CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY

1.1 Introduction
This chapter introduces the study; it contains the background of the study, statement
of the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, and significance of the
study and limitations of the study.

1.2 Background of the Study

Globally, teenager’s sexual behaviour is of great concern to the society at large, both
in developing and developed world with television playing a major role in educating
the children into practicing sexual activities. This study is therefore conducted to
study the influences that television have on the teenagers’ sexual initiations and
sexual behaviours. Television is said to have become the leading sex educator to the
teenagers. It exposes teenagers to adult sexual behaviours in ways that portray these
actions as normal in life and risk free. These therefore creates an illusion to the
teenagers that sex is a central part to daily life than it’s actually is hence, promoting
sexual initiation as a result of imitating the behaviour and practicing it with their
fellow teenagers. After the independence, there was only one political party with
media being in a tight check (Bowen 2010).

Kenya television consisted of a single station VOK (voice of Kenya) that mainly
acted as a government tool. The introduction of multi-party politics in the 1990s led to
the emergence of new television stations and expansion of television industry in
Kenya (Bowen 2010). The oldest Kenyan television station is Kenya Broadcasting
Corporation (KBC), which is still broadcasting. The four most popular television
stations include KBC, KTN, NTV and Citizen (Bowen 2010).TV scenes in Kenya has
drastically developed with the migration from analogue broadcasting to digital
broadcasting. This transition of digital broadcasting allows Kenyans to enjoy multiple
broadcasting services, improved video and audio quality and increased digital
dividends due to greater spectrum efficiency (Mbeke 2008). About 3.2 million homes
in Kenya own TV set reaching 38% of the population daily (Mbeke 2008). Kenyan
local channels are today dominated by foreign programmes such as soap operas,
music videos and movies that greatly explicit sexual contents (Gakahu , 2005).

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According to Gakahu 2010, Kenyan television music is laden with staggering sexual
graphics with most of songs include partial nudity and sexual situations and
behaviours. Television music videos depict half-dressed men and women in sexually
suggesting body movements and often play lyrics intended to inflame sexual feelings
(O’Toole 1997).songs in these media easily contribute to an overdrive in sexual
passion among the teenagers. The message is completely diluted and the teenagers are
seemingly being encouraged to venture into pre-marital sex. These music videos uses
fast- paced visuals to grab the attention of the teenagers and young people. They use
sexual images of women dressed half naked; mostly in the Jamaican songs, and
dancing in movements that suggest sex through short, sharp and intensive shots to
encourage the viewer in this case the teenagers to watch closely and stay focus not to
miss any action and movements made when dancing. Kiss TV is the most Kenyan
popular TV network for young teenagers that depict music videos that presents sexual
images that are much more sexual oriented. MTV, a music television uses sexual
images of women through” short, sharp, shots of intense visual pleasure” to encourage
viewers to watch closely and stay focused so that they do not miss anything. They
further depicts women in violent scenes and show women giving ambiguous sexual
signals. Even when the lyrics are sexually inclined, visual images in such music
videos are usually sexual, thus promoting sexual content on the television
programmes (Sherman & Etling, 2001).

Television creates an illusion to the teenagers that sex is a central part of daily life
than it actually is thus promoting sexual initiation among the teenagers as a result of
imitating the content they consume from television programmes. According to Chapin
(2000), parents think that television has a large impact on adolescents’ sexual
behaviours and recognizes that many adolescents spend more time watching
television than they do with their parents. Teenagers undergo through adolescents
development stage with some of the developing processes being sexual maturation
and definition of sexual self -concept (Haffner, 1998). During this stage, individuals
begin to consider which sexual behaviours are enjoyable, moral and appropriate to
their age group. It is during this stage that they start initiating into sexual activities
and become sexually active (Haffner 1997). About half of teenage boys and girls in

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secondary schools in Nairobi have already initiated sexual activities (Kabiru & Orpina
2009).

Heavy viewership of soap operas among the teenagers tends to overestimate the
prevalence of sexual activities in real life. Teenagers therefore tends to imitate and
model what they consume from television programmes because it presents sex as a
glamorous activity that is free from risk. Teenagers also identifies themselves with
TV characters whom they view as beautiful and powerful. Infact, TV appears to
create an impression that “everyone is doing it” (Ward 2003).

