School Age Children The Effect of Technology

The Effect of Screentime on Social Emotional Wellbeing in Children

Table of Contents

Introduction 2

Research Design 2

Sampling Strategy 3

Research Ethics 3

Data Collection 5

Research Bias and Rigor of Study Design 5

Data Analysis 6

References 7

Appendix 9

The Effect of Screentime on Social Emotional Wellbeing in Children

Introduction

Screen time is mostly associated with negative consequences, especially for children. Screen time is related to using smartphones, tablets, laptops, electronic games, and television (Twenge & Campbell, 2018). With one hour of daily use, children of age 2 to 17 years show signs of low psychological well-being, greater anxiety, and low focus that contribute to the inability to finish certain daily tasks (Twenge & Campbell, 2018). The research explores screen time’s effects on school-aged children’s social and emotional well-being. A certain age bracket is identified to simplify the research objectives. Parents’ perceptions are to be investigated in this qualitative study after formulating research questions.

Research Design

A qualitative research design would be valuable for the current study since an in-depth analysis would be obtained with the opinions and experiences of the research respondents. The reason for selecting qualitative research design is that they would help gain original thoughts and perceptions of parents of children exposed to screen time daily and what effects they see in their children regarding their social and emotional well-being. The respondents would expect a better response rate as they would be face-to-face, and quick replies would be obtained compared to questionnaires or surveys. The selected research instrument is interviewing as the transferability of the interview findings, which would be in the form of viewpoints generated by the parents, would be transferred into the generalization of the larger target population.

Sampling Strategy

The sample for this research would include parents whose children go to school. The parents of children aged 5 to 10 years are deemed suitable to be selected as participants for the interviews. The reason for selecting this sample is that parents are close to their children as they mostly use mobile phones at home for playing games or watching videos (Radesky et al., 2020). Parents of children aged 5 to 10 years are deemed appropriate for the school-going age bracket as this age group has been highlighted the most in previous studies like Twenge & Campbell (2018). Their social and emotional health depends on how they interact with each other and gain logical development for enhanced problem-solving (Healthwise, 2021). Hence, their parents would be a good source to identify whether screen time affects them positively or negatively.

The sample size selection would ensure that gaining valid results is ensured. The first stage of gaining validity is gaining a maximum response rate of 70% or at least near 70% (Holtom et al., 2022). Simple random sampling would be used to select the parents as participants in the interviews so that every participant gets an equal chance to give his or her opinions without discrimination of gender, race, class, grades, etc. (Bhardwaj, 2019). However, grades would be restricted to children from 5 to 10 years of age, from Kindergarten to grade 5.

Research Ethics

Based on the definition generated by federal regulations, minimal risk is the scale of harm or uneasiness anticipated for the research respondents. It should not be greater than ordinary life experiences, whether physical or psychological (FDA, 2014). Current research involves no such risks as it is a simple interview session to ask for their perceptions of their children and the expression of views qualitatively.

Research ethics surely apply to the current study as informed consent and voluntary participation are the two highlighted characteristics (Grant, 2021; Xu et al., 2020). A consensus needs to be gained from the interview respondents before they agree to fill out the forms. For conducting interviews, emails would be sent to the selected participants to gain their consent and an invitation. There would be a separate box at the beginning of the mail that would include a detailed description of the research, its purpose and objectives, and why the participation of the parents is valuable. Also, it would be ensured that their name and email addresses would not be shared with any third party since it is not the aim of the research but only to attain their perceptions on the research topic and its pertinent questions. An example of an online informed letter of consent that would be sent in the email is attached in the appendix.

Participants can withdraw at any time, and there would be no enforcement to fill out the forms. However, establishing their association with the research and how it would benefit them might instigate a higher response rate and prevent no-response bias (Booker, Auston & Balasubramanian, 2021). Gaining more reliability with a surety that the selected sample participants consent to the interviews is necessary for generalizing the results to the target population. The effects of screen time on children’s social and emotional well-being could only be gauged when accurate data collection with the least or no-response bias is carried out to get the desired results (Booker, Auston & Balasubramanian, 2021). Moreover, the reduction of conflict of interest would be certified by matching participants’ interests (the need to know the effects of screen time on children’s social and emotional well-being) with those of the current research (Romain, 2015). As the study finalizes the effects, future recommendations for instigating more natural play rather than screen time would be outlined to help parents, as well as teachers at school who use gadgets for study purposes, could be presented for stimulating the natural creativity of children.

Data Collection

The participants would be required to participate in interviews scheduled after gaining their consent through emails. Greater depth of the issue could be obtained with a closer look at their body language and facial expressions. It would help understand how comfortable they are in explaining the concerns in detail and whether they are holding back any information. If so, they would be asked another restated question to support them in explaining the matter in detail (Alamri, 2019). Data enrichment is gained easily with the flexibility that interviews provide.

The interviews’ subjective nature helps the respondents elaborate on their answers. Even if the respondent does not completely understand the question, the researcher can modify and change its wording to simplify it. The participant can then make it easier to understand or think about a better answer to suit the needs of the question. The prompt changing of the question and re-phrasing it for better interpretation of the participants and changing the answer to appropriately answer the researcher’s question keeps the process smooth so that accurate data is obtained.

