Methods

 Participants 

Participants in this study will be new military recruits of the five services, ranging in age from 17 to 28 years old.  

Apparatus

The study would use a 23-question survey as the primary instrument (see Appendix A).  The survey includes semantic differential questions, nominal data questions, and demographic questions asking age and education level.

The survey probes the recruit for the reasons why he or she joined the service, including family influence.  It also asks if he or she had seen any military-themed movies and what level of influence those movies had upon the recruit's decision to enlist. 

Procedure

Each recruit, upon taking the oath of service, usually either in the recruiter office or at the military entrance processing station, would complete the survey.  The retest would be administered at the first duty station of each member (upon completion of recruit training), ideally within the first four months of service.  Responses should be gathered from recruits from all five armed services. 

Design

This study is survey-research based.  A survey would be used to have participants identify the reasons they joined the armed services, specifically whether military-based movies influences participants' decisions to enlist. 

Analysis

The test-retest method would be used to ensure reliability in gathering the survey data.  The first test would be the initial administering of the survey at Day 1 of service.  The second test would be the second administering of the survey upon the recruits arrival at their first duty station (approx. four months after joining the service); the second test would include an additional survey question to account for additional influences: What military-oriented movies have you seen since you joined the military?

The data would be compared to ensure recruits still believed that military-themed movies had an influence upon their decision to join, if such a belief was previously present.  Descriptive statistics will be gathered from the surveys depicting which movies were viewed and whether the movies are an influencing factor in the enlistment decision-making process.