Abstract :
An in-depth investigation of the relationship between media effectiveness,
essentiality, and amount of study was presented. Overall, effectiveness explains
48% of the variation in the amount of study. Students who found the media
more effective studied the media more. Those media that were more effective
were studied more. The relationship between effectiveness and amount of study
is different for each medium. This is because media differ in their degree of
‘essentiality-versus-optionality’. Thus, the amount of study depends on a
combination of effectiveness and essentiality. The relationship between
effectiveness, essentiality, and amount of study is different for each student.
This is because students differ in their ‘sensitivities’—their sensitivity to
effectiveness and to essentiality. The final equation used effectiveness,
essentiality, and sensitivity to explain 74% of the variation in the amount of
study. The analysis was informed by a mathematical model.
