Reading choices of college students

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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Manuscript Theses

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NAME AND ADDRESS

DATE

HOEtiftresTOT vmvmsvet

BWJtNQ CHOICES Or COLLEGE STODESfS

A DI3SBKTATI0H m m m w to ms is

graduate

mttiAL ramu.van

school

or the resotbmssts

far tk» dagraa DOCTOR or PKIIOSOPST

o m i m ™ or hhjcatxos

By wxuard

w/Atmm,

m um s

imsoia

(august, m o )

ProQuest Number: 10060804

All rights re s e rv e d INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality o f this r e p r o d u c tio n is d e p e n d e n t u p o n t h e quality o f t h e c o p y s u b m itte d . In t h e unlikely e v e n t t h a t t h e a u th o r did n o t s e n d a c o m p l e t e m a n u scrip t a n d t h e r e a r e missing p a g e s , t h e s e will b e n o t e d . Also, if m a teria l h a d to b e r e m o v e d , a n o t e will in d ic a te t h e d eletio n .

uest P ro Q u e st 10060804 Published by P ro Q u e st LLC (2016). C opyright o f th e Dissertation is held by t h e Author. All rights reserv ed . This work is p r o t e c t e d a g a i n s t u n a u th o rized c o p y in g u n d e r Title 17, United S ta te s C o d e Microform Edition © P ro Q u e st LLC. P ro Q u e st LLC. 789 East Eisenhow er Parkw ay P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346

AfcaIra*^t*ysS4&Mi

fiie writer ex?»re«*e# hie appreciation to Pr*

fm l

%tty

(Ohaixmn) and to the ether rMBa&ere of hie ««saiai*tee

tm

their help and eneeuragtiBaenfc earing the preparation

and writing of thie di«aertati«m# fh© writer ©leo eetaowMge* hie gratitude to the college** and nniworeitioe who participated in thie etudy, their £a«~ ulty aesahore who cooperated fcy adiainlotering the ^ueetion* mires, and the etn&ento who f13.led then oat#

598503

m s

or r a m m

Chapter

u

t m m m t m abb t m m m m

i

fm Prbbl«» Material* Design of the stoijr

I 8 3

Bartei«ipkti»g I m i t a t i o n #

0

limitations of the study Oiwki II.

S3 S'S

Zf

KBSA78D i m s

Wutptmm of Heading General Attitudes of College Students toward Beading Season® for Limited Beading Improving Beading Abilities Beading Interests of College student* Bool Interests versus leading Chaims College Students and Books College Students msI Staga»liia* College Student# and Wswepapera Criteria for Fletioaa and Magesins# College Students ana Other fypm of leading Amount of leading Haee of Heading among leisure Activities laorooolog the leading of College Student* Studies of bb® Beading of Adulte and Children Belated to the Beading of College Students College Library Cirml&tiem Heading and Muoation Beading and the Sex of the loaders leading and Sosi©~l&«m*ai« levels Conoluaion in*

t w r a o or e o u m s book

Bfmmms mmmi

mmm®

71m Spent in Beading Preferred Kinds of Beading Favorite Writers lumber of Books Favorite Fiebion

SO 31 30 3S 39 40 44 4? 49 SI 33 33 34 33 69 03 04 70 73 74

woaimw,

n 77 79 91 30 87

ftfiJNUB OF 6 » t 8 (eaitinued) Chapter XU#

x?*

f&ge continued Favorite Hes*-flotion Book Club Ma&berehips S^keb*4&eok MXbione Book Bigeet* S»»ifeXepedA&#

0$ 07 00 00

101

.Attitude i M f t M Beadlag M^rt

10$

Kinds «*£ Materials Deelred for Additional Beading Fl«t«r» whleh Usaib Heading

101

Qmml'mlm,

100

mmwQ m m w m mmmm* m m w m 0 wmnjnm Mageusimss Stebserlbed for or Otherwise Obtained AMi&ioml Matinee lead H&gasiaea Fmerl^r Repaired F&vorib© Marine® Betsspapers dufeeeribed for or Otherwise Obtain^ Additional UewepajMrs Head lewspipor Sections Bead W&ye of leading newspapers Gonolasion