Today, TV creates an illusion that sex is more central to daily life than it truly is, thus
promoting sexual initiation and behaviour change among the teenagers. Frequent
viewing of sexually oriented programmes such as soap operas and television music
videos has greatly led to sexual initiation and change of sexual behaviours since the
sexual content they consume can have both immediate and long term effects. Some of
the sexual behaviours depicted from these programmes include verbal expressions,
erotic touches, sexual.

The Standard February 13, 2016 Saturday newspapers discussed a topic similar to my
study by the title “watching TV with your children delays initiation to sex.” Dr,
Sammy Baya noted that from television viewing, young viewers absorb values that
encourage early sex debuts. He argues that watching television with your teens and
adolescents opens up communication lines to issues and concerns they may have on
sexual matters. The researcher also found out that restricting TV viewing entirely
could increase the attractiveness of sexual content and thus teens and adolescents
would venture beyond out of curiosity. This study will therefore determine the effects
that sexual television content have increasingly led to change of teenager’s sexual
behaviours and sexual initiation.

1.2.1 Kibera Slums

Kibera slum is located in Nairobi, Kenya. It one of the biggest and the poorest African
slum with a population of around one million.

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Kibera Facts, Location, Map

The Kenyan Government has attempted to help Kibera residents with little success.
There are no title deeds, no sewage lines, no running water, no proper roads, no
government schools and hospitals and very little government services. The locals
often illegally tap electricity and any attempt to lay water pipes is met with
disapproval and uprooting of the infrastructure including the railway line. The few
brand new houses that the government built for the slum dwellers in a neighboring
land were quickly rented out to outsiders and the new owners went back to live in the
slum and wait for the monthly rent. Most houses here are wooden shacks with a mud
floor and a tin roof - no toilets or running water. The Kibera slum gets its daily water
needs in jerrycans sold by by private dealers. They lay their own hosepipes in the
mud, and charge exorbitantly for the commodity from the several distribution points
they have set up. Shared bathrooms are provided by local entrepreneurs at a cost.
Those unable to pay often use polythene bags in what is widely known as the "Kibera
Flying Toilets."

The available schools have been started mostly by NGO’s and the hospitals and
clinics are either NGO or private. The schools in this Nairobi slum will usually have
mud/dirt floors, grey mud walls and old school wooden pews. The classes may be the
size of your lounge and have as many as 30 kids and no adequate books, pens, pencils
or other writing materials. The inhabitants of Kibera live on less than two dollars a
day. Often they do not have enough money to pay the school fees or buy food and
medicine. There is a high rate of HIV and AIDS. Aids prevention and Sexual Health
education for Street children and slum children is desperately needed in Nairobi slums
like Kibera. Volunteer opportunities available in Kibera include Children Orphanage
Volunteers Program, Medical and Health Volunteer Program and Volunteer in Kenya
Teaching Program.

1.3 Statement of the Problem

There has been a major concern over the influence that television sexual content have
on sexual initiation and teenager’s sexual behaviour. There are so many scenes sexual
behaviours depicted on the television programmes such as soap operas, music videos
and local programmes ranging from verbal expressions, dance movements, erotic
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touches such as holding the breast and things of ladies by men, kissing, masturbation,
homosexuality and incest. In Kenya it has been established that sexual activity among
the teenagers starts early with 42 percent of girls aged 15-19 years having had sexual
intercourse and 17 percent said to be sexually active ( CBS, 2004). These scenes and
message content has aroused the curiosity of teenagers to indulge into sexual activities
increasing the rate of pregnancies, impregnating, school drop outs and abortion
among the teenagers.

There is need for communication on the influence that television has on the teenagers’
sexual behaviour. Parents need to be communicated to that television is a very
powerful medium that influences teenagers to mould and alter their sexual behaviours
as a result of consuming sexual content programmes. Many scientists argues that the
reason we think that television is an important source of sexual information for
teenagers is because parents have been known to provide little information and school
tend to focus much on biological approaches with little attention to romance and
interpersonal relationships (Strasburger,1993). Therefore parents need to educate their
children on sex skills as well as control the amount of information that teenagers
should consume from the television. Schools should also introduce sex skills subjects
in their curriculum so as to enlighten teenagers on sex thus reducing the cases of
school drop outs, pregnancies and abortions among the students.

