Newspaper reader questionaire

Item

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363-05887 to 363-05895.pdf
Digital Object Identifier
363-05887 to 363-05895
Title
Newspaper reader questionaire
Description
A guide to interviewers asking newspaper readers about their reading habits and preferences. Keever was trained in interviewing for public opinionm at Columbia University by Samuel Lubbell, who was famour for predicting the outcome of election based on public opinion interviews. These notes are likely for interviews she did under his supervision
Transcript
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- Page 1
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Introduce yourself by saying that you are working XX on a newspaper survey
that is trying to find out what people like and don't like about the newspapers
in New York.
1- GENERAL QUESTIONS
What news paper or newspapers do you read-
In the afternoon --
.? In the morning ------?
-? Why do you read that paper --- --? How often
do you read paper, every day ----? Or how many days in week--------?
(We want a full history of the papers read regularly. In suburban areas be
sure to find out whether the family takes a local suburban paper regularly.)
WOMEN READERS
When interviewing women be sure to adapt these opening questions to them, par-
ticularly if they are housewives who stay home. Ask do you buy any papers yourself
or do you read what is brought home by your husband or someone else in the family
READING HABIT
---?
With women ask her when do you do most of your newspaper reading
What time of the day is the best time for you to read------? Does she read AM
paper in the morning (xx is it delivered to the house) or is it brought home
at night?
Try to take women through her day, when does she get news etc. and how,
newspapers, radio, TV
READING HABIT
the paper you buy?
How many years have you been reading it-----? How did you get started
it
reading the paper you buy
-? What paper did your father and mother read--?
What End kind of work was your father in -?
If a difference shows up between paper read by parents and person interviewed,
ask why did you change from the paper your family read
-? When did you make
the change? ----? Also note any differences in parents reading pattern between
husbands and wives - --? Did marriage change pattern-----?
-? When was that and what
Have you read any other newspapers at any time
did you read---? Why did you drop the paper you did-▬▬▬▬▬▬▬?
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READER QUESTIONAIRE * 2
(Note that the price of the W-T and other afternoon papers was raised in March 1957.)
How did you feel about the raise in price of the afternoon papers-----?
Pid that affect your buying of the paper at the time ------?
LIKES AND DISLIKES
As a basis of probing into why people like the paper they do ask what part of
You
the paper do they read first ?
Then what?
After person has indicated preference ask, why are you so interested in that--?
Are there any parts of the paper that you skip -? Like what --------?
Why? (What does your wife, or husband if talking to wife, like to read most
in the paper -? How about the children-------?)
Probe as thoroughly as you can for what people like or dislike in the paper.
Where do you read the paper -? n How much time do you spend reading
the paper? Is that pretty much the same each day--? Did you ever spend
more or less time than now? Why did you cut down (or increase) your reading
time?
(Check whether explanation can be competition of new leisure activities, TV listenin
reading of news magazines)
How much time do you spend listening to TV.......?
As another way of probing into people's likes and dislikes say:
Take yesterday's paper as an example, what interested you most in yesterday's
paper....? Or what did you like most in the paper ....? What story or features that
you read do you remember ....? Did anything irritate you about the paper ....?
What did you like least.....?
With World-Telegram readers ask mzik What do you feel can be done to make the
WT more interesting, or more entertaining and more informative?
At some point in the interview ask What would you like to see more of in the
papers....? Less of .....?
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READER QUESTIONAIRE
Is there anything you would like to see added to the World-Telegram....?
For example, what columnist not now in the World Telegram would you like to see added ..?
Would you like to seem see more pictures used ...? Less of them...? Do you think
the paper shows political bias.....?
After the first round of questioning you should classify in your mind the
person being interviewed as falling into one or more categories such as:
A
A reader of AM papers only, or AM and PM papers, or only PM.
A W-Telegram reader, a fost reader or Journal American reader, or a family of
split newspaper loyalties.
A regular W-Telegram reader or an occasional reader. A "regular" reader is one
who takes the paper at least 3 times a week.