7#

MSADXR8 OF C0LZMB

UfWmtBi

no

111 114 110 111 100 107 100

100 100

6QBSG SfHim, 001X0

amis

Gomis Strip Beading Favorite Coeie Strips' Gemie Book Beading Favorite &inda of GemXe Books Specific Ge&ie Book Favorites Conclusion V3U

100

RBABKt OF SfWXAi OHOim Of O O L L m STGDMtS time Spent in leading Preferred Kinds of Heeding SMber of Book® Book Glut Ma®d*erehipe

in

141 140 147 140 IS® IBB 107 169 160 161 160

t m m m

m m m

(continued) Chapter ¥t#

Bags Continued Foeket-djsok editions Book Digests Bnppa&egMiae Qsnle Strip Reading Mswspapor Sections lead Bfcyt of Beading tiewspaper® Cerate Book Heading Favorite Elude of Cerate Books Attitude toward Beading More Kinds of Materials Desired for Additional Reading Footers which Limit Beading Cenetusien

m .

xb 8

n s u s x o n m p w b &a&xbo eiioxefs o f cqix&gb S t a m m 70 FBtDBOLQOlOAt AMD E 1 D M f£8f 6 C 0 M fine Spent In Heading Preferred Kinds of Beading Sftmber of Books Book Club Memberships Fosket-feoek Edition* Book Digests Sno^lopedi&s C«ale Strip loading tempaper Seebiem* load Waps of Reading Mewspapers C 8. 6rey end Rtrth nature*. The Reeding latoreat* aafl, SJCi&8SS* Te*k« Macmillan Company# 193# p. 7*7* 18mil«UB 8. Or»y, (• tteo laymen ia thoir reeding.

However*

before finishing ho says that thoir winterest ia aosthotios# the abstract, gs » M the philosophical is very mm indeed.** Strang m e diseaumged by ®%£ola fempldas M L iff* **A Survey of the Heeding Baekgrmmd of freshaen Students of the Class of 1949 at the »ow Jersey Stats Tosohors College at Jersey City** Cttpubllshad Pb*£L dissertation* lew Yesit Bnl* varsity, 1946, pp. ftOJM&ft, Fvoteetlea*

Pfft$#fV Whits House Ooafer&aee on ©Mid Health and Hot lorkt the Century Company* W , p. 7,

® ^a» Twwhlaa a£ J U t t e — 4 ISSSM JBSUJail* (^tloma society fer the Study of gdueutien* sty*S teeth Yearbook* Fart I*) ©hio&gos f3&£» varsity of Chicago Frees* 1937, p* 190. ^^theuleX $tewart* "The Ihasaaigatloa of Reeding ia the Liberal Arts College,*4 Library fourpal* LIVI (September 1, 1941), p. 700*

u

noting tfc# failure of m a y to

a8t.rS.l8 net oosignod,84 f«rau and

I»l#a gut It |n*t as atrongly by saying that "tfao avoxago college frostaaa roadn not a alnglo hook beyond tho requirement laid dona by his iMstruo*

tons**®8 Xhor

rm&,

thoy do not n w d - they Ilka good materials, thoy prefer

medteer* materials » the ere often far

mmimimM

on the reding

and seemingly I m t i M U i l l A ,

of

college studenta

®m of

the proposes of

m o ororemt study is to attempt to see hew widely and whet t o d of materials college student® rood and to lay at root some of tho comments of those whom studies ore eeftNtfMfete or too limited in meepo. for Limited Wof^t^ If student® on oil levels hod fewer road more and wbetter* materials*

rmdisag disabilities

they might

If m a y found onjoyssoat in reading, thoy

might ehooso it os a lotsorcKtimo activity more frequently*

0m writer

makes tho latter point in this wayt heaqr college student® say thoy would like to road more i t thoy had time to do m* Finding time for voluntary reading Is largely a question of preferem*#. Students m o like to rm& find time to do so* those who prefer to do other thing® neglect wading, People find time to do the things they enaoy* Outside 4ofce. soeial activities, and heavy metdgnmemts ore frequently given as reasons for limited reeding.