1.4 Objectives of the Study.

1.4.1 General Objectives
The aim of this study is to assess the influence of television sexual content on
teenagers in Kenya with reference to Kibera Slums.

1.4.2 Specific Objective.

i. To determine how television influences sexual behavior of teenagers in slums
areas.
ii. To investigate why teenagers are easily influenced by the televisions sexual
content in slums areas.
iii. To determine how technology influences sexual behavior of teenagers in
slums areas.
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 iv. To determine the impact of television has in shaping teenagers sexual
behaviors in slums areas.

1.5 Research Questions

i. To what extent does television influence sexual behavior of teenagers in slums
areas in Kenya?
ii. To what extent does a teenager get easily influenced by the televisions sexual
content in slums areas in Kenya?

iii. How does technology influence sexual behavior of teenagers in slums areas in
Kenya?

iv. What is the impact of television has in shaping teenagers sexual behaviors in
slums areas in Kenya?

1.6 Scope of the Study

My area of study will be conducted in Kibera slum in Nairobi County. Kibera slum
was purposively selected to represent the low income settlements in Nairobi County
with people from different background. The slum is highly characterized to have a
large population of about 60% of Nairobi County. According to consumer insight
(2006) report, TV has more viewership ratings and coverage in urban areas, with
Nairobi having the highest viewership. Early sexual initiation, teenage pregnancies
and HIV/AIDS epidemics continues to pose significant challenges to people living in
low income settlement. NACC (2010)

The study will look at how television sexual content has led to increase of population
in Kibera slum being brought about by increased premarital sex among the teenagers
due to high consumptions of sexual content in televisions programmes

1.7 Significance of the Study

1.7.1 To the Society
This research study will be of help to the target society. It will be of help to the
society to capture the influence of television sexual content in order to place it
strategically to know the contribution of society towards morale goals.

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1.7.2 Other Slums
The research study will give other slums better sight into the influence of television
sexual content and will help them formulate policies which will remedy this, giving a
competitive edge over other competitors who do not understand what affect their
influence of television sexual content.

1.7.4 Future Researchers

Future researchers will benefit from the use of the results from the study. The study
will act as a reference point for future studies on same or similar subtract. Acting as a
reference, it may also stimulate the interest among academicians and thereby
encourage further researchers about the problems and solutions and hence leading to
reduce human resource challenges.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

1.8.1 Confidentiality
Some of the information requires to make the study more successful happen to be very
confidential due to the fact that such information could easily leek to the company’s
competitors. The researcher overcomes this limitation by clearly explaining the purpose
of the study and how it will be going to be beneficial to them. Confidentiality of the
information obtained will be also emphasized.

1.8.2 Lack of Cooperation

Some respondents will be reluctant to give information or they will be simply not
interested in sharing out their views concerning the subject matter of the research
hence pausing a lot of information. By convincing the respondents that the research
work will be very important to the researcher, the researcher will be able to overcome
this obstacle.

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 CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
This chapter presents a review of related literature and various concepts on the subject
under study presented by various researchers, scholars, analysts, theorists and authors.
It has enabled the researcher to gain knowledge from previous research and come up
with other useful information to strengthen the study.

2.2 Empirical Review

2.2.1 Cultivation theory
Cultivation theory was developed to explain the effect of television viewing on
people’s perceptions, attitudes, and values. The theory was put forward by Gerbner,
Gross, Morgan, and Signorielli, 1980. The theory hypothesizes that the more the
television an individual consumes, the more likely that person is to view and believe
that the real world is similar to what they have seen on the television.

Gerbner and his colleagues starts with the argument that television has become the
central cultural arm of American society. The average viewer watches television four
hours a day. The heavy viewer watches even more. The Gerbner team argues that for
heavy viewers, television virtually monopolizes and subsumes other sources of
information, ideas, and consciousness. The effect of all this exposure to the same
messages produces cultivation. Television could be having important but unnoticeable
effect on society. The original research supporting cultivation theory is based on
comparison of heavy and light television viewers. The heavy television viewer often
give answers that are closer to the way the world is portrayed on the television and are
more susceptible to media messages and the belief that they are real and valid. Heavy
viewers are exposed to more sexual content and scenes and therefore drastic change
of their sexual behaviours. Heavy viewers of television are thought to be cultivating
attitudes that seem to believe that the world created by television is an accurate
depiction of the real world.

