Literature Critique
The association between viewing television shows at an early age and decline in quality of attention span among children has found formidable support from cross-sectional research design. The research under review, however, takes into consideration the importance of conducting a longitudinal study on the subject matter via use of data involving the age of children at the time of exposure to television watching and subsequent effects in later age. Data on children at the time when they were aged one and three (with separate sample sets per age) and detection of subsequent attention span problem signs at age seven has found gauging via the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The Behavioral Problems Index hyperactivity subscale has provided the outcome on attention span problems of children aged seven years old duly connected with television watching when the children were at ages one to three years old. The use of a logistic regression model revealed that around 10% of the children under study, all having gained exposure to television watching when they were one and three years old have started developing attention span problems upon reaching seven years of age. The foregoing provides for the conclusion affirming the hypothesis that there is association with attention span problems at seven years of age and early exposure to television watching at early ages (Christakis et al., 2004).
Strengths
The study under review presents two formidable strengths. Firstly, research on the subject matter has found formidable insights from previously conducted studies. Although said studies have employed different means at reaching conclusions, such are nevertheless helpful for the study under review in terms of affirming its hypothesis. Cross-sectional data on attention span problems for children who had early exposure to television has revealed that there is a compelling relationship existing between said cause and outcome. Secondly, the availability of empirical data suitable for conducting the longitudinal study fully justifies the feasibility of the research objective of the study under review. Both the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the Behavioral Problems Index, specifically its hyperactivity subscale, has provided genuine data on the sample of children used in the study under review (Christakis et al., 2004).
Weaknesses
Notwithstanding the strengths of the study under review, notable weaknesses also emanate from it. The first one is due to inadequacies arising from the ages of children used as samples in the study under review. It is somewhat reasonable to point out that the children who have gained exposure to television watching at ages one and three developed attention span problems at age seven. Nevertheless, an age range unrestricted to just one and three years old for the first instance of exposure to television watching and seven years old for the emanation of effects could have provided findings with stronger robustness. The second one arises from the small percentage of children at seven years old that have developed attention span problems from gaining exposure to television watching when they were one and three years old. With a rating of 10% for children aged seven years old, such a small percentage may not have been enough to justify the hypothesis (Christakis et al., 2004).
Overall Evaluation
Although previous studies on the subject matter of the study under review and the availability of empirical data both have provided formidable support for affirming the hypothesis of this study, it is still noteworthy to emphasize that weaknesses pertaining to data parameters and the small percentage of findings have somewhat undermined the resultant conclusion. Verily, the strength in affirming the hypothesis of a given study may find basis on affirmative findings from existing related literature, but use of available experimentation tools using previously unexplored models leads to the production of more convincing results. Therefore, the study under review could benefit more from a more convincing way of using available data without the presence of apparent constraints, as in the present case (Christakis et al., 2004).
Recommendation for Future Research
For conducting future research on the subject matter, the following recommendations must find fulfillment. Firstly, researchers must provide a proper definition of children. It is important to define the age bracket of children and sub-brackets such as early, middle and late childhood age in order for researchers to have expansive yet more definite results that may favor or reject the hypothesis. Secondly, it is important to use constructed age brackets defining children to consider the problem of attention span decline based on different points in time wherein they gained exposure to television watching. Depending on how researchers organize their data, such expansion may provide results that fare well in terms of robustness. The use of samples of children that have gained exposure to television watching during one and three years old may have served as an inherent limitation of the study under review. Yet, an expanded version of the study based on the use of age brackets that define children as samples could provide stronger findings for affirming the hypothesis (Christakis et al., 2004).
References
Christakis, D., Zimmerman, F., DiGiuseppe, D., & McCarty, C. (2004). Early television exposure and subsequent attention problems in children. Pediatrics, 113(4), 708-713.
