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Cited by 562News Media Framing and Political CommunicationSurvey Methodology and NonresponseMedia Influence and Politics

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 35 of the 35 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The Immensely Inflated News Audience: Assessing Bias in Self-Reported News Exposure

Prior, Markus·2009·Public Opinion Quarterly
DOI 10.1093/poq/nfp002
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Abstract

Many studies of media effects use self-reported news expo- sure as their key independent variable without establishing its validity. Motivated by anecdotal evidence that people's reports of their own me- dia use can differ considerably from independent assessments, this study examines systematically the accuracy of survey-based self-reports of news exposure. I compare survey estimates to Nielsen estimates, which do not rely on self-reports. Results show severe overreporting of news exposure. Survey estimates of network news exposure follow trends in Nielsen ratings relatively well, but exaggerate exposure by a factor of 3 on average and as much as eightfold for some demographics. It follows that apparent media effects may arise not because of differences in ex- posure, but because of unknown differences in the accuracy of reporting exposure.

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Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. Bechtel, 1972, Correlates between Observed Behavior and Questionnaire Responses in Television Viewing, 274
  2. Brady, 1986, The Perils of Survey Research: Inter-Personally Incomparable Responses, Political Methodology, 11, 269
  3. Papper, 2004, Middletown Media Studies: Media Multitasking and How Much People Really Use the Media, International Digital Media and Arts Association Journal, 1, 9
  4. Robinson, 1985, The Validity and Reliability of Diaries versus Alternative Time Use Measures, 33
  5. Romer, 2004, Capturing Campaign Dynamics
  6. Zaller, 1996, Analysis of News Exposure Items from the 1995 Pilot

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Metadata

Authors
Prior, M.
Affiliations
Princeton University (US)
Corresponding author
Prior, Markus
ORCID
Prior, Markus
Venue
Public Opinion Quarterly
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2009
Volume
73
Issue
1
Pages
130-143
ISSN
  • 0033-362X (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-5331
DOI
10.1093/poq/nfp002
OpenAlex
W2109790075
Cited by
561
References
35
Citations by year
2026: 20 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 62 · 2020: 52 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 51 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 35 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 34 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 15
FWCI
48.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Public Opinion Quarterly (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Communication › News Media Framing and Political Communication
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Media Influence and Politics
Keywords
measurement validity, overreporting, Nielsen ratings, network news, media influence, survey accuracy, self-assessment bias, television audience measurement

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