31/05/2001 19:58
The Study of the Mass Media
Part I The aim of this study is to learn how people evaluate and understand different mass media. We are particularly interested in 'selective perception': how far young people and older people, or women and men, use different mass media. The study has three stages. First, it would be appreciated if you could complete a short questionnaire about your use of the mass media, your political interests, and your personal background. Then you will be asked to view or read some typical items selected from the mass media. Lastly, we will ask you to complete a second brief questionnaire. The entire process should take about an hour. In appreciation of your time you will be paid £15 in cash after completing the second questionnaire. All of your replies will be treated in the strictest confidence. Many thanks for your help and cooperation with this study.
Pippa Norris
David Sanders
Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government 79 John F. Kennedy Street Cambridge MA 02138
University of Essex Department of Government Wivenhoe Park Colchester Essex, CO4 7SQ
Tel: 617 495 1475 Email:
[email protected]
Ref No for Respondent: Ref No for Media: Date (day): Time:
Tel: 01206 873567 Email:
[email protected]
________ ________ ________ May/June ________ am/ pm
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The Study of the Mass Media Part I Section A. First, please tell us about the way in which you use the media. 1a. Do you regularly read one or more daily morning newspaper? (Please tick the appropriate option) ___ Yes ___ No 1b. If YES, which daily morning newspaper do you read most often? (Please tick one) ___ Daily Express ___ Daily Mail ___ The Mirror ___ The Sun ___ Daily Star ___ Daily Telegraph ___ Financial Times ___ The Guardian ___ The Independent ___ The Times ___ Other daily morning paper__________________________( Please write in)
1c. About how often do you read this newspaper? ___ Every day ___ 4-5 days a week ___ 2-3 days a week ___ 1 day a week or less
1d. People pay attention to different parts of the newspaper. When you read the paper, how much attention do you usually pay to newspaper stories about the economy... ___ a great deal ___ quite a bit ___ some ___ a little, ___ or, none? 1e. And how much attention do you usually pay to newspaper stories about politics... ___ a great deal ___ quite a bit ___ some ___ a little, ___ or, none?
2. On average, how many days a week do you usually watch any television? (Please circle one number) Never 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 3. On average, how many hours a day do you usually watch any television? (Please circle) None
1 or less
2
3
4
2
5
6
7
8 or more
4. On average, how many days a week do you usually watch or listen to the following television and radio news programmes? (Please tick one space per line) BBC1 10 O-Clock news BBC1 6 O-Clock news
Never 1 ___ ___ ___ ___
2 ___ ___
3 ___ ___
4 ___ ___
5 ___ ___
6 ___ ___
7 ___ ___
ITN News at Ten ITN 6.30pm News
___ ___
___ ___
___ ___
___ ___
___ ___
___ ___
___ ___
___ ___
BBC2 Newsnight Ch4 7 O-Clock news Ch5 5 News and Talk
___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___
Radio 4 Today Programme
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
5. People pay attention to different parts of the television news. When you watch, how much attention do you usually pay to television stories about the economy... ___ a great deal ___ quite a bit ___ some ___ a little, ___ or, none?
6. And how much attention do you usually pay to television stories about politics... ___ a great deal ___ quite a bit ___ some ___ a little, ___ or, none?
7. Could you indicate how interested you are in the following types of television programmes? (Please tick one space per line). Very Quite Not Very Not at All Sports ___ ___ ___ ___ Films ___ ___ ___ ___ Local and regional news ___ ___ ___ ___ Soap operas ___ ___ ___ ___ Current affairs ___ ___ ___ ___ National and international news ___ ___ ___ ___
8a. Do you ever go online to use the Internet or World Wide Web or to send or receive email? ___ Yes ___ No 8b. If YES, in general, how often do you go online? ___ Several times every day ___ About once every day ___ 3-5 days a week ___ 1-2 days a week ___ Once every few weeks ___ Less often.
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8c. Do you ever go online to get news or information about the British general election campaign? ___ Yes ___ No 9. In general, on a scale from 0 to 10, how much do you trust information given in the following (please circle one number on each line) No trust at all Television news Party election broadcasts Newspapers Internet websites
0 0 0 0
A great deal of trust
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4
5 5 5 5
6 6 6 6
7 7 7 7
8 8 8 8
9 9 9 9
10 10 10 10
Section B. Now we would like to turn to your political views 10. How interested are you in what's happening in politics at present? ___ very interested ___ fairly interested ___ not very interested ___ not at all interested 11a. Some people think of themselves as usually being a supporter of one political party rather than another. Do you usually think of yourself as being a supporter of one particular party or not? (Please tick the appropriate option) ___ Yes ___ No 11b. If YES, which party is that? ………………………………………………………………………………………………….
12. Using a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 means you don’t care at all, and 10 means you care a great deal, please indicate how much you care which party wins the election. Don’t care at all 0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Care a great deal 9 10
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13. Now we'd like to know what you think about each of the major political parties. What mark out of 10 best shows how much you like or dislike the following parties? Strongly Dislike The Labour Party? The Conservative Party? The Liberal Democrat Party?
