Over the course on the next few weeks, I am going to conduct a little experiment: is there a discrepancy between how much certain demographics are represented in the media? And which ones are overly represented and which ones are under represented?

So how am I going to do this:

Well, over the course on 2 weeks, I will be data collecting. I will be watching TV and counting the people I see and sort them into demographic categories. From these counts, I want to see which groups get more/less representation.

The demographics are this:

• White

• Black

• Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)

• Hispanic

• Indian (from India, it is a big country)

• Other

• All split be M/F

There will be a weighted scoring system as well. The way I will be scoring this is as follows:

• 4 points = primary person on TV. Either a host or lead on a show

• 2 points = secondary person on TV. This is a sidekick, wacky neighbor, or media guest pundit

• 1 point = background person. This has to be a speaking part, but appears only briefly

Shows that qualify:

• Sitcoms/dramas made since 2010

• News shows

• Sports- but NOT the athletes. Only the commentators (2 points apiece)

• Only American shows

The points will be tallied, divided by the total points possible, and that percentage will be tested vs the entire US population’s demographic percentage via a t-test of proportions.

This is scientific? Hell no……ish. I mean my sample shows are heavily biased (I mean they are going to be the shows I want to see), and the scoring system is a bit rudimentary. But c’mon, this is not going to be published. I mean I have a life outside this blog, and it actually pays me well. But it will be honest, concise, and better than your experiment!!!

Anyway, I’m interest in what my finding will be. Hope you are as well.