Kees van Rees

Cultural classifications under discussion latent class analysis of highbrow and lowbrow reading

Abstract Cultural classifications, in the sense of categorisations of cultural goods and practices, are often abused in cultural stratification studies to classify people involved with these goods and practices. In this paper the issue is discussed of how to use cultural classifications without begging the question of their definition and without claiming to have at our disposal an archimedean point permitting the classification of cultural goods. Using time budget data from the 1990 Dutch Time Budget Survey (over 3000 respondents) and focussing on one cultural activity (reading in leisure time) latent class analysis - a method for finding the latent classes or categories of variables - provides an empirical basis which permits exploring an extrapolation of Peterson and Simkuss (1992) suggestion (on omnivorous and univorous musical preferences) with respect to actual reading behavior. It is shown that present-day Dutch society is composed of clearly distinguishable categories: non-readers, high readers, and low readers. Besides, there is a small group which combines apparently heterogeneous categories. (Focus on a single cultural practice must make one hesitant to label this group ‘reading omnivores’.) Subsequently, a multinomial logit model is described and used to test hypothesized causal relationships between kinds of reading behavior and a number of background (SES) and intervening variables. These variables help to account for class membership and thus make possible the explanation of differences in reading behavior.

Media Orientation and Media Use Television Viewing Behavior of Specific Reader Types From 1975 to 1995

Data from the 1975 and 1995 Dutch surveys were used to analyze the relationship between television viewing and reading behavior and the changes in this relationship over time. The central question of the article is, How do specific reader types differ in their television viewing behavior? This question is answered by using latent class analysis to identify the set of mutually exclusive latent classes of readers and by estimating the probability that each reader type will display a specific kind of content-related television viewing behavior. Kinds of print media and television programs are differentiated by referring to the extent to which they each focus on kinds of information or entertainment or both. Five reader types were identified according to how each specifically combines various reading items. Analysis of their television viewing behavior shows the existence of five audience segments with distinct background characteristics. The results give empirical substance to the notions of media orientatio...Data from the 1975 and 1995 Dutch surveys were used to analyze the relationship between television viewing and reading behavior and the changes in this relationship over time. The central question of the article is, How do specific reader types differ in their television viewing behavior? This question is answered by using latent class analysis to identify the set of mutually exclusive latent classes of readers and by estimating the probability that each reader type will display a specific kind of content-related television viewing behavior. Kinds of print media and television programs are differentiated by referring to the extent to which they each focus on kinds of information or entertainment or both. Five reader types were identified according to how each specifically combines various reading items. Analysis of their television viewing behavior shows the existence of five audience segments with distinct background characteristics. The results give empirical substance to the notions of media orientation and audience segmentation; they document the overall decline in reading.

Do changes in socialization lead to decline in reading level? How parents, literary education, and popular culture affect the level of books read

The influence of reading socialization on the level of books read in adult life was investigated for birth cohorts who finished secondary education between 1975 and 1998. Three forms of reading socialization were taken into account: socialization in the parental home, literary socialization at secondary school, and socialization through popular culture. Data on these modes of socialization were gathered by questioning the socializing agents (parents and literature teachers), in addition to the target group of (former) students. The level of books read was measured using direct indicators of authors’ prestige in the literary field. Multi-level analyses show positive effects of parents with a high reading level and number of hours spent on literary education at school. Frequent watching of television at a young age was found to affect reading level negatively. However, trends in reading level among cohorts could not be explained by trends in reading socialization.

Conditions of cultural production and reception. Introduction

The papers in this special issue of Poetics have a common origin. They were all prepared for the 6th Conference of the International Society for the Empirical Study of Literature (IGEL) held at Utrecht University (the Netherlands) in August of 1998. The Societys interdisciplinary character and its focus on the activities of producers, mediators, recipients, and post-processors of literary phenomena in their respective social context were reflected in the conference program and are also at the heart of this issue.