84Sta*te Strang. a»4 College* lisnscisteri fa**

But the responsibility should not

tho Imnrovemegt of in School Solenoe Press Printing Co.. 1 W * pp. 300*09.

S8U * 1 * a , TOTWMt a n a a a r g a r e t U js o , 0. Appleton and Ckmpengr. 192T* p. 28.

8*J«w»c ttoirlee MeC«ailst«r. fork*

SS^JMKCa

S asttB B -

* •» *«»*«

Purposeful a M W U M ifi SftUkgg-

0. A.ppletsnM)enftsyy Oompeny* Ins.. 1942. p. 19.

S.*

35

m

fee MofttffM to the who feel© the

m-mmrlmtiotx

uaiq^amedly*

of a mathematical o p t i o n is as far *« his

respensifeiXity goes* the librarian who m&ee tive display©

The sufeJeetMBatter tocher

m% ©neour»ge

m effort

to prepare attrac­

reading. fey accessibility of books

within the interest* needs* and rang© of ability of students, and the ad«iai«trator who dees nothing to impress on teaehens the necessity of redue lag reading disabilities are all responsible for the orltieal state of student reading as seen fey meay writers. Whoa one say© that * la the rush and esettement of present-day college life there eeeme to fee little time for teHh*wMlei readia^f^ others say begin to wonder what all the ♦‘rush1* and w©jwiteeeut*1 are about* Are the aetivttie© of student® feeing guided la commeBdafel© direction® whoa they haw# very little time for reading wh&eb is e©*ssld#r©i worth-while? Are teachers aecompltaking their purpose® if their students do not develop the habit of reading oad gala an appreeistloa for the value of leisure reading? Many of those most ©ritie&l of the current state of free reading among college students would answer those questions la the negative. fhe criticism «a? not stop with an evaluation of the quantity of reading*

It may extend to a critical attitude of the apptvaeh of the

students toward intelligent reading*

k m m the obstructions to a more in­

telligent insight into materials reed ares Headers1 predispositions which block the in* flueiMses of auy publications they read which do not tell ttem what they seat to fee told* leadens4 refusal to read any publications which are likely to challenge their present attitudes.

x m

^jtoJBRrot MUwa, "«tet College Studoats Seed,* Sfijjaal Sfii SSSMI*, (Jtoa* a , 1930), p. 84#.

u the relative tmoeeeeibmty of publications preseaiiag views ether ths& th* viooo bold by the imdors* fotmtoriafl«#»e os of oo&vorsotlon, rad!#, and sraau* studwab* do reed to * lisaitM oxfeent, the reasons m y not bo easy to find, for they m y come fro® m a y sources, iaeludlag such d l v m i pe»»i~ bllltles as the feasily, the school, the oomuaitgr* culture,

ma& mm

the larger

ffce reseat i&torfemiee of television is act so diffioalt to soo,

however*

itewdte

b & l& s e

AMfllitoa

Although the current study is net direoily concerned with reading dis­ abilities

m3. rmm&SMl

readliag, it eeoaet entirely ignore the©

cussing the rood iag of college stMenis*

mhm dis­

Uoay vmdl&g experts indicate th©

close relationship between the iatoarooto students have mod their abilities which hew© led to tbpoo interestsi coostlms afeilttie® or disabilities m y bo the prim&ry factors

&%mam rsgiag

or Halting tbs d m t a p m n t of to-

tcreate. Ibrtran* isdlwidml dlft&mmm bars h e m found la reading abilities of college students,

the boot reader mp*#sl»8 the poorest la &

group by » seer© of ©ix to eae*®® ©vwup or Individual methods sxi^bt bo a « M to broaden. abilities, through spool©! o l e s m or through tbs subject* mtter arm*, bat tbs important factors for teachers to recognise arc that Individual differences && exist, and nothing mgic&l

him

taken place at the

^Douglas Wsplee, Bernard lorolsoa, and Fmoklln &. Bmdsh&w. fbft ftqsis. Chicago ? Shaiverstty of Chisago Frees, 1940, pp* **Bwwwt M. Anderson, of College MuAmte** faaxaal M p. ®0»*

hifftremea la the Beading Ability MaifttAaaal Buttiih* u x (April* 19£9)*

57

%im of mmmk&rr sehool gm4m%lm to mk» ell readlag problems miraouXeusXy disappear m of that date.

