Using a new telephone-observation methodology which permitted low-cost observation of home television viewing behaviors, this study examined how families use home television, parental involvement in their children's television viewing, and families' educational use of home television. Following initial calls to 2,922 household phones, a total of 490 families with school-age children at home were identified. Findings indicate that in families with young children, parents view television with their children about half of the time during evening hours; however, family conversations concerning the viewing occur only about 10% of the time. Only about 8% of the families studied watch television programs for educational purposes, and more than half of the parents do not think their children learn from television programs. Family parameters, home environment, child parameters (e.g., age) appear to influence family usage of television, while the number of parents present in the family does not. Appendices to this report include data gathering instruments, 1981 spring telephone survey results, and tables displaying results of special analyses of the data. (LMM)