Events

Co-organised by Changing Family in Asia Cluster, Asia Research Institute and Family, Children and Youth Cluster, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS

Prof Jean Yeung, Asia Research Institute and Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore.

ABSTRACT

Many dimensions of family life have changed tremendously over the past century. These changes have been extensive not only in their geographical scope, covering most of the populations of the world, but also in the breadth of family dimensions affected. For example, age at marriage has increased, parental authority has declined, premarital sex has increased, relationships between men and women have changed, and contraceptive use has become widespread. Theories for these changes have highlighted the role of television in changing attitudes and behaviors worldwide and international organizations spend billions of dollars annually on television campaigns to improve population health. Despite strong assertions on television impacts, and despite a substantial research literature on media effects, there is little agreement on the nature and extent of those assumed effects. Existing research has been seriously hampered by selection problems with mass media exposure, hindering our ability to draw causal connections between television and family change. The current research focuses on conducting a randomized experiment of television, where control villages lack television and treatment villages are provided with television, to understand the causal connections between television and changes in attitudes and behaviors.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Rukmalie Jayakody is an Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Sociology, and Demography and a Research Associate at the Population Research Institute at Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests focus on understanding the impacts of social change on individuals, families, and communities and the consequences of poverty for child and family well-being. She is also the Project Director of the Families and Communities in Transition (FACT) project based in Hanoi, Vietnam. FACT is funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD) and is focused on understanding the impacts of television on population health. This research involves the first randomized experiment of television to better understand the causal pathways through which television impacts health and well-being. Jayakody is particularly interested in mixed-methods research using mutually reinforcing quantitative and qualitative data, interdisciplinary research drawing form multiple perspectives (e.g., sociology, economics, anthropology, demography), and in research designs that pay careful attention to causation and selection. http://fact.pop.psu.edu .

REGISTRATION

Admission is free. We would greatly appreciate if you RSVP to fasshealth@nus.edu.sg