A present W-T reader or a former W-T reader.
A newspaper shifter - someone who has changed his paper in recent years.
A suburban or city reader.
A woman, man or teenage reader: also young marrieds or older people.
MORNING PAPER READERS
•U EVER Read One
wity Don't you. READ A P.MPAPER - ? Did you EVER
With people who read only AM papers, ask why did you drop it.....?
particualarly the possible effect of the price increase of PM papers.)
Note here
What do you think of afternoon papers generally in contrast to morning papers..?
(Beyond this comparison of attitudes toward AM and PM papers our interest in
persons who ready only AM papers is not high. After these questions are asked you
should ask the background questions and then cut the interview off.)
When
ATTITUDES TOWARD PM PAPERS
Take the three afternoon papers which do you like best ....? Why...? How
would you describe the differences in the three papers ....? What is the Journal-
American like....? The Post ....? The World-Telegram .....? How would you describe
the papers ...? What kind of people read it....?
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READER QUESTIONAIRE
#4
If necessary you might ask what kind of people run each of the papers....?
We want to probe as deeply as we can about the specific things in the papers th
that people like or dislike. On this adjust your questioning to the type of reader
your're dealing with, whether they take only one afternoon paper and never any others,
whether they read other afternoon papers occassionally; whether they are families with
split x newspaper loyalties where more than one paper is read.
To classify the person interviewed ask of the three afternoon papers is there any
that you read sometimes ....? That you never read....? (Then pick up question
to ask of occassional readers.)
guided)
The questioning should be quided to yield what it is in each paper that the
reader likes and dislikes, what pulls him towards a paper, what repels him.
EDITION-CONSCIOUSNESS
With all PM readers ask what time of the day do you buy the paper .....? Do you
look for a particular edition ....? If they do, why.... ? If they don't care about
editions why...? What do you do if that edition is not available /....? What do you
do if the paper you prefer most is not available...? Do you buy another afternoon
paper or none...? Which paper do you usually buy if you can't get a W-T....? If you
can't get a J.-Amer....? If you can't get a Post...?
HEADLINE DISPLAY
Another influence in the choice of afternoon papers may be how they are dis-
played on newstands and the reaction to different editions.
Ask when you are about to buy an afternoon paper on the newstand do you com-
pare the papers to decide which to buy ...? If so what pulls you to one paper
over the othefs.....? A story one may have ....? The latest scores....? The latest
...? Latest stocks....? How about the headlines ...? Which newspaper
usually has the biggest headline ...? Which do you usually like the most....?
Which one has better pictures....?
race results
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Reader Questionaire # 5
SPLIT LOYALTIES
In some families there may be split loyalties, with someone buying two PM papers
regualrly or with different family members favoring different afternoon papers.
Such persons are particularly worth interviewing to get a picture of the conflict of
interests that will pull people towards a particular paper. With such readers probe
as deeply and as specificially as you can to find out what they like or dislike
in each paper.
ONLY ONE PM PAPER
If person reads only one PM paper ask what would you say are the best things in
the paper....? And what do other papers do better....?
What paper would you buy if you were most interested in sports....? Stock market
reports....? Food... Advertising ....? Department store advertising ....? Foreign
News....? Washington News....? Local news.....? Women's page....? Fashions...?
Society.....? Schools....? Cooking....? Movies......? TV.....? Science....?
Health....? xxxxx Crime News....? Labor News....? City Hall News....?
WOMEN READERS
BUYS
If woman brings own newspaper be sure to ask why she picks the paper she prefers...?
Also when she jak buys it...? Also ask questions about her consciousness of editions..?
With women ask, how about the special features in the paper that are supposed to
interest women.
Do you read them....? Society news ....? Fashions....? Cooking
and recipies....? Women's page ....? Advertisements....?
Which of the papers has the advertisements you look for most....?Say for food...?
Say for food, which gives you the best ffood ads....? Clothes ....? What department
stores do you shop at most.....?
