September 19th, 2008 Survey of Reading Practices, Part 2: This survey is part of a research study on reading practices conducted by Dr. Patricia Demers (patricia.demers@ualberta.ca) of the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. Summaries 1 “What kinds of writing do you like to read? (Novels, Short stories, Plays, Essays, Newspapers, Magazines, Blogs, Facebook). Please select all that apply.” Novels: 21% Short stories: 12% Plays: 3% Essays: 4% Newspapers: 15% Magazines: 22% Blogs: 6% Facebook: 12% Other: 5% Newspapers 15% Essays 4% Plays 3% Magazines 22% Short stories 12% Blogs 6% Novels 21% Facebook 12% Other 5% Of the 12 respondents who answered in the “Other” Category: Nonfiction: 4 out of 12 respondents Internet Articles: 2 out of 12 respondents Textbooks: 2 out of 12 respondents Children’s Books: 1 out of 12 respondents E-mail: 1 out of 12 respondents My Space: 1 out of 12 respondents Message Boards: 1 out of 12 respondents Message boards 8% MySpace 8% E-mail 8% Nonfiction 34% Children’s books 8% Textbooks 17% Internet articles 17% canwwrfrom1950.org Other 1% 2 “How do you like to read? Please select all that On Computer 27% apply. (On the computer, On hand-held devices, On paper, Other)” On hand-held devices 6% On paper 66 % 3 “Do you care if your reading material is Canadian (either by a Canadian writer or with a Canadian location)?” Yes 14.3% No 85.7% A representative sample of the “Comments” section: It's interesting to find out if [the reading material is Canadian], but this does not influence what I read. I admire Canadian writers but will read [texts written] by anyone. I care to a certain extent. I care about the context in which the texts [I read] were produced. 4 “If you do care, what kinds of writing appeal to you?” 5 out of the 11 respondents indicated that they Fantasy & Science Fiction 6% read Non-fiction (memoir, environmental, inspirational, etc) 4 out of the 11 respondents indicated that they read Fiction Creative writing 6% Magazines 6% Non-fiction (memoir, environmental, inspirational, etc) 28% Newspapers 12% 3 out of the 11 respondents indicated that they read Specifically Canadian Texts 2 out of the 11 respondents read Newspapers Specifically Canadian texts 18 % Fiction 24% 1 out of the 11 respondents indicated that he/she reads Creative Writing 1 out of the 11 respondents indicated that he/she reads Fantasy & Science Fiction 1 out of the 11 respondents reads Magazines canwwrfrom1950.org Do not see a difference 5% 5 “If you do not care, is there a reason why?” Of the 40 respondents who gave a reason: 15 respondents indicated that they value quality of content over author Desire diversity/ different perspectives 23% Value quality of content over author 37% 11 respondents indicated that they have no reason 9 respondents indicated a desire to be exposed to diversity/different perspectives No Reason 27 % Choose texts by genre 8% 3 respondents indicated that they choose texts by genre 2 respondents indicated that they do not see a difference 6-7 “Do you care if the writers you read are male or female?” 100% of respondents indicated that they do not care 8 “In which language(s) do you read?” Of the 56 respondents who answered: Only English 71.4% English: 40 respondents English and Spanish: 3 respondents English and French: 2 respondents English and Korean: 2 respondents English and Arabic: 2 respondents English and Italian: 1 respondent English and Chinese: 1 respondent English and German: 1 respondent English and Romanian: 1 respondent English and French and Spanish: 1 respondent English and French and German: 1 respondent English and Spanish and Portuguese: 1 respondent English and other language/s 28.6% French 15% Spanish and Portuguese 7% Spanish 22% French and German 7% French and Spanish 7% Korean 14% Romanian 7% Arabic 14% German 7% Chinese 7% Italian 7% canwwrfrom1950.org 9 10 “If you read in multiple languages, do you do so occasionally or regularly?” Occasionally 58.8% Regularly “Do you play electronic games? If you answered yes, please specify what kind(s) of activities appeal to you most.” 42.2% No 61.4% Yes 38.6% Music 4% Logic/Puzzle 13% Sports 13% Action and Adventure 45% Online Games (Poker, Scrabble, RPG, MahJongg, WarCraft) 25% 11 “Are you an online contributor? If so, please select all that apply or provide examples” No 9% Yes 91% Zines 2% Blogs 21% Social networking 66% Forums 11% canwwrfrom1950.org 12 “Do you enjoy reading material from other parts of the world? If you answered yes, please specify” No Of the 38 respondents who answered yes: Yes 14.8% 85.2% 10 respondents indicated a: Desire for Exposure to, and Knowledge of, Other Cultures 9 respondents indicated that they: Read News and Current Events from Other Parts of the World 6 respondents indicated that they: Read Texts from Europe Travel Books 4% Internet Articles 4% Texts from Japan 2% Texts from India 2% Magazines 4% Desire for Exposure to and Knowledge of Other Cultures Around the World 19% Texts in Translation 6% 4 respondents indicated that they: Read Fiction from Other Parts of the World 4 respondents indicated that they: Read NonFiction from Other Parts of the World 4 respondents indicated that they: Read Texts from South America 3 respondents indicated that they: Read Texts from North America Texts from North America 6% World News and Current Events 17% Texts from South America 8% Non-Fiction 8% Texts from Europe 12% Fiction 8% 3 respondents indicated that they: Read texts in Translation and/or Other Languages 2 respondents indicated that they: Read Magazines from Other Parts of the World 2 respondents indicated that they: Read Internet Articles from Other Parts of the World 2 respondents indicated that they: Read Travel Books 1 respondent indicated that he/she: Reads Texts from Japan 1 respondent indicated that he/she: Reads Texts from India canwwrfrom1950.org 13 "Please indicate your year of study, faculty, major, gender, and year of birth." Year of study Major 4th year 57% 3rd year 25% Elementary (Education) 58% Generalist (Education) 13% 5th year 7% 1st year 2% Humanities Computing 21% Educational Psychology 8% 2nd year 5% 6th year 4% Faculty Gender Male 23% Education 79% Arts 14% Library Science 5% Graduate Studies and Research 2% Female 77%