©aims in reading ability eemtln»» well

beyond the aeeomdary school level, eapeeteHy for thooo with the lowest reflag seores at the time ©f e&tmi©©* Bven mmnmmwML college students are not uniform in their rending «f» ftoleaey,

% both pmmumlattom and ©osaprstaasiou m a t differences 1mm

been found to exist. Some writers Umwe led the public into thihblsg that ssiaagi© fectors ere causes of poor reeding* that * oerteim pert of the popmletiom is earn** pletely “ma^verbel*. or that if eye difficulties ere ©orreeted ©XX reodiag difficulties would mmlafe, lacking,

ill such st&ieme&t® here been studied and found

Tbs following Xiet of reasons for reedimg disabilities includes

many of the most prevalent ones which, in cembimtitm, ere often responsible for reading difficulties* Emotional feetore Homo conditions end family tmXetloma Poor teaching laepproprleto or untimely instruction Inadequate teaching materials f&ttGmmm in children*® rate of growth Visual defeats Limited meoBlag woeabulaiy Limited seope of sxperleaaees Inability to evaluate* inquire* he challenged Ineffective habits of thinking®* Suggestion® for improvements some from various direotloust the meohsu^ 1stlo approach suggests the elimination of vocal lotion in silent reedimg*

m Improved mastery of vocabulary* a broadening of the m m of recognition* 3®ft* 0* Preston and $. Tuft* "Beading Bablta of Superior College students,” gj Sjraarlsf^ntal Idpe&ti-QB..- XVI (U&rek* 1948), X98-S01* ^PauX Witty* ftapdiffg in Modem Oompany, XMf* pp* 178-80S.

Boatomi

B. 0, Heath end.

m

the development e# ft degree of regularity of procedure thftt would eliminate asst ©fthe eye's regressive

w h m b

I i^

others view riding «&d it# die*

abilities In ft m o b broader eoufcsat* 0roetb in and through reading lo «& part Of the total dftftoXopnoftt of youth at «01 level® of ed~ WS®i6Sft30t* iftnll»g 1® sot ft tmique skill, but ft- series of eetstpXeE. ftetivlties Involving a m y profteseee, aueh as perception, analysis, eritloftl evaluation, and Judgjee&t.

Ororfcb Is reading is as integral part of the de­ velopment inherent is e&eh lemvslng aetivity, beesetee tbs ooKoera of mmh teacher*

DoveXopmont $a reading eon bo greatly ffee<ftted

by golds&e®. Progress is reading is infXus&oad by ftftuy f&eters * mvirvmmtifc, experience, mtnrity, pfoysleaX, mestfti sod eg^tieaml status, prwemeptdeae, prejudices* Development of ft sound reading p n N p w requires ooopftmtlos effort of tbs entire staff, s® Training is reeding ft# related to training is thinking

m& lifting,

smeurogime&t la line with a stwteal'e interests and need*, on understand­ ing of the bos!* relationship of re&dl&g and other activities sad a recog­ nition of improvement of reading a# on all-sehooX function are »©&© of tbs essential rtiftllsfttloxtii wMob must bo ftoooptod before Improvement os a wide seals eau bo expected*

One book ftttosgrito to net up the ideal rending abili-

ties which a eelXoge student should bafts by the tia» bo is graduated*

le*

cording to it, bo should be ablet To Hu d %bo reading «*ateriel bo usede To adjust him rate of eou^re&eneiem and method of reeding to tbs isatsrial s M to bis purpose To eoffiprehead socuratsly wbftt tbs author bos said To Judgs tbs mm£mm of tbs outfetor*a ideas and draw valid l*foren#«* and somelusious 3%ay Thomas Buswell* $ & iSSS Levels* (Supplei&fmt&ry Muofttiouftl Monograph, m* SO^ Ghioagos University of OMcftgo, 1959. p. 9. ^%illifts ft, Oroy, "Bsftdlisg In High School and College/ iphppls $gSI2@ti** (’ %ftO0absr - December, 1940). pp. St-dS,

fflsftaftatt

m To appreciate bmMfcf of style § M exprseslmi to eys&hesls* Ideas geimed from reading with M m ether experlemee •to m i between m o limes To discriminate between foots and opinions, ho* tween eeeepteble evidence and propaganda To remember and use Idea® from his reading to use reading a* m stimulus to creative think* lag and to tho discovery of mow problem s f o r study^4 The ideals of that H o t cam b® readily recognised*

