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Bogus Publicity Items and the Contingency between Awareness and Media-Induced Pretrial Prejudice

Bogus Publicity Items and the Contingency between Awareness and Media-Induced Pretrial Prejudice Venue surveys can be criticized because they do not attempt to control for response biases, such as the tendency to report having read about any story that seems plausible. Bogus items (fabricated publicity items) are a common way to control for this bias. In two studies we examined whether controlling for this bias changes the relation between exposure to media and prejudice. Based on two actual crimes with quite different media exposure rates, communities were surveyed about their exposure to media surrounding the case and their prejudice toward the defendants. A bogus item was included on each survey. In both studies the correlations between exposure to media and prejudice were significant and remained unchanged when data from respondents who indicated having read about the bogus item were excluded. These findings suggest that, in parallel to the social desirability literature, the response tendency to report awareness of media events does not threaten the validity of venue surveys. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Law and Human Behavior American Psychological Association

Bogus Publicity Items and the Contingency between Awareness and Media-Induced Pretrial Prejudice

Moran, Gary; Cutler, Brian L.
Law and Human Behavior , Volume 21 (3): 6 – Jun 1, 1997
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References (3)

Publisher
American Psychological Association
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 American Psychological Association
ISSN
0147-7307
eISSN
1573-661X
DOI
10.1023/A:1024846917038
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Venue surveys can be criticized because they do not attempt to control for response biases, such as the tendency to report having read about any story that seems plausible. Bogus items (fabricated publicity items) are a common way to control for this bias. In two studies we examined whether controlling for this bias changes the relation between exposure to media and prejudice. Based on two actual crimes with quite different media exposure rates, communities were surveyed about their exposure to media surrounding the case and their prejudice toward the defendants. A bogus item was included on each survey. In both studies the correlations between exposure to media and prejudice were significant and remained unchanged when data from respondents who indicated having read about the bogus item were excluded. These findings suggest that, in parallel to the social desirability literature, the response tendency to report awareness of media events does not threaten the validity of venue surveys.

Journal

Law and Human Behavior – American Psychological Association

Published: Jun 1, 1997

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