USA TODAY article: 40% of adults own an e-reader or tablet

[Froide]

Originally Posted by ApK

Aren't we talking here about a survey that explicitly tracks e-readers SEPARATELY from tablets?

The fact they can both be used to read ebooks...and they are...does not make them synonymous, but it does make them the two most important device categories to track when looking at ebook readership. I'm surprised they did't include smartphones too.

I, too, am surprised they didn't include smartphones. I am also surprised that computers, both portable (i.e., netbooks, laptops) and stationary (i.e., desktop computers), were excluded, given the proliferation of online and blended/hybrid courses and the number of students who use their computers to read etextbooks.

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by ApK

It's part of the image at the bottom of the linked page:

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

It was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates on behalf of USA Today and Bookish.

Thanks you both for the clarification.

Mike

[patrickt]

With the tablet lumped in...maybe. I doubt 40% of American adults read. I suspect 40% can read but I don't believe they do read.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by patrickt

With the tablet lumped in...maybe. I doubt 40% of American adults read. I suspect 40% can read but I don't believe they do read.

A lot more Americans read than you think; this will give you more information than you probably want: http://libraries.pewinternet.org/201...-of-americans/

tl;dr 78% of Americans read at least one book in the previous 12 months: 32% read 1-5; 15% read 6-10; 26% read 11-50; and 5% read over 50.

On the article itself, I tend to agree that it doesn't really make sense to lump e-readers and tablets together, in the same way that it doesn't make sense to lump computers and e-readers together.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

On the article itself, I tend to agree that it doesn't really make sense to lump e-readers and tablets together, in the same way that it doesn't make sense to lump computers and e-readers together.

No, it makes perfect sense, because tablets are a far more popular way to read ebooks than PCs. And maybe a more popular way than dedicated ereaders now. The survey is not just asking about device ownership. It's correlating reading habits with device ownership and it shows that owning a tablet is significant to reading more, just like owning an reader.

[Tarana]

I hate to be the bad news bringer, but I don't believe that 40%. Most adults under the age of 50 that I know do not read and I live in an area of high readership. I'd like to know specifically what the questions were that brought them that conclusion. In addition, how many are actually using them? My eldest bro bought an ereader, read 3 books and hasn't picked it up in 2 years. Most folks I've seen who buy tablets don't read with them. They are using them for games, facebook, twitter and surfing.

BTW, I have no issue if someone is using a tablet to read and calling it an 'ereader'.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Tarana

I hate to be the bad news bringer, but I don't believe that 40%.

That's not news, bad or otherwise. That's just you leaping to a somewhat snobbish-sounding conclusion based on your personal, unscientific, anecdotal evidence.
I'll lean toward believing the survey, which, at a glance at least, seems unbiased and properly conducted.
(And just for the record, I don't recall the survey saying that 40% were particularly avid readers. Just that 40% owned devices that are popular for eBook reading and many of them read more because of it.)

[ProfCrash]

Given that there are studies out that state that 50% of Americans read one book in a given year and people were excited to see that number go up, I am willing to agree with Tarana that the 40% number is high. It has been a while since I have seen the study but I remember that the number of people who read multiple books in a year was depressingly low. Obviously, it was less then 50% of the population.

When people on this board think of an e-reader, they think something to read books on.

I am willing to bet that many of the people in this study use their tablets to read magazines and non-book documents. They consider that using their tablet as an e-reader.

The definitions are different but that is fine. Which is why I would love to see the study break out the percentages of e-readers vs the percentages of tablets. I would really like to see the percentages of tablets with an e-reader app (Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Marvin, Stanza, that type of thing). I think those percentages would paint a more accurate picture.

My husband does not read books. He reads magazines but not books. He reads on his iPad all the time and would probably say he uses his iPad as an e-reader. I read books and magazines (mainly books) and have an iPad and 4 Kindles (older models that are not being used but not passed on because everyone in my family has e-readers or tablets). We are aware of the differences. Most folks outside of boards like this one are not.

[cfrizz]

Thank you!!! I'm glad it's not just me who thought the same thing! If they had included smartphones it would have been a lot higher as well.

The bottom line is that because of these devices, there are probably more people reading then ever before. I take that as a good thing. There is no reason to nitpick over these kinds of articles.

Originally Posted by ApK

...I'll lean toward believing the survey, which, at a glance at least, seems unbiased and properly conducted.
(And just for the record, I don't recall the survey saying that 40% were particularly avid readers. Just that 40% owned devices that are popular for eBook reading and many of them read more because of it.)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

It was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates on behalf of USA Today and Bookish. PSRA does telephone surveys.

That would seem to introduce an inherent bias, in that they won't be interviewing "techno-phobes" who don't have a phone, or poor people who can't afford one.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That would seem to introduce an inherent bias, in that they won't be interviewing "techno-phobes" who don't have a phone, or poor people who can't afford one.

I don't know how these people correct for that kind of thing in general--I assume they do since telephone surveys are widely considered credible --but in this case, wouldn't it be safe to say that people who were phobic of ereaders or couldn't afford an ereader would not have their reading habits changed by ereaders very much?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ApK

I don't know how these people correct for that kind of thing in general--I assume they do since telephone surveys are widely considered credible --but in this case, wouldn't it be safe to say that people who were phobic of ereaders or couldn't afford an ereader would not have their reading habits changed by ereaders very much?

My point is that by preferentially not interviewing people who are unlikely to have a reader, you're artificially inflating the proportion of people that your survey finds do have one.

It would be like conducting a survey on how many people use email - by sending out email questionnaires.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by HarryT

My point is that by preferentially not interviewing people who are unlikely to have a reader, you're artificially inflating the proportion of people that your survey finds do have one.

It would be like conducting a survey on how many people use email - by sending out email questionnaires.

Possibly, but as I said, I believe this is regarded as a credible group, and I've been told there are ways to correct for that.
(For example, that 40% may have been a raw 80 percent but they knew to adjust it based on the population not sampled, or based on data from another door-to-door survey...don't know, just speculating. Is there a survey expert in the house?)

ApK

[ProfCrash]

I studied and taught different types of survey design. All survey methods have their bias. Telephone studies are typically generated to try and over come those biases. I know some of what is done having supervised a telephone based lab and dealt with massive samples and calling rules and the like to deal with the bias issues.

I would not be in the least bit worried with them having conducted a phone survey.

The questions they asked and the sample size would be a great deal more important then the fact that it was a phone survey.

[Ninjalawyer]

Originally Posted by FacebookVirus

A bit depressing how tablet has become synonymous with ereader. But if the average person doesn't have a problem with eyestrain - yet - who am I to judge?

It has certainly become synonymous for me. Better quality tablet screens have eliminated eye strain for me, and I've essentially abandoned my Kobo Touch in favour of a Nexus 7 as a result.