THE TELEVISION VIOLENCE PROFILE, BEGUN IN 1967 BY THE CULTURAL INDICATORS RESEARCH TEAM UNDER THE DIRECTION OF DR. GEORGE GERBNER AT THE ANNENBERG SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION (UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA), IS A REPORT ON DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE ON NETWORK TELEVISION. THE VIOLENCE PROFILE IN QUESTION IN THE SERIES OF ARTICLES IS NUMBER 8, REPORTING ON A SINGLE WEEK'S SAMPLE OF FALL 1976 TELEVISION NETWORK PROGRAMMING. THE TWO ASPECTS OF THE PROFILE DEALT WITH IN THE ARTICLES ARE THE VIOLENCE INDEX AND THE SO-CALLED RISK RATIOS (ALSO KNOWN AS THE VICTIMIZATION RATIOS AND THE VIOLENCE VICTIM RATIOS). THE CBS CRITIQUE ASSERTS THAT THE VIOLENCE INDEX IS AN ARBITRARILY WEIGHTED SET OF ARBITRARILY CHOSEN MEASURES OF VIOLENCE ON TELEVISION, THE MEANING OF WHICH IS UNCLEAR. AS THE VIOLENCE INDEX TAKES INTO ACCOUNT ALL TYPES OF DRAMATIC INCIDENTS (INCLUDING COMIC VIOLENCE, ACCIDENTS, AND NATURAL DISASTERS, WHICH THE CBS AUTHOR DOES NOT CONSIDER VIOLENT ACTS) AND OTHER MEASURES SUCH AS THE PROPORTION OF LEADING CHARACTERS ENGAGED IN VIOLENCE, THE PROPORTION OF PROGRAMS PER WEEK CONTAINING VIOLENCE, THE RATE OF VIOLENCE PER PROGRAM AND PER HOUR, AND THE PROPORTION OF ALL LEADING CHARACTERS INVOLVED IN KILLINGS, THE CBS REPORT CLAIMS THAT THE INDEX CANNOT BE USED AS A MEASURE OF THE TREND IN TELEVISED VIOLENCE OVER THE YEARS OR AS AN INDICATOR OF WHETHER THAT VIOLENCE IS INCREASING OR DECREASING. CRITICISM IS ALSO LEVELED AT THE PRACTICE OF TAKING 1-WEEK SAMPLES, WHICH CANNOT BE REPRESENTATIVE, AND AT THE COUNTING OF SOME SINGLE INCIDENTS AS MULTIPLE WHEN THE PARTICIPANTS CHANGED WITHIN AN INCIDENT. THE RISK RATIO IS OBTAINED BY NOTING, IN REFERENCE TO SPECIFIC POPULATION SUBGROUPS, THE NUMBER OF SUCH CHARACTERS IN 'PRINCIPAL ROLES' WHO ARE DEPICTED AS 'VIOLENTS' (AGGRESSORS) AND THE NUMBER WHO ARE DEPICTED AS VICTIMS, AND DIVIDING THE LARGER NUMBER BY THE SMALLER. IF VICTIMS EXCEED VIOLENTS, THE FIGURE IS PRECEDED BY A MINUS SIGN; IF VIOLENTS EXCEED VICTIMS, BY A PLUS SIGN. THE CBS AUTHOR MAINTAINS THAT THE RISK RATIO DOES NOT MEASURE RISK AS SUCH AND THAT MORE TELLING STATISTICS COULD BE OBTAINED BY DIVIDING THE NUMBER OF VICTIMS BY THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PERSONS IN THAT GROUP WHO ARE DEPICTED AT ALL. THIS SECOND, SIMPLER METHOD OFTEN REVEALS THAT GROUPS WITH HIGHER RISK RATIOS THAN OTHERS ARE IN FACT LESS OFTEN THAN OTHERS DEPICTED AS VICTIMS, BOTH NUMMERICALLY AND PROPORTIONATELY TO THEIR DEPICTION. FOR OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES, SEE NCJ 45416-45418.