The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on the Television Viewing Habits of Children A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty Of Drexel University by Tiffany L. Perry-Harrison in partial fulfillment for the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Television Management July 2015 ii © Copyright 2017 Tiffany L. Perry-Harrison. All Rights Reserved iii Dedications This thesis is dedicated to my daughter Annalise, the inspiration for all that I do, my motivation to be better today than I was yesterday. I love you. iv Acknowledgments Many people deserve acknowledgment from me, as they have helped me get to this final step, and for them, I am truly grateful. ● To my husband, Martin: Thank you for your continued love, encouragement, and support throughout this process. Without you stepping in and being mommy and daddy some nights, I would not have been able to complete this paper. ● To my baby, Annalise: Thank you for giving me a reason to be better. I know that you are watching and because of that, I must be my best so that you can be yours. Mommy loves you. ● To my mother, Lynette: Thank you for continually holding me accountable for completing this degree. You pushed me when I did not want to be pushed, and it is because of that pushing that I am at this point. I love and thank you. ● To my father, Al: You have supported every venture I have ever embarked upon. Though you do not truly support “cheerleading,” you are my biggest cheerleader. Thank you for making sure I learned the hard lessons. I am proud to call you my dad, and I hope that I have done you proud with this accomplishment. ● To my graduate advisor, Al: Thank you for supporting me through my matriculation in the television management program. I have taken the road less traveled to get to this point, and I appreciate all the grace that you have afforded me throughout the process. ● To my thesis advisor, Michelle: Thank you for guiding me through the course of writing a paper of this magnitude. I appreciate every time you’ve answered a question, looked over my research and corrections you’ve made. Thank you. Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank my lord and savior Jesus Christ. It is because of him that I am blessed with this opportunity. I promise not to squander it. v Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................1 Research Questions ...........................................................................................................3 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................5 Television Viewing Habits of Children ............................................................................5 Socioeconomic Status Impacts Television Viewership ....................................................9 The Positive Impact of Television on Children ................................................................9 The Negative Impact of Television on Children .............................................................13 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY .......................................................................19 Hypotheses ......................................................................................................................19 Limitations ......................................................................................................................21 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS .......................................................................................22 Hypothesis 1....................................................................................................................43 Hypothesis 2....................................................................................................................46 Hypothesis 3....................................................................................................................48 Hypothesis 4....................................................................................................................49 vi Hypothesis 5....................................................................................................................51 Hypothesis 6....................................................................................................................53 CHAPTER FIVE: Discussion .........................................................................................55 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................58 LIST OF REFERENCES ................................................................................................60 APPENDIX .....................................................................................................................63 vii List of Figures Figure 2.1 Nielsen’s Average Weekly TV And Peripheral Consumption ........................ 6 Figure 2.2 Incidence of Co-Viewing on TV by Age ........................................................ 7 Figure 2.3 Kids and “Tech Toys.” Homes with Kids Index Higher for Electronics ........ 8 Figure 4.1 Gender ........................................................................................................... 23 Figure 4.2 Ethnicity ........................................................................................................ 24 Figure 4.3 Marital Status................................................................................................. 25 Figure 4.4 Highest Education Level Attained................................................................. 26 Figure 4.5 Employment Status ........................................................................................ 27 Figure 4.6 Yearly Household Income ............................................................................. 28 Figure 4.7 Where Participants Live ................................................................................ 29 Figure 4.8 Role of Participants in Household ................................................................. 30 Figure 4.9 Number of Adults in Household.................................................................... 31 Figure 4.10 Number of Children in Household .............................................................. 32 Figure 4.11 Age of Youngest Child ................................................................................ 33 Figure 4.12 Presence of a Yard ....................................................................................... 34 Figure 4.13 Access to a Park........................................................................................... 35 Figure 4.14 Hours of Television Watched Per Week ..................................................... 36 viii Figure 4.15 Familiarity with the American Academy of Pediatrics Television Viewing Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 37 Figure 4.16 Impact of Recommendations ...................................................................... .38 Figure 4.17 Censoring Television Quality ...................................................................... 40 Figure 4.18 Children’s Programming ............................................................................ 41 Figure 4.19 Educational Programming ........................................................................... 42 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 How familiar parents with a master’s degree or higher were with the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for children’s television ............................... 43 Table 4.2 How familiar parents without a master’s degree or higher were with the American of Academy Pediatrics recommendations for children’s television ............... 44 Table 4.3 How often parents with a master’s degree or higher censor their children’s television consumption ................................................................................................... 46 Table 4.4 How often parents without a master’s degree censor their children’s television consumption .................................................................................................................... 46 Table 4.5 Number of adults in home and its impact on the amount of time children spend in front of the television .................................................................................................. 48 Table 4.6 Parents ages in relation to the amount of time children spend viewing television in a week ......................................................................................................................... 49 Table 4.7 Yearly Income Comparison to Hours of Television Watched ........................ 51 Table 4.8 Employment status compared to the total number of hour of television watched per week .......................................................................................................................... 53 x Abstract The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on the Television Viewing Habits of Children Tiffany L. Perry-Harrison This study examines the relationship between socioeconomic status