Thai they ago

ideals should $©, no way be a limiting, footer am the efforts to work toward them* fk y M q * lafrerwytp of Opllagft Stndenta

The distinction i# sometimes sharp between whet person* ohooee to read and what they are actually interested la* Moat of the studies which attempt to get at reel interests are based on the work of fSfepieg and Tyler.56 The importance of students* ppeMwfc interests m a startlog point for teachers and others walking with them is obvious In reading as it is in many other stadoat aoiivXilea,

Many teacher® giro lip service to that idea

without realising the lap&rtnnce of recognising those interest® as a m y of improving study habits wad social mad other adjustment situations, and of broadening them into wore mature « M challenging interests* :Osiag the w«ple®*Tfler teohslque of topic® presented to student® in order to- obtain a ran action of their attitudes to tu rn h m disclosed that the interests of college students do n o t differ greatly from those of other ^Ocnaime& M» McOullooh* forth M« dtremg* and Arthur vrwaer* Prttblaaa la the Imnrftvemettt of EeadlmaMow York* MeGmw-IfiXl look -6e*» wpomofsflMepweeis^cmm i^piwe*1■wpiipwcpw ve^^^^mw^owi^ppwwpwipcca***' wppfw &ft», 1945, p.* 9£. 5% 0 Ugla@ Naples m d JMph W, Tyler* fhfet .gmpalp Jfjss3$% M lead About. Chicagos American library Association and. Omlwersity of Ohieago Press, i m « "n» p p *

40

todividiw&s*

stojeeto totoh me t fluently hmd. to® list er# m r end

pence, «md human raletioatoipej stated to top to form they beeom, Wf!ew to©

m xt

war may

mm m m m* w m

**l$sw to got along with ether people**1 a v

titadee toward topics are difficult to measure stoee they ere fr^uemtly subjective emd mot metesMrttjr available for ©meet n c m n i l i

Besides,

If toe topics were worded slightly differently, m a t toft* might ho different* although there to mo assurance of toot difference to too mples-tyler study, too possibility dees exist* On® study which attempted to f tod m % how college helped develop sm interest to reeding discovered toot too largest group of both Smith emd Dartmouth graduates felt college did mot help at all* m d relatively large groups thought toeir interest to reading had grown only slight!y due to toeir college eypertomeea.^ M

lilies

mm m MM2m

fltotaw

The WspXee and Tyler study attempted to find out- whether there was any diettootion between tost people astoslly read end toot they or® really interested to rending*

they prepared a representative list of oil question®

discussed to aftgamlxiea addressed to general

renders to toe United States

during toe preceding decade* arranging toe questions to SO major divisions with 117 topioa and S85 sub-topics*

In toe form of a cheek list, they were

then submitted to mre then 100 groups differentiated by ego# sex* environ­ ment, amount of school tog, vocation* end other factors ^Oharlea 1* Cockayne, **Beading Testes end habits of 0re4mt®s,H

Palish leaflet. x m x x (fun#, 1«4), pp. tvioo, S7DeugXe® tuples sad Belph W* Tyler. to M &ta&* Chicago* American library Ametottom end (diversity of Ohieego Press, ltSX, m pp.

