Research note : young people and patterns of time consumption in relation to print media

This article evaluates trends in young people's reading habits. In order, to get a better understanding of reading habits, the article compares the results of comparative and longitudinal research with results of time budget analysis studies. In,accordance;with. the principle of displacement, time consumption analysis confirms a relationship between television viewing time and reading time, although many variables are influential in this process. Time budget analysis also indicates that the decline in reading-time has not :been equal across different print,media. The article presents the results of a research project. that combined, qualitative and quantitative research techniques to analyse the media usage of Flemish 16- to 18-year-olds. The results demonstrate that. reading is influenced by many different variables, among which socializing variables are the strongest. The hypothesis that television viewing time has a negative effect on reading time has, to be differentiated since the results show a different relationship between viewing time and the reading of books, magazines and newspapers respectively