The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Age Zero to Eight in America, A Common Sense Media Research Study, [United States], 2013, 2017 (ICPSR 37491)

Version Date: May 3, 2021

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Principal Investigator(s):
Vicky Rideout, VJR Consulting

Series:

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37491.v2

Version V2 ()

  • V2 [2021-05-03]
  • V1 [2019-12-19] unpublished
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Summary

The purpose of the Common Sense Census is to gather reliable data about media use of young American children (ages 0-8), and document how children's media environments and behaviors change over time. This data was gathered from large-scale, nationally representative, probability-based online surveys taken in 2013 and 2017. Parents of children ages 0 to 8 answered questions about the activities or content their children enjoy (e.g., watching videos, reading), their home media environment (e.g., which devices they have), attitudes towards their children's media and media use, and awareness of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations. Demographic information includes the child's age, household income, parent education, race/ethnicity, gender, household size, and parent/caregiver employment status.

Citation

Rideout, Vicky. The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Age Zero to Eight in America, A Common Sense Media Research Study, [United States], 2013, 2017. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-05-03. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37491.v2

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Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

State

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2013, 2017

Date of Collection

2013-05-21 -- 2013-06-13, 2017-01-20 -- 2017-02-10

Data Collection Notes

  1. For additional information on the Common Sense Census, please visit the Common Sense Media website.
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Study Purpose

The purpose of this study was to gather reliable data about children's media use, including which platforms they are using, the activities or content they are engaging in, and how media use varies by age, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Study Design

These web-based surveys used a probability-based online panel to represent the United States. Respondents were randomly recruited using address-based sampling and random digital dial telephone surveys. The survey questionnaire was offered in English and Spanish.

Sample

Data was collected from a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey of parents (N = 1,463 (2013); N = 1,454 (2017)) of children ages 8 and under, including an over-sample of Black and Hispanic/Latinx parents. The study used a probability-based online panel design to be representative of the United States. Members of the panel were randomly recruited to participate using address-based sampling and random-digit-dial telephone surveys. Households that were not already online were provided with notebook computers and dial-up Internet access for the purpose of participating. The survey questionnaire was offered in English and Spanish.

Time Method

Cross-sectional

Universe

Parents of children who are between the ages of 0 to 8.

Unit(s) of Observation

Individual

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

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Original Release Date

2019-12-19

Version History

2021-05-03 This study was updated to include two datasets. Data from the 2017 Common Sense Census was added as a second dataset (DS0002 "2017 Data") to accompany the existing data (DS0001 "2013 Data"). Metadata was revised to include information that reflects both datasets. This mainly applied to the following sections: subject terms, study time period and collection dates, summary, and sampling.

2019-12-19 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
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Weight

Each data file contains two weight variables: WEIGHT1 (sample weights for all qualified respondents), and WEIGHT2 (sample weights for all qualified respondents per race group).

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Notes