41

ffe* results dstefttSssA the

m far

interests of these groups, showed

that adult members of society are l i l w u M in reading about o&gykSflowt sceie-1 ilSWi a&thaqgh tbeir reeding choices were frequently direction*

1% was ooaoludod that riding, choices

factors* with accessibility

m&m

mm

m%

In that

directed by various

the wool ?>**ftas*t, A booh related in

mnjr *»y® to the $apl*N&*fyler work stated* What isoot people rood i© dstsvedssd largely by the jstffttostioBft within their reach* People do not rood publications they mmmt got* and they mm not directly affected fey publications they do not rood* nfeot people would road if they could and what they actually do rood are not the 0a®a. n&ot they do rood 1© e^lained in large port fey the eysrbes of distri­ bution* Which encourages, permits* discourage#* or prevents the rws&Sjtg of certain futilities# fey ***» tain readers* Plstrlfeutiem to thus on Important fac­ tor im the social offoot© of reading* If readers took the seeesmy tlmm and money they might find the pub* lieatioas they want, feet the ©pood of everyday life and the demands on our dally hours make most of as stop at the

mm

easily obtainable reading

materials - the newspapers, vMgeslaes* end eseasleaasl library books.

The

books reviewed fey book editors each week are not as easy to locate or cheap to bay as the product® on the newsstands, Strang also felt that reading internsts are largely determined fey availability*

She adds other determining factors - standards set in school

and fey the community and competition of other leisure-time activities*^ Gray is encouraged fey the largo difference between the actual interests and

Douglas Naples* Bernard Berelson, and franklin R» Bradshaw, Read,iff# ftoaa jfo People* (Biicagci Onlversity of Chicago frees, 1940, p. 44, S9RaM» Stnwg. Pr*bl*iaa la 1 M iteaMfflMft Stl Sm^M, M W I*t Solence Presw Printing Company, 1940, p, 307.

4£

reading choices Off peoplei he feels that *if actable materials were avail­ able end

reading tastes ana Interests imad be

Suprawod***® The profit motive which tends to produce reading with appeals to gOMiw&isMHl rather than specialised iaieraats (such a® the popular weekly

mwimlms) and high prices of hooks (gradually coming dam) ap® two reasons why the reader is sot really a fm» agont 1m his choices.

Ee is limited

hy what Is available and what he ©an afford* and the mechanics of distrlbullm of m m ling aatsiials may ho duet as effective in keeping apart the reader and what he is tat©rested in reading as In bringing them together, the factors which determine i&e& a person reads as sometime® opposed to what he say want to read are applicable to college students at well as to the rest of the populace,

the lapettmeo of this point wm% he kept in

mind in the later aspects of this study which will show what college students express as their reading choices.

Ferh&ps they will be accurate reflections

of their real interests* but the work of Naples and Tyler indicates the other choices night have been expressed if they were m m readily available* lose eostly, end m m attractively presented* Other reasons* however* mwt be noted which have an effect on reading oholoos* Of great Importance are the following* Background * family, books at home* schooling* parextel eacouragemcBt* friend®* nationality* age* sex* occupation* income* marital status Publication content - story element* style, emotional tone* suspense, length, format

% u i m

s. ar*t «!g# uafmt. J&, S a s M Mtstama s M M&iti&l&SL a£ HMfeara Polios© Student©. (CentrlbutIons to Mue&tlom, Mo. 376,) &ew fork* of Publications, feaoher® College, Columbia University, 1988, p. feS.

bureau

49

mlmUm*

vapid* utterly veHttUea type of peariodieel with whiefc our drug

s t e m ere becoming

Xm one student body of 9,CG0* store them

8,000 different periodical# were rc&d,^ A -study of IS* 49® irtudents la

m

junior college© attempted to find

oat which mganlme# were meat widely rood sad ofctah were ao®t highly valued.6® fho Hats were sot

alitor,, although eeme saegaaime# did appear on

both* for example, the mgoaiis© Aviation was met widely road* hat It# reader® war© ley&l, finding groat value im the publication* Mob. frequently do

mm

fMgaoiao reading than

than freshmen m u , wom % do m m

wmm*

senior

&m specific field® and man m m

mm mm in general

into root publication®, and relatively few read those m&gemlmo# ©omaidorod to have a high literary quality.

