Designing a Website-Based Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in Decision Support Systems (DSS) for Parental Control of Children's Media

Abstract

The massive amount of children's television programming poses a challenge for parents seeking to mediate suitable viewing habits. This research puts forward a website-based Decision Support System (DSS) leveraging Analytic Hierarchy Process to recommend appropriate shows per personalized criteria. The DSS allows parents to set priorities across factors like educational value, empathy, and social norms reflected in shows. Quantitative AHP methodology ranks options by synthesizing comparative judgments. A prototype is implemented on PHP/MySQL with an intuitive interface explaining decision logic. Testing with parent focus groups indicates significantly increased perceived utility over traditional controls. Recommendation accuracy metrics averaged 0.81 against test cases. Outcomes demonstrate feasibility and benefits of applying multi-criteria DSS techniques to aid value-based media selection for impressionable minds. The system aims to aid busy caregivers overwhelmed by the exponential growth in media choices, promoting discerning consumption. Further enhancements incorporating explanatory facilities and predictive analytics promises wider applicability inside content distribution ecosystems. This research highlights the importance of DSS-AHP integration for child development in the modern information age.