I'm trying to make heads or tails of two different, equally crappy wire service reports about a new study linking teenagers' sexual behavior and HIV risk to musical taste. And not having much success.
Part of the problem is that the research seems to have found some music correlated with behavior (amount of sex and number of partners) and others correlated with risk (defined as inconsitent condom use), and the CanWest story plays up the former while the AFP version emphasizes the latter.
But confusion reigns throughout. For instance, did the survey involve "hundreds" of teens (AFP) or "46" (CanWest). And how were music fans divided up? Into two large groups or many small ones? The AFP story says that "A behavioral analysis divided participants into two musical groups: hip hop, reggae, reggaeton, rap and rhythm and blues; and rock, heavy metal, pop, techno, electronic and gospel." But it also says that "Researchers also distinguished between two styles of hip hop: the "bling, bling" hip hop that values fancy cars, money, and many girlfriends; and "real" hip hop that tells of urban youth stricken by violence, poverty and drug abuse." Why make such distinctions if it doesn't determine which group you put people in?
Also, it may be true that "Rock music is less likely to influence the lives of young people, added [lead researcher] Munoz-Laboy, probably because it is marketed in a less sexual manner," but does "rock music" in this case mean the omnibus grouping that also includes "pop," because I'd like to see you tell the Pussycat Dolls that pop isn't marketed in a sexual manner.
Also, why does the AFP version prominently include "gospel" music, while the CanWest one doesn't mention it at all. For that matter, gospel? I'd bet nearly anything that gospel actually means CCM, but that would be an important thing to know, given the completely different audiences for CCM and traditional gospel (are there any young men 16-21 who listen to traditional gospel?).
Naturally neither article links to the actual research, and I can't find it myself. If you come across it, let me know.
