Cultural diversity
Interest in political news

Occupying oneself with politics and current affairs - More than half an hour per day on television

Definitions/comments: Educational levels: low: ISCED 0–2 (compulsory schooling, pre-vocational education); intermediate: ISCED 3–4 (apprenticeship, matura); high: ISCED 5–6 (university, other tertiary). Economic activity: Persons who indicated that they are mainly economically active.

Question wording: ‘On an average weekday, how much time, in total, do you spend watching television? And again on an average weekday, how much of your time watching television is spent watching news or programmes about politics and current affairs?‘

Answer categories: ‘no time at all’, ‘less than ½ hour’, ‘½ hour to 1 hour’, ‘more than 1 hour’, up to 1 ½ hours’, ‘more than 1 ½ hours’, ‘up to 2 hours’, ‘more than 2 hours’, ‘up to 2 ½ hours’, ‘more than 2 ½ hours’, ‘up to 3 hours’, ‘more than 3 hours’. Percentages correspond to respondents watching programmes about politics and current affairs on television for over half hour on an average weekday.

Sample size: ESS 2006: 1804–2916; US-CID: 1001; weighted data.

Source: ESS 2006; US-CID 2005.

Data for the indicator or in excel.

Description and explanation in the corresponding chapter of the Social Report 2008.