to it, I will test my
variables on each composite variable it consists of. I will use five questions to test media
literacy, and six questions about political activism. Issues of concern for this survey is being able
to obtain the proper sampling frame, size and units at East Providence City Hall. Another
concern is receiving back enough completed surveys in order for me to properly asses the
results to test my hypothesis. My last concern will be my inability to clearly determine the
socioeconomic status of the participants. I will only be asking one direct question, followed by

another related question to get an idea of the socioeconomic status of the participants. I am
aware it is difficult to determine one's socioeconomic status, so I am content with asking the two
questions and leaving it at that for this survey. I made the choices I did for this survey because I
want to test the people who I believe are truly involved in politics and the media, and make it
easy to distribute and analyze results. Kids my age 18-25 admit every day they hate the news
and never watch any media literal television. If people truly are politically active, they will
complete the survey to help the cause of having a better understanding of my hypothesis;
people who are more politically active are more involved in media literacy than people who are
not politically active.

Introduction

My name is Meredith Smith, I am a senior of The University of Rhode Island and I have
constructed this survey. The topic of this survey is based on two things, media literacy and
political activism. This survey has a total of 16 questions that are simple multiple choice and
disagree/agree questions. This survey will take you no more than 10 minutes to complete. By
your participation in this survey, you will help me gain a greater understanding of the
relationship between the media and political world. Your participation will be great appreciated
for it will benefit my research greatly. You were selected for this survey through my prior
research and interest in the topic. Based on your demographic and economic status you were
selected to be part of my continuing research. By participating in this survey, your identity will be
completely confidently. I will not ask for your name or phone number or any other personal
information that could link you back to this research.You will not be required to put a return
address on the envelop if you send the survey back completed. Your privacy is secure for this
survey. Once survey is completed, I ask you please send survey back to the return address on
the envelope it came in. I will use the data collected to test my research question. The data will
be used to help me and others gain a greater understanding of the relationship between media
literacy and political activism.
I would like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to participate in this survey.

Instructions: Please carefully read each question and answer each question to the best of your
ability. Each question will be a multiple choice, or a scaled question.
For multiple choice, please select only one answer.

For scaled questions, please mark X to indicate best how you feel

Part 1:
Multiple choice: Please mark/select the choice that best matches you personally as well
as how you feel.
__________________________________________________________________________
1. What is your current age?
___ 18-25
___ 26-31
___ 32-37
___ 37-42
___ 43-47
___ 48+
___ N/A
2. What is your gender/sex?
___ Male
___ Female
___ Transgender
3. What county in Rhode Island do you reside in?
___ Providence County
___ Bristol County
___ Kent County
___ Newport County
___ Washington County
4. What is your ethnicity?
___ Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin
___ African American, Black
___ Native American
___ White, Caucasian
___ Native Hawaiian
___ Asian origin
___ Other
5. What is your socioeconomic status?
___ Upper-class

___ Middle-class
___ Working-class
___ Lower-class
___ other
6. Are you a homeowner?
___ Yes
___ No

Part 2.
Please answer the following questions honestly, and to the best of your ability. Please
only choose one answer.
__________________________________________________________________________
1. I watch the news and other important informative television...
(Please only choose one)
___ 1-2 times a week
___ 3-4 times a week
___ 5-7 times a week
___ every morning
___ every night
___ every day both morning and night

2. When I watch the local and world news, I understand what is being talked about.
(Please mark X online that close represents how you feel)
Strongly disagree
______________

Disagree
________

Agree
______

Strongly Agree
_____________

3. I am able to talk about local and world events I see on the news confidently with
others (Please mark X online that close represents how you feel)
Strongly disagree
______________

Disagree
________

Agree
______

Strongly Agree
_____________

4. I do not watch the news because I want to but rather because I feel obligated to
so I dont feel left out in conversations with others. (Please mark X online that
close represents how you feel)
Strongly disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

______________

________

______

_____________

5. I am able to understand the impact the media has on society, my community and
the world. (Please mark X online that close represents how you feel)
Strongly disagree
______________

Disagree
________

Agree
______

Strongly Agree
_____________

Part 3:
Please answer the following questions honestly, and to the best of your ability. Please
only choose one answer.
__________________________________________________________________________
1. What are your feelings on local and world politics?
(Please put X on line that best represents how you feel)
do not care at all ___ ___ ___ ___ I care very much
2. You tell people you care about politics but really do not care much about it at all
(Please mark X online that close represents how you feel)
Strongly disagree
______________

Disagree
________

Agree
______

Strongly Agree
_____________

3. The political status of your local and nationwide government is something you
regularly keep up-to-date with. (Please mark X online that close represents how
you feel)
Strongly disagree
______________

4.

Disagree
________

Agree
______

Strongly Agree
_____________

How many times have you been active in political campaigns? (Please only
choose one)
___ Never
___ 1-2 times
___3-5 times
___ Every voting year

___ All the time

5. It is important to me to raise awareness to political issues by engaging in actions
that do so. (Please mark X online that close represents how you feel)
Strongly disagree
______________

Disagree
________

Agree
______

Strongly Agree
_____________

6. My voice matters and I must speak out against political figures that are doing
wrong for local, state, nationwide and worldwide governments.
(Please mark X online that close represents how you feel)
Strongly disagree
______________

Disagree
________

Agree
______

Strongly Agree
_____________

Citations:

Potter, W. James. "Explicating the Construct of Media Literacy." Theory of Media Literacy.
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publication, 2004. 24-27. Print

"What Is Media Literacy? A Definition...and More." Center for Media Literacy. N.p., n.d. Web.
19 Nov. 2014. <http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/what-media-literacy-definitionand-more>