SGY 120 Week 4 Lecture 7 – Mapping ‘Taste’ Preferences
Question 1: In table B3 which is the ‘independent’ and ‘dependent’ variable (NB: The independent variable is the one that is causing or explaining variations in the other variable)
The first independent variable is attendance at a tertiary educational institution and the second is combined household income. The dependent variable is the types of radio stations listened to.
Question 2: Identify what could be regarded as ‘high-brow’ or ‘low-brow’ forms of consumption in tables B3 and B8. Are there any stations or programmes where it is unclear as to whether it is a ‘high-brow’ or ‘low-brow’ form of culture?
The ABC radio stations and the News could be considered ‘high-brow’, while Commercial AM radio, Blue Heelers Sale of the Century and Film/movies could be considered ‘low-brow’. Commercial FM is almost evenly distributed between those that did and did not attend tertiary education and amongst all income levels, so it is difficult to suggest whether it is ‘high-brow’ or ‘low brow’ based on these independent variables. Home improvement is also split evenly amongst the two independent variables.
Question 3: In table B3 what seems to be the stronger determinant of a stated preference in particular for ‘high-brow’ radio stations – income or education? What about ‘low-brow’ preferences? Are there any other variables that you think could be influencing the percentages (eg living location, age)? How would this effect interpretation of the data?
For ABC FM Classical and ABC AM Radio National the determinant seems to be education rather than income. With ‘low-brow’ radio stations such as Commercial AM, the determinant seems to be both education and income. Age would also be a factor in determining listening preferences, however it wouldn’t necessarily reveal whether something was ‘low-brow’ or high-brow’ as we may find that while older people have a preference for ABC radio, they might also have a preference for Commercial AM.
Question 4: On the basis of these tables and your knowledge of Australian culture do you think we have a clear demarcation between ‘high-brow’ and ‘low-brow- tastes in Australia? What might you use as evidence in mounting your case?
There is no clear demarcation between high-brow’ and ‘low-brow’ culture based on these tables, however, it would be more useful to measure this against more contemporary ‘low-brow’ culture such as reality tv to see whether education and income are determining factors on preferences towards watching these programmes.