(Gerbner and Gross, 1976; Gerbner, Gross, Morgan and Signorielli, 1944; Morgan
and Shanahan, 1996), suggest that frequent viewing of television portrayals lead
viewers to cultivate television information by integrating it into their real world
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perceptions and judgements, and that this cultivation of the television point of view
occurs relatively more for those who watch more television. (Shrum 1999)

The cultivation theory (Gerbner, Gross, and Signorielli, 1994), asserts that television
images and portrayals construct a specific portrait of reality and the more the viewer
watches television, they gradually cultivate behaviours and attitudes about the world.
Therefore, sexual content on television will change the sexual behaviour of the
teenagers where they will start to experiment and practice what they are watching.

Cultivation theory (Singnorielli and Morgan 1990) predicts that mass media conveys
images of socially normative behaviour and that children absorb impression and
assumptions about who, when, how, often under what circumstances sexual
intercourse can occur. The theory suggest that television is responsible for shaping or
cultivating viewers’ concepts of social reality. Therefore teenagers who are exposed
to excessive sexual content on television programming are likely to see the world
through a sexual lens.

2.3.2 Social Learning Theory

Social learning theory is a fundamental theory that guided this research. Developed by
Albert Bandura (1977), this social scientific theory posit that humans can learn
vicariously through observation of actions by “influential others” and associated
results of those actions (either reward or punishment) without the need to experience
those actions and results.

Albert Bandura’s theory social learning theory (Bandura 1977, 1994), suggests that
much learning takes place through observing the behaviours of others. This theory has
been particularly valuable in analysing the possible effects of television violence, but
it’s also a general theory of learning that can be applied to other areas of mass media
effects.

This theory predictsthat people will imitate behaviours of others when those models
are rewarded or not punished for their behaviour. Modelling will occur more readily
when the model is perceived as attractive and similar and the modelled behaviour is
possible, salient, simple, prevalent and has functional value (Bandura, 2001).

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Bandura’s theory provides ample evidence that when children and adults have not
actually performed a behaviour, they can learn by imitation (Bandura, 2001). Bandura
identifies three main processes that are involved in learning as; direct experience,
modelling and storing, and procession of information through cognitive operations.
This theory suggests that behaviours are learned and influenced by social context with
television seen as an increasingly influential agent.

Social learning theory recognizes that much of human learning takes place through
watching other people’s model various behaviours and modelling the behaviour. This
is clearly shown on televisions where young teenagers will tend to practice what they
watch. Many of the effect of the mass media may take place through the process of
learning.

Bandura predicts that teenagers will imitate or model what they see on television
when those television personalities or characters are rewarded or not punished for
their behaviours and are perceived as attractive. For instance in soap operas, teenagers
will imitate those characters if they see that the character ends up getting married to
the other characters since to them the marriage is the reward, thus influencing
teenagers to indulge into sexual activities as well as changing their sexual
behaviours.Modelling will occur more readily when the model is perceived as
attractive and similar, and the modelled behaviour is possible, simple, and prevalent
and has functional value (Bandura 1994). Thus, the theory predicts that people who
attend to media content that includes depictions of attractive characters who enjoy
having sexual intercourse and rarely suffer any negative consequences will be likely
to imitate the behaviour.

2.3 Definitions of the key concepts.

Sexual behaviour: A psycho-physiological experience influenced by the brain and
spinal cord. It is affected by psychosexual development, psychological attitudes
towards sexuality and attitudes towards one’s sexual partner (Sadock, 2007).

Sexual content: In this study Sexual content is defined to include sexual health
content such as sex education, contraceptive issues as well as romantic kissing,

10
petting, and any form of intercourse (actual or implied). Implied sex could include
such things as cars rocking and sexual noises as long as the sexual nature was clear. It
will not include situations where there is no clear verbal or visual reference to sex
(e.g, a couple leaving a bedroom without cues to imply sexual interaction).In this
study, sexual content is defined as any depiction of sexual activity, sexually
suggestive behaviour or talk about sex, sexual risks or responsibility ,sexual health, or
sexuality (Ward,2003).

