BY: Marcus Godbee
Auburn University Montgomery has awarded Dr. Hilary Gamble a grant to complete a study about television viewing. The study will analyze binge watching and how it affects people in their viewer experience. In this study, qualified participants will watch a total of three episodes of the TV show “Dexter” over the course of two weeks. The participants will be divided into two groups. One group will watch one episode per week; the other group will watch all three episodes at once.
“I want to see how binge viewers differ from weekly TV viewers in how they experience the show,” Gamble said. “Whether it changes their beliefs about violence and crime.
After watching each episode, participants will be asked several questions about their viewing experience. Participants who complete the viewing portion of the study will, then, complete a follow-up survey. Those who complete all surveys will be compensated with a $20 Walmart gift card.
Gamble chose “Dexter” because it fit many of her criteria. She needed a show that would be easy to identify with, has violence and crime, was highly rated and was one that people would typically binge watch. It is also a show that she loves and has seen every season of.
“I could’ve picked something like NCIS,” Gamble said. “But those shows are really episodic. Each show is a new storyline. It’s got the same characters, but they don’t follow the same people in their lives that much. With Dexter, you have to keep watching because each episode is a continuation of the same storyline.”
Gamble usually focuses her studies on how media influences sexual relationships, but this study is one she had a passion for and wanted to do.
“Ever since Netflix came out, I’ve always binged everything,” Gamble said.
Some of the shows that she has binge watched are “Game of Thrones” and “Breaking Bad.” She is currently re-watching “Game of Thrones” in anticipation for its final season. She said she will watch it weekly because she wants to avoid encountering “spoilers” on social media.
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