Another Quasi-Experimental Study of Understanding/Appreciation of Editorial Satire

Abstract

College students completed a 17-item scale measuring the “propensity to argue controversial topics” and 7 other nominal-scale independent variables. They then read three editorial satires and checked which of five statements was the intended thesis of each satire's author. They also rated each satire on interestingness and funniness. Analysis indicated dependence between understanding of satire and sex and regular readership of “The Far Side.”