The New York Times article entitled “Many Children Under 5 Are Left to Their Mobile Devices, Survey Finds,” written by Catherine Saint Louis, includes mostly comprehensive depictions of a survey conducted by Pediatric AAP Publications. The original survey is called “Exposure and Use of Mobile Media Devices by Young Children.” The NYT publication displays the findings of the survey completed in Philadelphia, in which the group of subjects were comprised of consenting parents. Through an in-depth analysis and critique of the New York Times publication, multiple accuracies and flaws can be discovered. Ultimately, I will explore whether or not the article can be considered a comprehensive representation of the original data by looking at the amount
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The author covers major details of the survey in order to boost the credibility of the article. For example, the article explicitly states “the survey was not nationally representative and relied on self-reported data from parents” (NYT 1). The fact that the NYT included this piece of information increases the article’s validity. Moreover, the article expresses that “in the survey, 350 parents, who were largely low-income African-Americans, filled out a questionnaire while visiting Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia” (1). In this excerpt, the author states the amount of individuals that participated in the survey, where the survey was located, the organization that conducted the survey, and the demographics of the subjects, which can greatly influence the responses to the opinion poll. Additionally, the author declared the results of the survey without any unnecessary embellishments, fallacies or overtly-opinionated language. The author writes with no exaggerations, “seventy percent of the parents reported allowing their children, ages 6 months to 4 years old, to play with mobile devices while the parents did housework, and 65 percent said they had done so to placate a child in public” (1). The diction does not falsely characterize any of the data in order to bolster the standpoints of the newspaper, demonstrating a favorable trait of the article’s portrayal of the survey. The NYT also quoted the findings of Dr. Hilda Kabail, “pediatrician and lead author of the survey” (1). The NYT’s inclusion of the name and credentials of the head of the survey provides a clearer, more extensive overview of the survey
The author covers major details of the survey in order to boost the credibility of the article. For example, the article explicitly states “the survey was not nationally representative and relied on self-reported data from parents” (NYT 1). The fact that the NYT included this piece of information increases the article’s validity. Moreover, the article expresses that “in the survey, 350 parents, who were largely low-income African-Americans, filled out a questionnaire while visiting Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia” (1). In this excerpt, the author states the amount of individuals that participated in the survey, where the survey was located, the organization that conducted the survey, and the demographics of the subjects, which can greatly influence the responses to the opinion poll. Additionally, the author declared the results of the survey without any unnecessary embellishments, fallacies or overtly-opinionated language. The author writes with no exaggerations, “seventy percent of the parents reported allowing their children, ages 6 months to 4 years old, to play with mobile devices while the parents did housework, and 65 percent said they had done so to placate a child in public” (1). The diction does not falsely characterize any of the data in order to bolster the standpoints of the newspaper, demonstrating a favorable trait of the article’s portrayal of the survey. The NYT also quoted the findings of Dr. Hilda Kabail, “pediatrician and lead author of the survey” (1). The NYT’s inclusion of the name and credentials of the head of the survey provides a clearer, more extensive overview of the survey