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February 4, 2008
USA Today and Biased Surveys
USA Today has posted the results of a survey of “youth 8 - 18,” It's a nice graphic that USA Today does so week.
Respondents were asked whether they “have visited a public library or its website in the last year.” They were also asked whether they visited the library for personal or school use. Answers:
“Personal use” 78%
“For school” 67%
“Read there” 34%
“Visit website” 34%.
The current snapshot asks:
“When was the last time you visited a public library or its website?”
The options were,
“Can’t remember,”
“Within past year,”
“More than a year ago,”
“Never.”
We didn't do too bad. And at least the question included the web presence.
Hmmm, I think I'll do a survey of our library users. My question could be:
When was the last time you read a newspaper?
The options could be the same:
“Can’t remember,”
“Within past year,”
“More than a year ago,”
“Never.”
Hmmmm. Libraries are mostly open daily or 6-7 days/week. Newspapers publish 6-7 days a week, although USA Today only does 5. Why not ask it as an annual question. Seems fair....
The good news is that the numbers weren't too bad. Tonight it showed only 2% hadn't visited a library and 61% had been in the last year.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at February 4, 2008 6:55 PM