Question 1:

What are the key issues raised in the article and how has qualitative and quantitative research been applied to explore them? 

The key findings in the report is all about the media use and attitudes of children suggesting that there is a significant change in how 5 – 15 year olds are consuming media.. One of the key issues raised within the OFCOM report shows me that significantly almost twice as many children aged 5 – 15 are going online more on smartphones and tablets rather than computers or laptops as there is a constant upwards trend in the ownership of tablets, due to a large increase from their release in 2009 to 2014. In the report, most of the data was quantitative, the statistics show children aged 12-15 years old spend more time online on their mobile phones and tablets for social activities.

 The report conducted 1,660 in-home interviews with parents and children which is qualitative research, this is purely based on opinions rather than facts so there is no indication of any truth behind them however this can help as these interviews were carried out over a time period of 3 / 4 years to ultimately analyse possible changes in media consumption over time.

 The article raises that boys and girls enjoy two very different types of media. Girls spend more time on social media while boys sway towards video games. Although among 5 – 15 year olds the most missed device would be TV, although 12 – 15 year olds stated that they would miss their phone more. This could imply that the content on Tv is content for kids has increased or because there are more Tv apps on portable devices such a tablet, and more apps for games which can also justify the decrease in games console usage as only 41% of children use gaming consoles in their bedroom in 2014.

Overall, I think there could be more information on parents and how they monitor their children's internet use and their opinions on social media, also we know that the reason behind game consoles and Tv viewings decreasing is due to the dramatic rise in the use of tablets.