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The findings provide a detailed description of the media technologies present in households with young children. These data also provide an initial description of specific aspects of children and caregivers’ media use, including time allocation, content preference, and functions served.

Background and Objective:

The study serves as a benchmark against which change over time can be measured.

Design and Methodology:

The survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of primary caregivers of children between ages two and eight. A total of 1601 caregivers were surveyed. The sampling design included stratification by gender and age of child, such that equal numbers of caregivers of children of each age and gender combination are represented in the sample (N=114).3

A split sample design was utilized in order to cover more material that could be included in a single survey. In this design, approximately half of the questions were asked of the full sample (N=1601). For the remaining half of the questions, half of the sample (N=800) was asked an extensive battery of questions about their child’s media behaviors.

Findings:

The findings of this study provide a robust description of media and media technology in the lives of young children and their caregivers. Certainly these results confirm our collective sense that media is increasingly integral to family and personal life.

Strategic Solution:

Media technologies are increasingly available as means to actively engage children in early literacy learning. We now need to track their presence, uses, and significance for families, as well as learn how to integrate media and its technologies as learning tools that actively engage children and their caregivers.

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