Teens Speak Out Research Snapshot

New survey from the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA finds most teens agree with the Surgeon General’s recent social media advisory, but disagree with new laws

Methodology

Survey Design

The CSS research team designed a survey to collect data from a diverse sample of teens across the country. The survey aimed to investigate teens’ perceptions of the recent legislative bans and political statements on social media use for minors. The survey was designed to consist of quantitative and qualitative questions. Likert scale-based questions were used to determine how much teens agreed with the social media legislative decisions and short-response qualitative questions were used for teens to express their thoughts more in-depth about these decisions. 

Participants

The target population for this study consisted of teens across the United States, ranging from ages thirteen to eighteen. A total of 284 teens were selected to complete the survey, representing diverse gender and racial/ethnic identities. Participants in the sample were equally distributed by age and similarly mirrored the current demographics of the United States in racial/ethnic identity, gender identity, and geographic location.

Survey Administration and Data Collection

The survey was administered electronically using the online survey platform, Alchemer. A link to the survey was distributed to potential participants via email. Participants were informed about the purpose of the study, the voluntary nature of participation, and the confidentiality of their responses. Data collection was conducted over a one week period to allow participants sufficient time to complete the survey. Participants were provided with instructions on how to access and complete the survey online. The survey took approximately ten minutes to complete.

Limitations

It is important to acknowledge some limitations of this study. Firstly, the use of convenience sampling may limit the generalizability of the findings to the broader teen population across the country. Secondly, as with any self-report questionnaire, there is a possibility of response bias or social desirability bias. 

Data Analysis

Once the survey responses were collected, the data were analyzed using appropriate statistical methods. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations were calculated to summarize the overall responses from teens. The data analysis was performed using the statistical methods software SPSS.

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