(Then pick up checklist)
With both men and women readers use the checklist which follows to get their
reactions to........the three papers. As they list their ratings, note the main
things on which the W-T is weak and question them on these in more detail after you
have gone through the list.
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READER QUESTIONAIRE - 6
tems
If the list has to be shortened me be sure to ask about the tiems that fit
in with the age or sex of the reader. Women boing interviewed, for example, should
be asked about women's page; society; fashions; cooking; advertisements plus other
items.
As an example of the probing that should follow this check-list, take the columnist
item. This could be followed up on with questions like, you say you like this
paper for its columnists; which columnists do you like most.......? Why.....?
Are there any you dislike.....? Why...../?
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READERS QUESTIONAIRE * 7
TEENAGERS
If family has a teenager ask person you are interviewing does your sone (or
daughter) read the newspaper much ....? What parts of the paper does he like most..?
Like least...?
What interests your son (or daughter) most....? TV....? Sports....? Movies..?
How old was he (or she) when he read his first newspaper....?
Ask teenagers themselves, what parts of the paper do you read....?
If you were buying your own paper which would you buy...? Do you ever buy a paper
yourself...?
How old were you when you read your first newspaper. ?
Is there any feature that appeals particularly to teenagers....?
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Introduce yourself by saying that you are vorking on a newspaper
survey that is trying to find out what people like and don't like about the
newspapers in New York.
1- We want to know what newspapers people read, whether they
read them regularly or occasionally, and who buys the
paper, the husband, dfs, ath?
(If paper is read three out of the five weekdays,
the person can be classed as a regular reader.)
ASK: What newspaper or newspapers do you read
morning
Why do you read that paper
In the afternoon
? In the
With evening papers mentioned, ASK: How often do you read the paper,
every day or how many days a week
In suburban areas, Staten Island or Queens, be sure to find out
whether the family takes the local paper regularly
Also ASK: Does your husband (if interviewing wife, or vice versa)
read any other papers
ASK: Who buys the papers mentioned and where
Be sure to find out whether husband goes into Manhattan to work.
What papers does he bring home.
What papers does the wife buy herself
ASK housewives who stay homey Do you buy any papers yourself or do you
read what is brought home by your husband or someone else in the family
2- Landing Habits and Parental Influence
ASK: How many years have you been reading the paper you buy
How did you get started reading it,
What paper did your father and mother read
What kind of work was your father in
(If a difference shows up between paper read by parents
and person interviewed, ask: Why did you change from the
paper your family read.
When did you make the change
Among the possible reasons for such a change that are
worth probing for are: (a) marriage, (b) a change of address,
(c) a change of economic status, (d) a change in reading taste.
In probing into these influences, try to date when the reading change
took place and then see what happened to person about that time) with wives,
ASK: How long have you been married
7 What papers did you read
before you were married?
(b) How long have you lived in this area
Where did you live before
? Did you read any
different papers where you lived before
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(c) What line of work or business is your husband in
How long has he had his present job, noting if a change in job status
coincides with a change in reading habits
Have you read any other newspapers at any time,
When was that and what did you read
Why did you drop the paper you did
This question of how much of the parent's attitudes spills
over onto the next generation is something we want to explore pretty fully.
We would like to see whether this same pattern holds for others as in
voting or car buying.
You might begin by saying, "I see you read the same papers as your
father. I'm curious does that influence held for other things? Say
in your voting, whom did you go for for President last time, in 1956
In 1952
? How did you vote when Roosevelt was running?"
How did your father vote, was he for Roosevelt or against him?
Then switch to: "How about ears".
What kind of ear do you have
Year
? Bought new or used
What kind of car did your father have
End Page
? Make
Date
[1958-1960?]
Subject
Reporters and reporting; Interviewing in journalism; Lubell, Samuel
Location
New York City, New York, United States
Coordinates
40.7128; -74.0060
Size
20 x 26 cm
Container
B155, F6
Format
research notes
Collection Number
MS 363
Collection Title
Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
Creator
Keever, Beverly Deepe
Collector
Keever, Beverly Deepe
Copyright Information
These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
Publisher
Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
Language
English