0 0 0
1 1 1
Strongly Like 2 2 2
4
3 3 3
4 4 4
5 5 5
6 6 6
7 7 7
8 8 8
9 9 9
10 10 10
14. Now, here is a quick quiz. Could you tell me if each of the following statements is true or false? (Please tick one box per line)
True
False
Don’t Know
The rate of unemployment in Britain has fallen during the last 12 months The number of members of parliament is about 100 The overall rate of crime has gone down since 1997 Voting in British General Elections is based on proportional representation No one may stand for parliament unless they pay a deposit The basic rate of income tax has risen under Labour The longest time allowed between general elections is four years A record number of asylum seekers came to Britain last year The government has removed the automatic right of asylum seekers to get cash benefits Britain has separate elections for the European Parliament and the British parliament Euro notes and coins are due to be introduced in most EU member states next year
15. Talking to people about the next general election, we have found that a lot of people are not likely to vote. What mark out of 10 best shows how likely you are to vote in the general election? Definitely will not vote 0
1
Definitely will vote 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
16. We have a number of parties in Britain, each of which would like to get your vote. Using the 0 to 10 scale, how likely is it that you would ever vote for each of the following parties? No chance of voting The Labour Party? The Conservative Party? The Liberal Democrat Party?
0 0 0
1 1 1
Would definitely vote 2 2 2
3 3 3
4 4 4
5 5 5
6 6 6
7 7 7
8 8 8
9 9 9
10 10 10
17a.Some people feel that government should cut taxes a lot and spend much less on health and social services. Other people feel that government should put up taxes a lot and spend much more on health and social services. On a scale from 0 to 10, where would you place… Cut taxes/spending
Put up taxes/spending
Yourself
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
The Conservative party
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
The Labour party
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
The Liberal Democrat party
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
5
17b. Some people feel that Britain should do all it can to unite fully with the European Union. Other people feel that Britain should do all it can to protect its independence from the European Union. On a scale from 0 to 10, where would you place… Unite fully
Protect independence
Yourself
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
The Conservative party
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
The Labour party
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
The Liberal Democrat party
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
17c. Overall, how negative or positive do you think the election campaign has been so far? On a scale from 0 to 10, where would you place… Negative
Positive
Television coverage of the campaign
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
The Conservative Party campaign
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
The Labour Party campaign
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
The Liberal Democrat campaign
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
18. We would now like to know what you think about each of the party leaders. Please show how much you like or dislike each of the following. Strongly Dislike Tony Blair William Hague Charles Kennedy
0 0 0
1 1 1
Strongly Like 2 2 2
3 3 3
4 4 4
5 5 5
6 6 6
7 7 7
8 8 8
9 9 9
10 10 10
19. What mark out of 10 best shows how much trust you have in the following: No Trust Politicians Civil servants Police officers Political parties Journalists
0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1 1
Great Deal of Trust 2 2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4 4
6
5 5 5 5 5
6 6 6 6 6
7 7 7 7 7
8 8 8 8 8
9 9 9 9 9
10 10 10 10 10
20. The three main parties have made a number of promises during the election campaign. Which party made each of the following pledges, or don’t you know? (Please tick one box per line). Labour
Conserva tive
Liberal Democrat
Don’t Know
Keep the pound for the duration of the next parliament Raise income tax Cut taxes by £8 billion Raise the minimum wage to £4.20 House all new asylum seekers in secure reception centres Abolish student fees throughout the UK Introduce paid paternity leave Abolish car tax on low polluting vehicles Create a Baby Bond saving fund for every child at birth Part C. Now we would like to ask you a few questions about your personal background. 21. In what year were you born? (Please write in) 19____ 22. Are you?... ___ Male ___ Female 23. In your main accommodation do you, or your household: ___ Own the property (including paying a mortgage) ___ Rent from your local authority ___ Rent from a private landlord ___ Rent from a housing association 24. Which of the following best describes your position? (If you are uncertain, say what best describes what you were doing last week) ___ In fulltime education ___ In paid work ___ Registered unemployed ___ Permanently sick or disabled ___ Wholly retired from work ___ Looking after the home ___ Other 25. Please indicate which of the following best describes the sort of work you do. (If not currently in work, please indicate what you did in your prior occupation. If looking after the home, please indicate what your spouse does.) ___ Professional or higher technical work (eg doctor, teacher) ___ Manager or administrator (eg executive, company director) ___ Clerical (eg secretary, telephone operator) ___ Sales or services (eg shop assistant, nursery nurse) ___ Small business owner (eg shop owner, small builder) ___ Foreman or supervisor of other workers (e.g. building site foreman, supervisor of cleaning workers) ___ Skilled manual work (eg plumber, electrician, cook) ___ Semi-skilled manual or unskilled manual work (eg postman, labourer, cleaner) ___ Other (please describe)________________________________
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26. Please indicate which educational qualifications you have. (Please tick all that apply.) ___ None ___ Secondary qualifications e.g. GCSE, GCE O Levels ___ Further qualifications e.g. GCE A’Levels, CSE ___ Higher qualifications e.g. university or CNAA degree or diploma ___ Vocational qualifications e.g. City & Guilds, NVQ, Nursing qualifications ___ Other (please describe)_________________________________ 27. How old were you when you completed your continuous full-time education? ___ Years old ___ Not yet completed
28. Which ethnic group do you belong to? ___ Black ___ White ___ Asian ___ Other 29. Where do you live now? Town:______________________
County/Borough:______________________
30. What constituency do you live in? _________________________________________________________________ 32. What is the name of your Member of Parliament? _________________________________________________________________ Thank you! Please hand this form to one of our assistants.
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