Bias
The research into the brainwashing potential of television viewing (Bolding, 2000; Klass, 2000; Sutphen, 2000) poses questions of bias that would be inherently enmeshed into the researcher's psyche (Marshall & Rossman, 1999). I have viewed television during my life and since the findings of my research supports the potential for brainwashing from watching TV I know that it will be impossible for me to know the difference between which biases that I have that are unique to me and which that have been formed from the very sources that I am researching (Bolding, 2000; Hunter, 1958; Klass, 2000). From that perspective I will add that brainwashing needs reinforcement to maintain its physiological hold on an individual (Hunter, 1958; Sutphen, 2000). I have not viewed television programming since the summer of 1992. To not view television was a conscious decision on my part. I have greatly restricted my movie viewing in theater and rented video. I state these facts in an attempt to show that I have been aware of and concerned about the possible effects of viewing television (Mander, 1978; Winn, 1985; Landay, 1995) for many years and may have the ability to question its effects with a less restricted mindset than others who view it on a daily basis (Sutphen, 2000). Another bias that I have and need to remain cognizant of while I continue in my research is that I am both a mother and a teacher. Being a mother holds a bias towards responsibility in what our children learn (Spock, 1998; Erikson, 1963), and being a teacher holds a sense of responsibility towards what our students learn (Knight, 1998). In following the constructivist and interprevitist paradigms, I will try to bracket my experiences before attempting to understand those of whom I study (Friere, 1993).
In Gloria Ladson-Billings' article titled Racialized Discourses and Ethnic Epistemologies, she cites Shujja (1997) as saying that worldviews and systems of knowledge are symbiotic in that one cannot view the world without the knowledge that one already processes having an influence on that view along with that knowledge having been influenced by one's worldview. The article goes on to say that the conditions under which we live and learn shape both our worldviews and our knowledge. (Shujja, 1997 as cited in Ladson-Billings). It takes active intellectual work on one's part to develop a worldview different from that, which is the dominant (Ladson-Billings). On this, I base my perceived differences with society, in reference to my un-acceptance of television as part of my daily life, which is the dominate worldview in this society, to my taking an active position in questioning television's role in our daily lives (Neilsen, 1999).