Media construction of HIV
Abstract
Many of the challenges experienced by people living with HIV relate to biases, stigma, and conceptualization of HIV, rather than to the scientific realities of the virus itself or the medical impacts of living with the virus. This study uses the loosely defined theory of Media Construction of Social reality, described by Fengmin Yan as a process involving gatekeeping and framing. The Null Hypothesis is that media sources do not influence dependent variables and do not differ from the those who receive information from friends or family members living with HIV, is not supported. Receiving information from Friends or Family Members living with HIV is negatively correlated with HIV knowledge (r=-.177, p [less than] 0.001) and not significantly correlated with knowledge of HIV (r=-.089, p=0.055). HIV Knowledge and HIV Stigma appear to be statistically unrelated (r=0.027, p=0.576).
Degree
M.A.