Onderzoeksartikel

Veelkijkers versus vaakkijkers: betrouwbaarheid en validiteit bij het meten van het kijkvolume

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Abstract

There are a number of ways to measure the ‘use’ of television. Even though such measures are often called ‘viewing volume’, the operationalization differs to such an extent that they may not measure the same thing. First, not every index of viewing is equally reliable. People-meter methods are very accurate in measuring viewing behaviour, but there is no a priori reason to accept them as reliable indicators of viewing attitudes or habits. Second, in a lot of survey-based research different measurements of these habits are used based on self-reports. The reliability and validity of these variables is often poor. Quite a number of authors have assumed implicitly that heavy viewers are also frequent viewers, by multiplying the number of hours watched on an average day with a fixed weight (e.g. seven) to obtain an estimate of weekly viewing. This article shows that heavy viewers are not necessarily frequent viewers and vice versa. Third, as a result many results in television research based on different operationalizations of the viewing variable are not necessarily comparable. Each variable represents a theoretical construct. It is important to define this construct correctly and explicitly. It is a step towards making television research more reliable, valid and comparable.

How to Cite:

Van Den Bulck, J., (1996) “Veelkijkers versus vaakkijkers: betrouwbaarheid en validiteit bij het meten van het kijkvolume”, Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap 24(1), 40–56.