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Dissertation Information for Alison Jane Head

NAME:
- Alison Jane Head

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of California, Berkeley (USA) (1990)

ADVISORS:
- Yale M. Braunstein

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: A survey analysis of supermarket tabloid readership

Abstract: This study investigates who tabloid readers are, how they differ from non-readers, and what tabloid readers like about tabloids. The model describes the activity of tabloid readership by using readers' levels of information-seeking behavior, information-seeking skills, and their preferences for identifiable tabloid characteristics.

A sample of 314 incoming students at a local community college volunteered in two ways for this study. First, the students completed a questionnaire which was used as measures of their information-seeking behavior. Second, they released their standardized test scores in reading, writing, and math which were used as measures of their information-seeking skills level.

The results of factor analyses and analyses of variance shows that tabloid readers are more likely than non-tabloid readers to consider themselves knowledgeable about world affairs, collectors of information they might be able to use in the future, and non-readers of conventional newspapers. Several explanations are offered for these results. Testing of interactions among the factors also shows that information-seeking skills and information-seeking behavior work together in a way that influences readership. Tabloid readers in this study qualify as "information poor" because they have high (or active) levels of information-seeking behavior and low levels of information-seeking skills. Further testing shows that both gender and race influence tabloid readership: Readership is slightly more likely to occur among white women than among any other group.

Recent tabloid readers do not prefer different characteristics about tabloids than less recent tabloid readers. Recent readers also do not differ from less recent readers in their use of conventional newspapers: Whether or not someone has recently read a tabloid does not influence where they look for news or information.

The study's findings lead to the conclusion that information-seeking skills and information-seeking behavior are powerful indicators of information poverty and that information poverty may decrease with further understanding of how the two factors work together.

MPACT Scores for Alison Jane Head

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:14:14

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Students under Alison Jane Head

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None