Research 2: Sm(all) Change? – Report

Posted on: Friday 03 July 2015 6:16am by Tom Jordan

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Takeaway:

• Children tend to shift from glancing to watching as they move higher up the 0-6 age bracket, although the behavioural pattern can be complicated.
• Live TV is still hugely popular and influential in this age bracket
• Watching TV is an active pursuit
• Older preschool children have a need for strong narrative in programming
• TV can provide an opportunity for learning, but social interaction is still crucial
• ‘Fear’ is unpredictable.

Details:

Fiona Scott, postgraduate researcher from Sheffield University, presented her study into understanding and engaging a transitionary preschool television audience, looking at how engagement with TV and other media changes as a child rapidly develops.

The presentation focussed on the following areas:

• How do children change cognitively and socially between the ages of 0 and 6?
• How do these transitions relate to their television habits, choices, engagement and learning?
• What are the implications of this information?
• Headline findings of recently completed survey (1,200 UK parents) and insights from ongoing longitudinal qualitative fieldwork.

The qualitative case studies in the research also highlighted some ‘myth-busting’ statements:

• Myth 1: Watching TV is a sedentary activity (citing the example of a three-year-old child watching Balamory whilst seated on a bicycle).
• Myth 2: Watching TV is a solitary activity. A survey showed parents spend a lot of time watching with pre-schoolers, reducing slightly as they move up the age bracket.
• Myth 3: Young children can’t make reality judgements about advertising. The case studies showed how some children are demonstrably aware of the concept of adverts.