[2] The Payne Fund Studies are still considered the most extensive evaluation of the role that motion pictures play on individuals in American society.
[3] These studies emerged due to an initial aim of developing a national policy in the United States regarding the regulation of motion pictures.
In post World War One America, educators and government officials were becoming increasingly concerned about the role that movies played on children's behaviour.
This meant that the final research aim was "to provide data for answering completely or in part of a wide range of separate queries relating to effects of motion pictures on the youth of America.
Reverend William H. Short, who was the Director of the Motion Picture Research Council, was the person who came up with the idea for the Payne Fund Studies.
[4] Blumer aimed to use qualitative measurements to investigate the effects of movies on the behaviour of children and adolescents, particularly looking at how films create "conceptions of the self" which challenge traditional influences from the home, family and community.
These studies did not conclusively prove that movies had a significant influence on children and adolescents, but did demonstrate how they have the capacity to socialise and educate.