Cultivation – from Gerbner (1980), the teaching of a common worldview common

roles and common values. Cultivation is concerned with the cumulative patterns
communicated by television over a long period of exposure rather than any particular
content or specific effect.

According to Shanahan (1997), cultivation is a method for gauging the impact of

television viewing on beliefs, behaviour and attitudes.

Cultivation theory – a theory suggesting that long term televisions viewing has effect
on people’s perception, attitude and values.

Cultivation theory explains that how people’s conception of social reality are
influenced according to exposure to television. “The cultivation hypothesis states that
the more television people watches, the more likely they are to hold a view of reality
that is closer to television’s depiction of reality. This is characterized by the work of
George Gerbner and his colleagues (Gerbner 1979), (Zaharopoulos, 2001).

Social learning theory – Bandura (1977, 1994), a theory suggesting that much
learning takes place through observing others behaviour and imitating the action of
others. The theory explains how people learn new behaviours, values, and attitudes. It
requires attention to the person(s) observed, remembering the observed behaviour, the
ability to reciprocate the behaviour, and a motivational act.

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2.4 Situating the study within the field.

The study is situated within the field of communication and journalism. Television is
a powerful medium of communication which can easily influence its consumer to
change their behaviours, attitudes, perception as well as values. Despite it being an
influential tool, it can also be used for education, where according to Stern (2009),
television has become an important sex educator as it includes frequent discussions
and portrayals of sexual behaviours that affected the adolescents’ concept of sexual
behaviour. Television can also be used for entertainment, source of information as
well as relaxation.

In today’s scenario, television is said to play a major role in educating teenagers on

sex. This leads to sexual initiations and changing teenagers’ sexual behaviours and
attitudes toward sex. These behaviours includes fantasy, masturbation, making out,
kissing, holding of breasts sexual intercourse, lesbianism and gaysm all portrayed in
the television dramasmusic videos and movies which contain about 60 percent of
sexual content and scenes. Therefore, there is need to examine television
programming over time so as to understand the current world and consumers. Media
portrayal involving sexuality can contribute to sexual organization of young people,
thus it is important to understand the nature and the extent of sexual information that
is being conveyed by television (Kunkel, 1999).

2.5 Review of Critical Literature

The company sets the rules of conduct and enforces them to control and regulate the
conduct of people to protect their property and contractual rights with an access to
security justice. Policy is a standing plan that establishes general guidelines for
decision making. It sets boundaries around decisions including those that can be made
and eliminating those that cannot. The policies are made to ensure that a level playing
field so that there is no unfairness in exploitation or use of resources. However the
author has failed to show us how organizational policy affects employee retention in
parastatals in Kenya. Due to this reason the study will be conducted to find out the
extent to which it affects the employee retention in parastatals.
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According to Pigots and Myers (2000) employee competence as an enhancement of
knowledge which acts not only as motivator to the employee but also an opportunity
or a better job that has more responsibilities and authority with good involvement. It’s
purposes in the work place is to develop the individual and to satisfy the current and
future manpower needs of the organization employee competence help in staff
motivation, it improves individual, team and corporate performance in terms of
output, quality, speed and overall productivity. Whereas this is true the author failed
to show us how employee competence affects employee retention in parastatals in
Kenya. This study intended to find out how employee competence affects employee
retention in parastatals.

Motivation has been defined as the psychological process that gives behavior purpose
and direction. Kreitner, (1995) states that predisposition to behave in a purposive
manner to achieve specific, unmet needs; an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied
need and the will to achieve, for this research, motivation is operationally defined as
the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational
goals. He says that at one time, employees will be considered just another input into
the production of goods and services. Although this is true, the author did not show us
how motivation affects employee retention in parastatals in Kenya. This problem
created the need for study to be conducted to fill the gaps left.

According to Gitman (2006), finance is the art and science of managing money.
Finance is concerned with the process institutions, market and instructions involved in
the transfer of money among individuals, business and governments. Finance is
concerned with the process institutions, market and instructions involved in the
transfer of money among individuals, business and governments. Whereas this is true,
the author failed to show us how finance affects employee retention in parastatals in
Kenya. This study intended to find out how employee competence affects employee
retention in parastatals.

