The research fellow has resorted to advertising for adult interview subjects in her quest to find out the relationship Dunedin families have with their television sets, computers, and video and DVD players.
She is looking for up to 10 parents with children aged 10-13, after interviewing children in that age range last year.
"I got 35 children happy to talk to me, but only five parents.
It seems parents are busy."
Dr Bell, a researcher in the department of anthropology, gender and sociology, is gathering data into how and why Dunedin families watch television, or videos or DVDs screened on television or computer screens.
Another researcher will do the same with 10 Auckland families.
Through discussion groups over the next few weeks, they want to talk to a variety of families, from those with no screening devices to those who own several television sets and other machines.
The data would be used in a project to be undertaken by University of Otago senior researcher Dr Rachael Taylor, who will be looking at obesogenics - factors which can lead to childhood obesity - and ways to encourage children to balance screen watching with more physical activities.
Dr Bell said her study was not designed to judge how much television was too much.
"I'm interested in family relationships - whether parents and children discuss which television programmes or movies they will watch; whether families talk while they are watching television or movies; do they snack; do they do other activities such as housework; how many children have televisions in their bedrooms.
"I am also interested in what incentives would make families watch less television.
"Would they watch it less if they were given tickets to the swimming pool, or provided with bicycles, for example."
Her interviews with children revealed some interesting information, she said.
Many children watched early morning television, some from 6am until it was time to leave for school at 8.30am.
Many watched television after 9.30pm, an hour after the 8.30pm threshold between family programmes and adults-only viewing.
Children also associated watching television or movies with relaxing, lying down and sleepiness, she said.
"That raises interesting questions about what relaxing activities might be introduced to replace television watching."
Television was part of most children's environment these days, Dr Bell said.