Children's Media Barometers collect nationally comprehensive data on children's media use and their relationship to media. The survey has been conducted from 2010 to 2013. Ages of the children in the target group have varied annually and included, for example, 0 - 8-year-olds, 7 - 11-year-olds, and 10 - 12-year-olds. Depending on the children's age group, the survey respondents have been either the children themselves or their parents. The survey has had different themes on different years, charting things such as significance of gender in media use and formation of media use in family interaction. The barometer has surveyed the use of various media, such as audiovisual programmes, Internet, digital games, radio and music as well as books, comics and magazines. The Barometers have been funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture.
The barometer was collected as part of a research project funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland and it aimed to investigate children's media use and their relationship with the media in the year 2012. In the survey, media include television, the Internet, digital games, mobile phone, the radio and music, and print media. The target population of the survey were pupils on the fourth and sixth grades. The questionnaire for sixth graders was somewhat longer and more detailed than the one for fourth graders.
First, media devices in the respondents' home were charted as well as the frequency of watching television, videos or other recorded programmes and the types of programmes and videos watched. With regard to digital games (video games, including mobile games), the respondents were asked how often they played, who they played with, what kind of games they played, and what their favourite game was. Internet use was examined with questions about the frequency of use, activities and favourite type of content online (e.g. video clips, social media, email), favourite website, whether the respondents had an email address, social media profile, website or blog as well as what their opinions on some statements about Internet use were (e.g. "I think I'm a skilled Internet user", "My parents know what I do on the Internet").
Reading habits were investigated with questions about the frequency and types of books and magazines read. Frequency of listening to radio programmes and music was surveyed. The respondents were asked whether they owned a mobile phone, whether it had an Internet connection, and what they used the mobile phone for.
Finally, the respondents were asked questions charting the use of all media, such as how often they browsed advertisements for products or spent money online, how interested they thought parents or other adults at home were in hearing about their favourite media content, which media they talked about and used together with parents, and whether they had published their own content online. Sixth graders were further asked whether they had used media to have a say in an issue, how critical they were towards different media (e.g. "Reality TV shows do not have a script and they show things as they really happen"), whether there were discussions or arguments about media use or media content at home, and whether they had followed the previous presidential elections on different media and discussed the elections with different people.
Background variables included the respondent's grade level, gender, age, and major region of residence as well as whether they had a room of their own at home.
To obtain the sample, mainland Finland was divided into six sampling areas, which corresponded to the geographical distribution of age groups. From each sampling area, schools were purposively selected based on the population aged 10 and 12. Efforts were made to include schools from the neighbourhoods of, for instance, larger towns where the socioeconomic status of the population varies. In each school selected for the sample, the survey was targeted at one class of the fourth grade and one class of the sixth. Schools in the sample were selected from municipalities of varying sizes and economic structures. When it came to larger towns, attention was paid to the population structures of different parts of town.
Pupils filled in questionnaires during a school day instructed by a member of the research group. Consent for participation in the study had been acquired from the parents of the children. A total of 988 pupils from 29 different schools around Finland responded to the survey. Out of the respondents, 489 were fourth graders and 499 were sixth graders.