Research Bias and Rigor of Study Design

As an education student, I feel connected with this research as I want to know how screen time could impact young children’s social and emotional development and whether the development would be positive or negative. With the rising need of modern times, gadgets have increased, and so has screen time for everyone. Children are particularly interested as classroom activities infuse tablets for educational purposes these days. With the help of parents, screen time could be restricted, and their information would help identify how much children use screens at home. With the recommended screen time of less than one hour daily, the educators like me could design curricula and daily class activities with certain time limits for tablets (Canadian Pediatric Society & Digital Health Task Force, 2019).

Reliability and validity are difficult to assess for qualitative research; however, methods are adopted. In place of reliability and validity, qualitative research could be consistent, neutral, applicable, and trustworthy (Noble & Smith, 2015). Consistency occurs when the researcher does not mix his thoughts with the participants. Neutrality occurs when the researcher is unbiased and states the facts as they are presented. For confirmation, the researcher can re-check the interview transcription or recording with the participants to certify that the collected data is genuine. Applicability is when the collected data and its results apply to the larger population and other similar contexts. Trustworthy research is indicated through the authenticated findings with accurate research design and instrument.

Data Analysis

A thematic analysis will be conducted for the interviews. A consistent theme for each question would be deduced to make an overall impression of the answer. The same process would be applied to each question of the entire interview. The interview transcript, written or audio, would be read or listened to repeatedly to obtain the formal, thematic content analysis.

The chosen data analysis would contribute to the nature of the inquiry since a pattern of parents’ opinions needs to be gained to assess what most parents think about screen time’s effects on children, socially and emotionally.

References

Alamri, W.A. (2019). Effectiveness of qualitative research methods: Interviews and diaries. International Journal of English and Cultural Studies, 2(1), 65-70. : https://doi.org/10.11114/ijecs.v2i1.4302

Bhardwaj, P. (2019). Types of sampling in research. Journal of the Practice of Cardiovascular Sciences, 5(3), 157-163. https://doi.org/10.4103/jpcs.jpcs_62_19

Booker, Q.S., Auston, J.D. & Balasubramanian, B.A. (2021). Survey strategies to increase participant response rates in primary care research studies. Family Practice, 38(5), 699-702. https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmab070

Canadian Paediatric Society, Digital Health Task Force, Ottawa, Ontario (2019). Digital media: Promoting healthy screen use in school-aged children and adolescents. Paediatrics & Child Health, 24(6), 402–417. https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/pxz095

FDA. (2014). Minimal risk. https://www.fda.gov/patients/informed-consent-clinical-trials/minimal-risk

Grant, S.C. (2021). Informed consent- we can and should do better. JAMA Network Open, 4(4). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.10848

Healthwise. (2021, September 20). Growth and development, ages 6 to 10 years. My Health-Alberta. https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/Pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=te6244

Holtom, B., Baruch, Y., Aguinis, H. & Ballinger, G.A. (2022). Survey response rates: Trends and a validity assessment framework. Human Relations, 75(8), 1560-1584. https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267211070769

Noble, H. & Smith, J. (2015). Issues of validity and reliability in qualitative research. Evidence-Based Nursing, 18, 34-35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/eb-2015-102054

Radesky, J. S., Weeks, H. M., Ball, R., Schaller, A., Yeo, S., Durnez, J., Tamayo-Rios, M., Epstein, M., Kirkorian, H., Coyne, S., & Barr, R. (2020). Young children’s use of smartphones and tablets. Pediatrics, 146(1). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-3518

Romain P. L. (2015). Conflicts of interest in research: Looking out for number one means keeping the primary interest front and center. Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine, 8(2), 122–127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12178-015-9270-2

Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2018). Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study. Preventive Medicine Reports, 12, 271–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2018.10.003

Xu, A., Baysari, M.T., Stocker, S.L., Leow, L.J., Day, R.O. & Carland, J.E. (2020). Researchers’ views on, and experiences with, the requirement to obtain informed consent in research involving human participants: A qualitative study. BMC Medical Ethics, 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-020-00538-7

Appendix

Appendix C:

Letter of Invitation and Research Consent Form

SREB No: 2020-12-005-034

Project Title Here

Dear participant,

I, Ezine Odia, am a fourth-year student in the Honor Bachelor of Early Childhood Leadership (HBECL) program at the Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the program, I am conducting a research project entitled _____________________________.

The purpose of the study is to ________________________________________

Specifically, this study will _____________________________

A better understanding of [topic area or focus] is important because ______________________________________________________________.

To complete this project, I am presently seeking [description of participants] willing to participate in the study. This study is qualitative, and the chosen data collection method is a qualitative questionnaire. Your participation would involve [answering a web-based questionnaire] on ________________________________. The questionnaire comprises # questions and is expected to take approximately # minutes to participate.

There are no known or anticipated risks to you by participating in this research. As a participant, you will remain anonymous. Your identity will be kept safe and confidential at all times. Throughout the study, the researcher will not refer to your name or any other identifying information, which will help to ensure the confidentiality of any information gathered. The information recorded will be written objectively, treated professionally, and kept confidential.