Media and Its Role in the Transformation of the Algerian Rural Family An Applied Statistical Study Using a Descriptive-Analytical Approach

Abstract

This research investigates the contribution of media in influencing the change of the Algerian rural family according to four tightly connected dimensions: values and traditions, family interactions and relations, socialization habits, life and consumption behavior. The study relies on a descriptive-analytical  design in methodology,  using forty item scale. Data used for the statistically applied analysis were made up of a synthetic set of three hundred twenty answers, divided evenly among the rural municipalities as the following : Tighanimine, Tkout, Ghassira, and Kimmel in Batna Province according to the advice and guidance of the supervisor. The scale had good to high results in the internal consistency on the level of the five dimensions (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.851-0.895) and a high overall result for the whole scale,40 item scale (alpha = 0.959). The general level of media use was strongly related positively with the overall process of changing the family structure (r = .568, p < .001) and accounts for 32.2 % variance (R² = .322). The results didn’t register significant differences among individuals according to their gender or the specific municipality, contrary to their differences regarding the age of individuals, educational level, and intensity of the daily consumption of the media. The study suggests that media are, thus, a major constituent part of the complex group of contributing to the changing process of the family as part of changing of the society rural, but the degree of change differs as a function of differences of some characteristics and intensity of use.