CalXa&e Students yuS SteaftBoaqern feble IV is e summary of selected studies in the newspaper reading of

college students*

rffeo different opinions regarding their reading continue

into this area *&eo«

for eamplo, one soya they *do mot

a® morbid am

no interest in the sensational item# . • « a# do m a y Americans ,*w and another aalniaine that by the time they

^Robert Cooley Angoll* Company, 1928, p, 184*

4io»,*

mmte.

She

college **they are habituated to

SUSBM»

totfiu

$* Appleton and

*0. A* Coryell, ‘'University library Itemise# it# Foriodieal Oireula** gflllagfi latijdB. H I (October* 1941) * P* T3*

W a l t e r Crosby Belle, "Periodical® Read by Junior College studentsfM

hUsmx (mOa&X'

®tx

{my. i ® « ) .

6%®b*rt Cooley Angoll. 1928* pp. 188*88*

Company,

pp. < m - m .

Ifcft 3 W 8 & .

*** s»*fc«

*>• **pl*fc» sad

60

ivs&lsg « . , aWMatioMO. awwa wlmon**.1*90 As in the field of reading in> tnwtoi Wojftw, «Uto» ttot location or accessibility of swws stories

tssvwem the eoownt thwy will bo rood?

Hooovor* others point owt that, &e

Is other typea of reading, the background of tbe Individual has a strong inflnaaeo os vte* he will read, bee intensively, end how mocft effort he will exert to get the newspaper he wants,

She importance of the newspaper

for eollege atudests sa well ae for others la stressed by Spongier is this

Democracy has by its oewepoper ©©HjpXetely ©gelled the boofc fra* the life of the people, fh© b©©&» world, with Its profusdoa of sts^poiEts that ee«p#ll«d thought to aeXeet and criticl&e, i® bow a real yomsssiom only for a few* the peepi* rood |g& p$per» ♦its* paper, whieh force© Itself through tbs frost doors by mill tens doily, speHbi&ds tkg> intellect from momirg to rl#s$* drive# the bode into oblivion, by its m m ©ngaging. lay­ out* oad If on# or onotbsr specimen of a boob doe# emerge into visibility, forestall® aad oljWnotos its possible offset# by ♦revieviiog* it,*® The tendency of non to bo more attracted by eurrsat m t e y i a l s ttem

women ere, «$ indicated In their more frequent reading of mg&eiaes, #©&» times late the field of tb© w ® p # © P *

However * most of

ib© s t a l e s snowed

that at least nine~te»ths of the eollege otodont# r ad one ©r more mmm* peters fairly regularly.

Hast parts they read and bow1completely they reed

then differ greatly.

®Viola Towpktas M t i f f , ** SwntQy of the heading r a k g r o t m d of Fresh** m m Students o f the 0X*s# of 1949 at the Mew Jersey State . P. 68, ® W a l d Spangler.

A a A. Knopft 198&, P« 461,

S u Bwllnn a£ J&a *££&..

Vol. IX.

Sew tortci

51

M a s * jg£ . iisliai m

& number of

efforts

tom® b » m

mm&m.

made to categorise fiction and saega-

alee# on the basis Of varlmie analyse#, After listing the reading ma~ terials in some order* those X lasts have boon applied to choices of mrSeue groups of college student# in order to find, oufc on. what level they were reading* .For instance, if a certain magaaiiwi were

mmlfm& m

culturally

low and it woo read frequently by * certain group of students* the writer often concluded that that student group was low culturally in its **ge*i»§ reeding; In the field of fiction, Footer’s study is the one sometimes u s e d . ^ She chose a list of authors; studied the reader® of these authors on. the basis of sox; age; education, oooupatlou, recent reeding., m &

source of

material read, ranked the readers, and then rented the authors they read; She ended with a six level classification for each of fifteen typos of writer®; including writers of detective; adventure; rosw&oe; love* cheer* fed; humorous; satiric; character, & M

other books,

Xu adventure fiction,

for e m s p l e ; Melville wee la. the h%feest close and burroughs sixth, or lowest; class, Its current value Two

lu the

because this study la almost fifteen years old.

1* H a l t e d .

analyse# of megaainea* the value of which are also limited be**

cause of the dates when completed* wet up lists on the basis of cultural content,

For oagaslats still published, which have not changed their

policies, the classifications may bo used, although one must be cautious in doing so.

