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Research · Screens

Reading the effect sizes properly

“Screens linked to language delay” is the headline. The meta-analysis says the associations were small. Here is how to read r values without panicking.

J. Pillay Education research · MEd ·

The claim

In pooled studies, more screen use is associated with slightly weaker child language skills, and the associations are small.

Associative claim. Evidence strength is chosen by the person who posts, based on the sources they read. Never by AI.

The research behind this

1 source, 1 peer reviewed. Evidence rated moderate.

  • What the research found, and what it doesn’t say
  • The limitations, and what nobody knows yet
  • Every source, with a link to the original paper

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Discussion · 1

Dr Naledi Mokoena

This should be required viewing before anyone writes a headline.

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Cited by

  1. Contrasted by · Where I part ways with “read the effect sizes properly”, Dr Amara Okafor · 20 September 2026

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Cite the author

A reference to J. Pillay (@jpillay) for this research, as each style cites an online post. A paper in the evidence has its own “Cite this paper”.

Show the reference (APA, Harvard, MLA, Chicago, Vancouver)

APA 7th

In-text

Reference list

Pillay, J. [@jpillay]. (2026, September 20). Reading the effect sizes properly [Image]. CIT.ED. https://cit.education/p/b91ee4eb-3ad9-4257-b05e-339544afc67e

Harvard

In-text

Reference list

Pillay, J. [@jpillay] (2026) ‘Reading the effect sizes properly’ [CIT.ED] 20 September. Available at: https://cit.education/p/b91ee4eb-3ad9-4257-b05e-339544afc67e (Accessed: 3 November 2026).

MLA 9th

In-text

Add the page number inside the brackets if you quote, e.g. (Smith 12).

Reference list

Pillay, J. [@jpillay]. “Reading the effect sizes properly.” CIT.ED, 20 Sept. 2026, cit.education/p/b91ee4eb-3ad9-4257-b05e-339544afc67e.

Chicago (author-date)

In-text

Reference list

Pillay, J. (@jpillay). 2026. “Reading the effect sizes properly.” CIT.ED image, September 20, 2026. https://cit.education/p/b91ee4eb-3ad9-4257-b05e-339544afc67e.

Vancouver

In-text

Vancouver numbers sources in the order you first cite them. Replace 1 with this source’s number.

Reference list

Pillay J. Reading the effect sizes properly [image on the Internet]. CIT.ED; 2026 Sep 20 [cited 2026 Nov 3]. Available from: https://cit.education/p/b91ee4eb-3ad9-4257-b05e-339544afc67e

“Copy” gives plain text. “Copy with formatting” keeps the italics when you paste into a document.

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