According to Gupta (2007) job security is the probability that an individual will keep
his or her job; a job with a high level of job security is such that a person with the job
13
would have a small chance of becoming unemployed. Factors affecting job security is
dependent on economy, prevailing business conditions, and the individual's personal
skills. It has been found that people have more job security in times of economic
expansion and less in times of a recession. Although this is true, the author did not
show us how job security affects employee retention in parastatals in Kenya. This
problem created the need for study to be conducted to fill the gaps left.

2.6 Review of relevant previous studies.

A study by Rosenthal & Smith (1997) was conducted with 522 Australian teens asked
about the behaviour they felt were appropriate to certain ages. The findings were,
most of the students said they felt that 15 to 17 years age was appropriate for boys and
girls to begin kissing and kissing with tongue between the age of 12 and 14. Others
said they felt that 15 to 17 years of age was appropriate age to begin sexual
behaviours. Researchers established the more sexually explicit the behaviour, the
lower the percentage of the participant that found it appropriate for the 15 to 17 year
old. However the majority of the sample said they felt 15 to 17 was appropriate time
to begin having sexual intercourse (Rosenthal &Smith, 1997).

Analyses of broadcast media content in America indicate that, on average, adolescent

viewers watch (Anderson, 2004; Arnett, 1995; Ward & Friedman, 2006) incidents of
sexual behaviour on network television at the most important times each week, with
portrayals of three to four times as many sexual activities occurring between
unmarried partners as between spouse. As much as 80% of all movies shown on
television stations have sexual content (Brown & Newcomer, 1991; Calfin, Carroll &
Schmidt, 1993; Chunovic, 2000; Donnerstein & Smith, 2001; Durham, 1999,
Flowers-Coulson, Kushner & bankowski, 2000; Strong & DeVault, 1994).

According to Onyiengo (2014), youths in Kenya are increasingly accessing television

which has become more saturated with sexual content. The content rarely includes
messages on safe sex or consequences of engaging in premarital sexual behaviour.
This exposure may influence the behaviour and attitudes of the youths negatively,
thus making them to engage in premarital sexual behaviours that may lead to
unwanted pregnancies, abortions, HIV/AIDS among other factors.In Kenya, it has

14
been established that sexual activities start early, that 42 percent of girls aged 15-19
years having had sexual intercourse and 17 percentage being sexually active. The
median age in Kenya for the first sexual intercourse rose from 16.8 percent in 1998 to
17.8 percent in 2003. (CBS, 2004).In 2001, a study conducted in Kisumu established
that by 14.5 years of age, a quarter of the boys and girls had already experienced sex
while at 17 years.

According to Gakahu 2010, Kenyan songs played in the television portrayed skewed
relationship between clear messages about safe sex and sex for sex sake. The
language used in these songs leaves a thin line between the aspect of safe sex and sex
for the sake of sex. For instance in “Juala” song, despites the fact that the artist is
promoting the use of contraceptives, he is also encouraging casual sex (Gakahu,
2010). Artists commercializes sex and give go-ahead to its audiences to casual and
premarital sex. Other song include “John nampenda John,” “wee kamu,” “Kamata
dame” “Nyundo yangu” among others simply describe sex. In the song “Wee kamu,”
the artist uses graphic and sheng language, and glorifies promiscuity.

A study by Mugor (2004) among Kenyan youths in school has established that the
youth have conservative attitude toward sex. He also established that among post-
secondary youths in Kenya within Eldoret Municipality has found out that youths are
sexually active with 59 percent of them engage in unprotected sex. A study by Kiragu
(1996) also established that have conservative attitude towards sex.

Further study conducted by (Kamara 1996/1997) in Uasin Gishu county in Kenya had
similar findings with Murgor’s and Kiragu’s. According to the study, 51 percent of
the youth interviewed were sexual initiated before the age of twenty and about 65
percent indicated that they were currently having sexual intercourse with more than
one partner.A study conducted by Mutua and Nyangweso on sexual behaviour of
university students established that majority are sexually active and mobile but they
are ignorant of the consequences of their behaviours. Further study by Otinda (1988)
had similar findings with 60 percent of the students interviewed being sexually active.
Even though Murgor and Kirangu studies indicate that the youths have conservative
attitude towards sex, same studies reveals that the youths are highly active. The aim of
the current study is to establish whether exposure to sexual content and scenes on

15
television have influenced the teenagers towards sex and whether it has changed their
sexual behaviours.The previous studies also tend to concentrate much on the youth
attitude, therefore the current study concentrates on the teenagers’ sexual initiation
and sexual behaviours.Although the studies shows that television is a major
contributor to youths sexual attitudes, the current study shows the gap in knowledge
where it incorporates the aspect of sexual behaviour and sexual initiation on the
teenagers.

