Erica Scharrer
My research interests involve the study of media content, opinions of media, media effects, and media literacy, particularly regarding gender and/or aggression. I am also quite interested in the role of media in the lives of children and adolescents, and I study young people's responses to media literacy education.
My recent articles have appeared in International Journal of Communication, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, and Communication Review. My most recent book is titled, Quantitative Research Methods in Communication: The Power of Numbers for Social Justice (2021), and is co-authored with Srividya Ramasubramanian.
PhD, Syracuse University
Undergraduate: Social Impact of Media; Children, Teens, and Media; Media Violence. Graduate: Quantitative Methods; Media Literacy; Media Effects, Content Analysis
with co-authors Alina Durrani, Nora Suren, Yena Kang, Yuxi Zhou, and Emma Butterworth. "Early adolescents’ views of gender on YouTube in the context of a critical media literacy program." Communication Review. doi: 10.1080/10714421.2023.2167911. 2023.
with co-authors Srividya Ramasubramanian and Omotayo Banjo. "Media, diversity, and representation in the U.S.: A review of the quantitative research literature on content and effects." Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2022.2138890. 2022.
with co-author Stephen Warren. "Adolescents’ modern media use and beliefs about masculine gender roles and norms." Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/10776990211035453. 2022.
with co-authors Yuxi Zhou, Yena Kang, Alina Durrani, Nora Suren, and Emma Butterworth. "Tough guys and trucks: Early adolescents’ critical analysis of masculinity in a TV commercial." International Journal of Communication. 2022.
"Media violence: Complex relationships between young people and texts." In D. Lemish (Ed.), The Routledge international handbook of children, adolescents, and media, 2nd ed. Oxford, UK: Routledge. 2022.
with co-author Yuxi Zhou. "A qualitative study of early adolescents’ critical thinking about the content and consequences of media violence." Journal of Media Literacy Education. https://doi.org/10.23860/JMLE-2021-13-3-8. 2021.
with co-authors Stephen Warren, Eean Grimshaw, Gichui Kamau, Sarah Cho, Menno Reijven, and Congcong Zhang. "Disparaged dads? A content analysis of depictions of fathers in U.S. sitcoms over time." Psychology of Popular Media. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000289. 2021.
with co-authors Stephen Warren, Christine Olson, and Porntip Twishime. Scharrer, E., "Early adolescents’ views of media ratings in the context of a media literacy program in the United States." Journal of Children and Media. doi:10.1080/17482798.2020.1711788. 2020.
Current work includes a study of adolescents' responses to news of school shootings and analyses of adolescents' views of gender in toy marketing and other forms of media. Also working on an edited book titled Children, Media, and Technology: Access, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.