THE REPRESENTATION OF

FEMALE AFRICAN AMERICAN COLLEGE

STUDENTS ON TELEVISION: A

CONTENT ANALYSIS OF A DIFFERENT

WORLD AND GROWN-ISH

M O N E J A H B L A C K

N AT H A N I E L F R E D E R I C K , P H D , F A C U LT Y M E N T O R

E M M A N U E L N W A C H U K W U , F A C U LT Y M E N T O R

D E P A R T M E N T O F M A S S C O M M U N I C AT I O N

W I N T H R O P U N I V E R S I T Y

INTRODUCTION

•1987-1993•Spin-off of The Cosby Show: black female daughter (Denise Huxtable) attends Hillman College (HBCU)

• 2018-present• Spin-off of Black-ish:

black female daughter (Zoey Johnson) attends California University (PWI)

• College experience of the female African American lead character

Source: Fan Art TV Source: Wikipedia Commons

Source: HBCU Buzz Source: TV Over Mind

Historically Black College or University

Predominantly White Institution

W H Y I T M A T T E R S The representation of the female

AA college student

The representation of the college experience

Who’s watching? What are they learning?

PWI non-minority students who have limited first-hand experience with AAs prior to/during college

High school students who have limited knowledge of what to

expect in college

LITERATURE REVIEW

The Social Construction of the African American Family on Television

Sitcoms and African American Portrayal on Television

Television as a Vicarious Experience Perceived Realism

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILY ON TELEVISION: A

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE COSBY SHOW AND BLACK-ISH

Textual analysis on The Cosby Show and

Black-ish

How AA family is constructed on

television, evolved over time

Similarities in family demographics (well-rounded, educated,

suburban)

Differences in willingness to address certain topics such as

racial issues and stereotypes

Stamps (2008) Source: NPRSource: Amazon

SITCOMS AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PORTRAYAL ON TELEVISION

Tells us how to run our lives

Characters with traits the audience

relate to

Enact realistic life occurrences

Provides perspective on certain aspects of

life

Berman (1987)

• Comical, yet expected to be moral• “The producers seem to have

forgotten that you can’t raise a moral issue and play with it—people expect you to solve it. …it exploits social issues without making sense of them”

Berman (1987)

Situational Comedy

SITCOMS…CONTINUED

(Means Coleman, 2005)

African American Portrayal on Television

Minstrelsy Era (1950 to 1953)Amos ‘N’ Andy,

Beulah

Nonrecognition Era

(1954 to 1967)Car 54, Where

Are You?, Hogan’s Heroes

Assimilation Era

(1968 to 1971)The Bill Cosby Show*, Julia

Source: Slate Magazine Source: YouTube Source: IMDb

(Means Coleman, 2005)

African American Portrayal on Television

Lear Era(1972 to 1983)Sanford and Son, Good Times, The

Jeffersons

Black Family Diversity (Cosby

Years)(1984 to 1989)

The Cosby Show, A Different World,

227

Neo-Minstrelsy Era(1990 to 1998)

Martin, The Wayans Bros.

Source: Fame Focus Source: TV Series Finale Source: CliqueClack

SITCOMS…CONTINUED

African American Portrayal on Television

Source: Sim International

Source: One News Now

SITCOMS…CONTINUED

Source: AmazonSource: Wikipedia

Source: ShareTV Source: DirecTV

TELEVISION AS A VICARIOUS EXPERIENCE

• Vicarious experience: Knowledge gained through means other than direct experience• Television is a “window on the world” for

providing children, families, and communities information otherwise not available to them (Graves 1999)• Televised role portrayals can lead to stereotypes,

prejudice, and discrimination (Graves 1999)• Viewers are likely to believe TV as true to form,

serves as knowledge gap for viewers without first-hand experience with another race (Ford 1997)

PERCEIVED REALISM

Narrative Persuasion

Plausibility(Possible)

Typicality(Similar to real life)

Factuality(Made up or

not) Narrative Consistency

(Without contradictions)

Perceptual Quality

(Convincing audio and visuals)

Five factors that contribute to narrative persuasion, which can then influence individual behavior and societal action (Cho et al. 2012)

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

How was the lead female AA character portrayed?

What is the predominant theme of each episode?

How realistic were the portrayals of the events in each episode?

Did the episode resolve the conflict?

What is the tone of the episode?

Source: Fan Art TV

Source: Wikipedia Commons

METHOD

• Content analysis of first season of A Different World (22 episodes) and Grown-ish (13 episodes)

• Unit of analysis: Each episode = one unit

• Coding for:– a set of character traits

– overall theme

– perceived realism

– conflict resolution

– tone

• Analyzed using SPSS Chi Squared Fisher’s Exact Test

Source: VarietySource: FreeForm

Source: The Agony BoothSource: Black Girl Nerds

METHOD

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONSA Different World Grown-ish P-Value

# of total occurrences

Y/N Y/N % # of total occurrences

Y/N Y/N%

Anxious 17 12 (5) 71%(30%) 6 6 (0) 100% n.s.

Enthusiastic 16 13 (3) 81% (19%) 10 8 (2) 80% (20%) n.s.

