The purpose of survey research is aimed at determining the impact of some social intervention within a population. For survey research, units of analysis (the respondents), are provided a questionnaire designed to solicit appropriate information needed based on the researcher’s question. A good questionnaire for a survey would include both open and closed ended questions, avoid double barreled questions, avoid biased items, and negative items, and include demographic items at the very end of the survey.

The research question that I am using is, “How do parents of three-to-five-year-old navigate the perceived benefits and risks of their children’s technology use, and how do their feelings about this influence their household rules and media habits?”

My dependent variable is parents’ perceptions of the risks of screen time on a child’s development. To measure this dependent variable, I am using the survey question “Do you see screen time as a risk to your child’s development?” This question is asked using a scale of 0 to 10. The measurement of 0 on the scale represents “not at all” and the measurement of 10 represents “a great amount.” My independent variable is parental strategies for maintaining screen time. To measure this independent variable, I am using the survey question “Do you have rules about limiting screen time in your household?” This survey question can be answered with the choices of “Yes”, “No”, “Sometimes”, or “I don’t know.” These questions that I am using for my research are good and well written questions because they are short and include straightforward language that is easy for survey participants to understand. These questions do not have any bias or negative items that would result in respondents refusing to answer. Both questions are worded neutrally which helps ensure reliable responses.