Bvon though one m>&sdue maintains a stable policy* those

^%®anette Howard Foster* "An Approach to Fiction through the ehMw*,rt8ti*8 of Ite feeders." Uthirwor feuarterly. VI (April, 1538), pp. 184-74.

m located near it m the Herts m y have changed *!»»» the stales m m made* The earlier «iiv by Siorgaa wad Laafcy im l&M, classified V4 general

tem rest

w^sliiaa* using 80 -Judges^4 Almost thre^isarters of the

jMg®»at«s were based on actual loaowledge ©f the mgasliief?* end the list when finally arranged vm from jtfftff M^isy 4mm to True Ccnfoaglona.

In

1#4X, S w r and i t a M m attempted a similar study with 44 persons fudging ft maga»l«e»*S!& Although tbs flagamimea included are act nil the sa&e* there is enough duplication to indicate that both studios oass© to similar conclusions on tbs cultural rente of almost SO of tbs publications*

When

applying these standards to tbs mega&iaet read by college srtutots* sens oouelua® thoir reeding is culturally high, others eu3.tius.Xly low; because certain aag&ataee have changed greatly sines 1941,

m

sound eonelueleag

can now be rendered on this basis* The other major Methods of classifylag tsagesines ore on the basis of structure (monosyllables, length of eeaftefiooe* end similar factors) , by re&derts (Judged

toy scholastic

edge of eo&tempttmry

aptitude* Bnglish prafteleacy. and bnowl* M affairs* as done by Wort who used various tests),

and by general categories of mag&aiaee (adventure* business, detective* and ethers}*

^%lne®a I** Morgan m& Alice M* be«hy* "The cultural Sonteni of Omerel Interest Magaelaes** &£ *Xf (Catcher, 19$4)* pp. 090*$S« * % # A* Kerr and H* H* MTOers, wThe Cultural Value of 100 Heprese&tativ* Amwlowa wag**!®**," Sehooi **4 JO& M Z * *■>» 82, 1941), pp. 476-80,

^Jsjws S, Wert, "A Teotelcue for Bot#raS»3ag Unwit of Group Keadtnc,H 'Utii?“

M

b—

*l«a*l R»»eareh Bnllotin. XVI (Mey IS, 1937), |fy>( 113-21,

«p|piB|iiSlMM8MMMePNNPMeeMa' flieip|OlipiilllP*%®lf

the s « e

os in the population as a whole.

& m s i SssMm mam b a ittm hs&SaM&aa Heeding frequently Is at the top or m r the top of the list of leisure-time aotlvIt lot of college student© * although for certain Individ* m i s it m y he low* 4es$ as It might he for some member® of pmotioelly any group of persons, Oaliver found it eighth m the mn*$ list md third go for the wosen* Stoke end Cline found imigesfine reeding la third place sad book reading; twelfth* end. concluded that brighter students preferred reeding

mr®

than those lower on the Istelligenee it«p did.

k depression sturdy of the youth of Mew Y®tk City betwscm the eg#® of 14 end 35 (end It might he ncflm&od that m a y of tham were college students) shewed reading m s eighth

m

a first choice on the boys* list of recree*

tioaal activities end sixth for the gii&s* nearly ICO per cent of both

m

groups did some reading, most of the® frequently,

Another depression study

put reeding first for the boys and second for the girls.’ Tom&a*® ctudy of the gifted showed reading as a favorite activity for the 14*20 eg# group which Included many who were in college*^

^Ambrose Oallwer, 4 g£ %&£& Opllf^e SS^gtoM* (Contributions to Mue&tion, Ho. 444*) Mew Tories Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Ciolumbie University, 19351, p, 44* VO Stuart M* Stoke and W* S\ 01 in©* *The Avocations of One Hundred College Freshmen,** Jpprayfo pf. .^polled ffiByftftajoiflg. 11XX (June, 1939), p» 269. ^Mettle P, lileGill and M lm W* Matthews, Mft How "forks Macmillan 0*., 1940, p. MB.

it,, Bell* ^puth folj fllfof*iff Ooum 11