Friendly 18 16 (2) 89% (11%) 10 9 (1) 90% (10%) n.s.

Imaginative 12 11 (1) 92% (8%) 3 1 (2) 33% (67%)n.s.*marginally sig.

Motivated 17 9 (8) 53% (47%) 7 5 (2) 71% (29%) n.s.

Open-minded 18 15 (3) 83%(17%) 5 3 (2) 60% (40%) n.s.

Organized 13 7 (6) 54% (46%) 3 1 (2) 33% (67%) n.s.

Responsible 18 12 (6) 67% (33%) 11 4 (7) 36% (64%) n.s.

Smart 17 12 (5) 70% (30%) 9 4 (5) 44% (56%) n.s.

Sympathetic 18 16 (2) 89% (11%) 9 9 (0) 100% n.s.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Friendship Academics Drugs/Alcohol Money RomanticRelationships

Race Other

A Different World 27% 9% 0 9% 31% 0 22%Grown-ish 7% 0 15% 0 46% 14% 23%

Predominant Theme of Episodes

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Consistent Narrative

Plausible

Quality Perception

100%

95%

100%

100%

92%

100%

Quality Perception, Plausible, Consistent Narrative

Grown-ish A Different World0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Factual

Typical

82%

73%

61%

38%

Typical, Factual

Grown-ish A Different World

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Positive Neutral Negative

100%

0% 0%

70%

30%

0%

A Different World Grownish

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

A Different World Grown-ish

86%

39%

14%

61%

Conflict Resolution

Yes No

Tone

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Grown-ish overall more culturally aware and established than A Different World

More provocative and suggestive content in Grown-ish

Grown-ish displays as more imaginative and fictional

A Different World feels more in tune with the real world, with real problems

IMPLICATIONS“…you can’t raise a moral issue and play

with it.” (Berman 1987)

The portrayal of drugs/alcohol, race relations,

academics, romantic

relationships

What is the tone in the

discussion of these topics?

Are the resolutions to the conflicts sound and reasonable?

Perceived Realism

Narrative Persuasion

Individual behavior and

societal action

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

Small sample size of only 35 total episodes analyzed

-Insufficient size to show statistical

significance-Expand sample size

to encompass several seasons

Content analysis emphasizes quantitative rather than qualitative data

-Multiple methods suitable for television

analysis-Textual analysis for

more in-depth qualitative results

Research not exhaustive in data available in the shows

-Some characteristics and themes

unaccounted for or not emphasized

-Implementing an approach that

captures full data

SELECTED REFERENCES• Berman, R. (1987). Sitcoms. Journal of Aesthetic Education,21(1), 5-19. doi:10.2307/3332810• Chatmon, P., & Biermann, T. (Directors). (2018). Grown-ish [Television series]. Burbank, California: Freeform.• Cho, H., Shen, L., & Wilson, K. (2014). Perceived Realism: Dimensions and Roles in Narrative Persuasion.

Communication Research, 41(6), 828–851. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650212450585• Coleman, R. R. M., & McIlwain, C. (2005).The hidden truths in black sitcoms. In The Sitcom Reader: America Viewed and

Skewed (pp. 125-137). State University of New York Press.• Graves, S. B. (1999). Television and Prejudice Reduction: When Does Television as a Vicarious Experience Make a

Difference. Journal of Social Issues, 55(4), 707–727. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.winthropuniversity.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=3067677

• Punyanunt-Carter, N. (2008). The Perceived Realism of African American Portrayals on Television. Howard Journal of Communications, 19(3), 241–257. https://doi-org.winthropuniversity.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/10646170802218263

• Stamps, D. (2017). The Social Construction of the African American Family on Broadcast Television: A Comparative Analysis of The Cosby Show and Blackish. Howard Journal of Communications, 28(4), 405–420. https://doi-org.winthropuniversity.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/10646175.2017.1315688

• Werner, T. (Producer). (1987). A Different World [Television series]. New York City, New York: NBC.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSDr. Cheryl Fortner-Wood

Dr. Nathaniel Frederick

Professor Emmanuel Nwachukwu

Winthrop McNair Scholars Program

Fellow McNair Cohort

Winthrop University

QUESTIONS?

E M A I L B L A C K M 1 2 @ W I N T H R O P. E D U

H Y P O T H E S I SGrown-ish will portray more diverse character traits and episode themes

Less perceived realism, resolution of conflict, and serious tone

A Different World has more perceived realism, more conflict resolution, and more serious tone

Less diverse character traits and episode themes

CODING WORKSHEETCategory Yes No N/A

Anxious

Enthusiastic

Friendly

Imaginative

Motivated

Open-minded

Organized

Responsible

Smart

Sympathetic

Other

Category Yes No N/A

Consistent Narrative

Factual

Plausible

Quality Perception

Typical

CODING WORKSHEET

CODING WORKSHEET ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS

• a) Friendship b) Academics c) Drugs/Alcohol d) Money e) Romantic Relationships f) Race e) Other

What is the predominant theme of the episode?

• Yes or No

Did the episode help resolve the conflict?

• a) Positive b) Neutral c) Negative

What is the tone of the episode?