2.7 Rationale for the study based on literature review.

Having reviewed, I find this study relevant because it’s clear that most of researchers
identified and proved that television greatly influences the teenager and the youths to
changes sexual behaviours and attitudes. Few studies have examined television view
of sexual content on the teenager’s sexual behaviour and initiation in Kenya. It is
clear that most studies focused generally on television viewing influence on attitude.
However, this study specifically focuses more on change of sexual behaviour and
sexual initiation among the teenagers in Kenya. The study investigates the influence
TV sexual content have in shaping teenagers sexual behaviour.

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 CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter represents the research design, target population, description of the
instruments used for the data collection and data analysis procedure applied the
researcher.

3.2 Research method.

This research will employ survey method. Survey method is a field of applied
statistics where sampling of individual unit from a population and the associated
survey data collection techniques such as questionnaires. A study design is the
arrangement of condition for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to
combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure Kothari,
(2004). A descriptive research design will be used in this study since it will enable the
researcher to seek new ideas from the respondents and develop an insight to the
problems under study. Questionnaires as a method of collecting data will be used
whereby they will be issued out to the selected population.

3.3 Sampling.

3.3.1 Area of study.

The research area will be conducted in Kibera slum in Nairobi County, Kenya. Kibera
slum was purposively selected to represent the Nairobi population of urban teenagers
who are said to be active consumers of TV. According to consumer insight (2006)
reports that TV has more viewership rating and coverage in urban areas with Nairobi
having the highest viewership. The area is characterized to have a large population of
about 60% in Nairobi County with people from different cultural backgrounds.

It was also selected to represent low income settlement in Nairobi county with early
sexual initiation, teenage pregnancies and HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to pose
significant challenge to the people living in low income settlement (NACC, 2010 ).

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3.3.2 Target population.

Mugenda (2003), explains that a population is a group of individuals or objectives that

have the same form of characteristics. This study will therefore targets teenage
students both boys and girls from different public schools within Kibera slum in
Nairobi County. The students are believed to come from different demographic
backgrounds.

3.3.3 Sample population.

Sampling is a systematic process of selecting a number of individuals for a study to

represent a large group from which they are selected (Gay,2011). The study will
therefore sample 300 teenage boys and girls in Kibera using simple random sampling
technique where 30% of the 300 teenage students will be sampled from the schools.
This method will give every element of the population an equal chance of being
included in the sample. First, the study population will be divided into males and
females. Secondly, a simple random sample will be taken from each group while
ensuring that the sub-samples of both boys and girls are calculated proportionately to
their sizes in the population in each school.

3.4 Data Generation techniques and process.

3.4.1 Questionnaires.

Survey research method will be used to assess the influence that television sexual
content has on the teenagers. Close ended questionnaires will therefore be
administered to obtain data from the respondents, Campbell (1999) says the use of
questionnaires is useful in the collection of data on sensitive topics such as sexual
behavior. One of the advantage of using questionnaire is that they are easier to
analyses, easier to administer because each item is followed by alternative answers.

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Another advantage of questionnaires, according to Campbell (1999) they are
appropriates methods for obtaining data form literate study populations.

3.4.2 Focus group.

A focus group is a small group discussion focused on a particular topic and facilitated
by a researcher (Tonkiss, 2004). This is a special type of group in terms of its
purpose, size, composition, and procedures. A focus group is usually composed of 6-8
individuals who share certain characteristics, which are relevant for the study
(Morgan, 1997). Focus groups should usually be composed of homogenous members
of the target population, for instance, similar in age, education level, gender,
profession. In this study, two focus group discussions will be held in each school.
Each FGD will consist of eight students drawn purposively from eachclass, from
different schools in Kibera slum. Thus form one will produced 4 participants, and the
same case will be applied to form two, three and four. From each school, 16 students
will participate in the focus group discussions.

