Measuring the Time Teens Spend with Media: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

This article considers the challenges researchers face in attempting to measure the amount of time teenagers spend with media. After reviewing the methods and measures that have been used in research incorporating “time spent with media” as a critical variable, it concludes that there is a lack of information about the reliability and validity of these measures and highlights the challenges that face researchers in this domain. In particular, there has been little comparison of the different self-report measures commonly used to capture media time. Moreover, little effort has been made to explore differences in media time use measures across the variety of media available today. Finally, we argue that teens are a unique audience for media and that their media use patterns may be distinct. To address these and other issues, data from 2 exploratory studies are presented. Study 1, a self-administered questionnaire with 191 youth ages 12 to 19, examines the correlation of an ordinal-level Frequency measure with a continuous Minutes per Week measure and finds important differences within and across the media used by teens. Study 2, a survey of 86 youth ages 12 to 18 conducted in a focus-group format, examines the correlation of responses to a cued-recall measure (a TV grid) and a media time use log (a diary in 30-min time blocks). Respondents’ reports of time spent with television from the TV grid were significantly greater than those from the time-use log. The article concludes with suggestions for future research needed to better understand teenagers’ time with media in the new media environment.