Survey of Reading Practices 2009 Summary for Non-Academic University Employees (University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB) November 2009 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. Unless otherwise indicated, the results for questions that allowed participants to circle more than one answer are calculated out of the total number of responses to that question rather than the number of respondents who completed the survey. Sample size: 28 1 What types of writing do you like to read? Total number of responses: 135 Total number of respondents: 28 Novels: 23 Non-fiction: 16 Magazines: 16 Online news: 16 Newspapers: 13 Short stories: 13 Social networking: 11 Poetry: 7 Blogs: 6 Comics: 4 Plays: 4 Graphic novels: 3 Other: 3 2 Online news 12% Newspapers 10% Short stories 10% Social networking 8% Magazines 12% Poetry 5% Blogs 4% Novels 17% Comics 3% Plays 3% Graphic novels 2% Other 2% On hand-held devices 2% How do you like to read? Total number of responses: 45 Total number of respondents: 28 On computer 34% 3 On paper 64 % Do you care if your reading material is Canadian? Total number of responses: 30 Total number of respondents: 28 Yes No 10 responded YES 20 responded NO 22 33 % 67 % canwwrfrom1950.org 4 If not, why not? Note: We grouped the responses to this question into 5 categories and calculated the percentages based on total number of respondents who answered the question. No reason 14% Canadian writing uninteresting 14% Total number of respondents: 22 Representative sample of comments: Prefer Canadian content 23 % I usually read novels/literature based on reviews or recommendations from friends, or if they are classics - not based on whether it is by a Canadian writer or has a Canadian theme. I prefer to read the news from a Canadian perspective but novels I look for topics that interest me, not a Canadian connection. Want variety & diversity of perspectives 26% Select based on content quality 23% I read for content and a wide variety of topics. I like perspectives from many sources. 5 If you do care, what types of Canadian writing appeal to you? Total number of responses: 54 Total number of respondents: 17 Novels 11% Magazines 13% Newspapers: 9 Online news: 9 Magazines: 7 Novels: 6 Non-fiction: 6 Short stories: 4 Poetry: 3 Blogs: 3 Social networking: 2 Plays: 2 Comics: 1 Graphic novels: 1 Forums: 1 Short stories 7% Online news 16% Poetry 6% Blogs 6% Social networking 4% Newspapers 16% Plays 4% Graphic novels 2% Comics 2% Forums 2% Note: 7 respondents who said they do not care if their reading material is Canadian answered this question nevertheless 23 canwwrfrom1950.org 6 Yes 11 % Total number of respondents: 28 7 Do you care if the writers you read are male or female? No 89 % If you do or do not care, provide a reason: Note: We grouped the responses to this question into 4 categories Total number of respondents: 20 Of the 3 respondents who said Of the 17 respondents who said YES NO 2 indicated that they only like romance when it’s written by women 1 indicated that they prefer the female perspective 15 indicated that they do not see a difference between male and female writers or that content is more important than gender of the writer 2 indicated that they like a variety of perspectives Representative sample of comments: Representative sample of comments:   I’m more interested in the subject than the gender of the author. There are quality authors of both genders. Males don’t write good romance novels. I like to read novels about women by women. I prefer women characters to be written by females as I don’t like the way males write female characters. Each person has an interesting opinion and style of writing. I don’t mind either way. If the writing is interesting and well-written, I don’t even notice the gender of the writer. 8 Please provide examples of Canadian women writers you read: Total number of responses: 37 The most frequently listed women writers were: Margaret Atwood: 12 Carol Shields: 4 Alice Munro: 3 Lucy Maud Montgomery: 3 Margaret Laurence: 2  (Letter size denotes frequency) 24 canwwrfrom1950.org 9 In what languages do you read? Total number of responses: 32 Total number of respondents: 28 English 88% English: 28 Spanish: 2 German: 1 Japanese: 1 10 German 3% Japanese 3% If you do read in multiple languages, do you do so occasionally or regularly? Occasionally 75 % Regularly 25 % Yes Total number of respondents: 4 11 95 % Do you enjoy reading material by international writers? No 7% No Do you play electronic games that tell a story (massively multi-player online games, solo quest/adventure games, etc)? 5% Yes Total number of respondents: 22 12 Spanish 6% 93 % Total number of respondents: 27 13 Indicate gender/year of birth: Gender Male 18% Gender Total number of respondents: 28 Female 82% 25 canwwrfrom1950.org Year of birth Age Total number of respondents: 27 26-40 26% 66+ 4% 18-25 33% 14 41-65 37% Additional comments (selected sample): I do a lot of reading but unless I have read a book from a specific author or an article from a specific writer, I can’t say that I choose a specific piece of writing according to the writer. It’s always dependent on the topic of the writing itself. influence whether I read the book or not. This is not due to a preference for Canadian authors but rather for authors to whom I can relate. It is the same regarding female or international authors. Does the fact that these factors influence my decision mean that I care? Maybe it’s just an argument of semantics. To be honest, although I do not care about these factors it should be noted that I read next to no writing by female authors. This is the same with international authors (if by international you mean other than Canadian, American or British) . . . I rarely read novels or books. Usually just the local newspaper each week. On occasion when I have read books, they are Birth Order books, family psychology type books or about Wayne Gretzky or Lance Armstrong. Many of the “yes/no” questions were hard to answer so simply. For example, I do not care if an author is Canadian or not but that fact will 26 canwwrfrom1950.org