Issues to be covered in focus group discussions will include; what influences

teenagers to indulge into premarital sex, what are the sexual initiations traits portrayed
in televisions, whether television plays a major role in influencing the teenagers to
indulge into premarital sex, do they watch television with their parents, and how
many hours do they spend watching television on their own.

3.5 Data collection instruments

Primary data will be collected from the respondents using questionnaires. However,
secondary data will also be obtained from magazines, journals, periodicals and
internet to determine the influence of television content on sexual behaviours of
teenagers in Kibera slums.

3.6 Data Collection Procedure

The researcher obtained a research permit from the Ministry of Education after which
the permit was presented to the Nairobi Country Education Office and the Director of
Education, Nairobi County and the school head teachers. The questionnaires were

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then distributed to the respondents by the researcher at their respective schools. The
questionnaire was divided into two sections. The first section focused on personal and
professional aspects of the respondents while the other sections focused on the
research objectives. Feedback from the respondents will be collected after one week.
The responses from the duly filled questionnaires will be coded for analysis.

3.7 Validity and Reliability of the Research Instrument

Saunders et al., (2007) indicated that content validity is a measure of the

degree to which data collected using a particular instrument represents a
specific domain or content of a particular concept as intended. Lacity and
Jansen (1994) define validity as making common sense, and being persuasive
and seeming right to the reader while Cronbach, (1971), indicated that validity
refers to results that have the appearance of truth or reality. Reliability as
defined by Field (2004) is basically the ability of the questionnaire to produce
the same results under the same conditions. To be reliable, the questionnaire
must first be valid.

3.7.1 Validity of the Research Instrument

A pilot study was conducted to refine the research instrument so that results
obtained would be a true representation of the actual situation. To establish the
validity of the research instrument the researcher sought the opinions of
experts in the area of study especially the researcher’s supervisor and lecturers.

3.7.2 Reliability of the Research Instrument

The simplest statistical technique to test for reliability is the split-half method. This
method randomly splits the questionnaire items into two groups. A score for each
subject is then calculated based on each half of the scale. If a scale is very reliable a
respondent’s score will be the same on one half of the scale as the other, and so the
two halves should correlate perfectly (Kothari 2004). The correlation between the
two halves is the statistic computed in the split half method, large correlations being a
sign of reliability. The problem with this method is that there are a number of ways in

20
which a set of data can be split into two and so the results might be a result of the way
in which the data has been split. A solution to this problem was developed by
Cronbach and Meele (1955) who suggested that the data should be split into two in
every conceivable way and correlation coefficient computed for each split for each
split. The average of these values is known as Cronbach‟s alpha, which is the most
common measure of scale reliability.

3.8. Data Analysis

According to Shamoo and Resnik (2003) data analysis is the process of systematically
applying statistical and/or logical techniques to describe and illustrate, condense and
recap, and evaluate data. Data analysis involves goals; relationships; decision making;
and ideas, in addition to working with the actual data itself. Simply put, data analysis
includes ways of working with data to support the goals and plans of research. The
data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics where pie charts, graphs and tables
will be used so as show a clear and comprehensive picture in the relationship.

3.9 Ethical Considerations

Participants in the study will be informed about the purpose, procedure and benefits of
the study to ensure that none of the participants will be hurt during the study. The
sensitivity of the context of the study will be acknowledged; as a result, participant’s
reassurance of privacy and confidentiality of the information they will provide.
Participants will be informed that their participation will be voluntary and that they
have a right to refuse to answer any questions or even withdraw from the study at any
time once they feel they are not comfortable. Names of the respondents will not be
used during the study to ensure confidentiality and their privacy will be observed.
All individuals be allowed to ask for any clarification they may need from the
researcher.

3.10 Conclusion.

This chapter his focusing on how survey method will use to conduct the research.
Data will be generated using questionnaires to obtain sensitive data on sexual
behaviours from the respondents. Focused group discussion of between 6-8
respondents will be employed to generate data from the teenagers from various

21
different public schools in Kibera slum in Nairobi County. This chapter also ensured
that the researcher will follow the required ethical considerations in collecting data.

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