Correlation Analysis on the Maternal Role in American Family Sitcoms During 1951-1960 and 2011-2020
- DOI
- 10.2991/assehr.k.220105.130How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- sitcoms; motherhood; family; gender roles; cultural industry; media studies
- Abstract
Family sitcoms, as part of the cultural industry, are viewed by millions of people, if not more, every year. This study looked into the transition of maternal role in American family sitcoms, thus reflecting corresponding change in perception of mothers in the society. The paper utilized a quantitative and correlational analysis method to examine if differences exist between the representation of mothers in 1951-1960 and in 2011-2020. After retrieving a list of all television and radio sitcoms ever made, items that were produced outside the US, produced outside the designated time range, or did not focus on family were excluded. Thus a sample of 65 sitcoms, with 14 released between 1951 and 1960, and 51 released between 2011 and 2020, was created. Implemented relativity tests included a Chi-Square Test and a One-Way ANOVA Test between the variables of Starting Year and Marital Status/Number of Kids. As a result, an association was found between the year and marital status of mothers, while little association was found between year and kid numbers. The analysis revealed that while pervasive ideas regarding kid number and couple marriage remained dominant, qualities such as mothers’ marital status became more diverse, indicating the growing independence of mothers from their spouses.
- Copyright
- © 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.
- Open Access
- This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Shiyu Ye PY - 2022 DA - 2022/01/17 TI - Correlation Analysis on the Maternal Role in American Family Sitcoms During 1951-1960 and 2011-2020 BT - Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Social Development and Media Communication (SDMC 2021) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 707 EP - 712 SN - 2352-5398 UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220105.130 DO - 10.2991/assehr.k.220105.130 ID - Ye2022 ER -