Parent Survey

According to a nationwide survey in the U.S., nearly all (98%) of children between the ages of zero to eight years have access to a mobile device (Common Sense Media, 2017). The pervasiveness of mobile screen devices has introduced eBooks into the home, however, parents report that only 28% of children have ever read a book on a smartphone or tablet. This mismatch between availability and use may be due, in part, to parental skepticism about the value of eBooks for their children (Common Sense Media, 2013). In order to maximize the effectiveness of eBooks, it is critical to establish whether and how families use eBooks with their children, and what features parents look for in eBooks. Thus, the current study analyzed Amazon Mechanical Turk survey data on parent-reported reading behaviors, as well as parent perceptions about contexts and feature preferences for children’s print books and eBooks.

Full book chapter coming soon!

Etta, R. (in press) Parent Preference: E-Books versus Print Books. In B. Hassinger-Das & J.E. Kim (Eds.) Reading in the Digital Age: Young Children’s Experiences with E-books. Springer: New York, NY.