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- Title
ABSTRACTS: FEELING OF "CULTURAL INADEQUACY" AND VALIDITY OF RESPONDENTS' ANSWERS IN SURVEYS ON BOOK READING.
- Abstract
The article presents abstract of an article by Malgorzata Stefanowska that appeared in the August 1979 issue of the journal Quality and Quantity. The article states that the hypothesis that interviews on the number of books read yield over-estimating reports, due to the existence of norms recommending book reading, has been verified. Hidden observation by family members of 180 persons during one month, revealed the numbers of books actually read. Two consecutive interviews were then conducted with each observed person concerning the self-reported number of books read and the accepted norms on desirability of book reading. Comparison between the observed numbers of books read and those self-reported showed that 50.5 percent of respondents who did not read a single book answered: "I read a book"; the average number of books per person actually read in the whole group was 1.04, while according to interview reports it amounted to 1.66. The over-reporting depended on the feeling of cultural inadequacy as measured by the difference between the actual number of books read and the number given in the answer to the question: "How often should people like you read books," using a list of alternatives with normative reading frequencies.
- Subjects
PERIODICALS; READING; RESPONDENTS; SOCIAL surveys; HYPOTHESIS; INTERVIEWING
- Publication
Quality & Quantity, 1979, Vol 13, Issue 4, p362
- ISSN
0033-5177
- Publication type
Abstract