New Examine: People’ Studying Habits Steady Since 2011

Most American adults learn a ebook (or a part of one) within the final yr, in line with a brand new survey from the Pew Analysis Heart.

  • 📘 Print books preserve a large lead. 64% of respondents reported studying a print ebook, in comparison with 31% studying ebooks and 26% studying audiobooks.
  • 💃 Extra ladies than males learn a ebook final yr, however the cut up—78% of ladies, 71% of males—hardly helps the recurring panic about males’s studying habits.
  • 🙋‍♀️ Adults below 50 had been extra probably than older adults to report studying a ebook within the final yr.
  • 💬 E book golf equipment are uncommon. Simply 7% of American adults (10% of ladies, 5% of males) have participated within the final yr.
  • 💪 Energy readers unite: solely 14% of People learn 20+ books within the final 12 months.

What to make of the truth that this information stands in sharp distinction to final yr’s widely-reported discovering that solely 16% of People reported reading for pleasure?

Variations in survey design might be an element.

  • Pew asks sure/no questions, whereas the info reported final yr had been mixed from a number of research that requested individuals to file how they really spent their time in a delegated interval.
  • Pew’s wording casts a wider web. Adults ages 18-29 reported the best fee of studying within the final yr (78%), a few of which might be attributable to assigned studying for college. Distinction this with the specificity of “studying for pleasure” in final yr’s report.
  • Pew units a low bar. You get to reply “sure” if you happen to’ve learn a ebook “both all or a part of the best way by way of,” (emphasis mine), so even minimal engagement will get counted.

The important thing takeaway appears to be that the numbers are fairly secure. Pew has been asking this query since 2011, and the proportion of People who report studying some or all of a ebook within the final 12 months has been regular in that point.

You may see extra of the info here.

Scroll to Top