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Investigating the amount of reading and its determinants in the students in Tehran: A comparison in terms of gender and university

Elmira Dashti Darian and Ali Akbar Seif

The present study means to investigate the amount of reading and its determinants in the students in Tehran with regard to their gender and the type of university. The population of the study consisted of 142063 male and female students. From among the population, a sample of 410 students (229 female and 181 male) was selected as the participants using proportional stratified random sampling. The instruments included ‘fixed-interval time diary questionnaire’ and the researcher-made ‘study determinants questionnaire’. The data was analyzed at both descriptive and inferential levels. The results showed that the students studied for 160.68 minutes per day on average. Of this time, they allocated 148.68 minutes to study their lessons (academic reading) and 12.03 minutes to read leisurely. The mean academic reading time in male and female students was 126.35 and 167.60 minutes per day, respectively. The mean leisure reading time was 14.75 and 11.52 minutes per day in male and female students, respectively. The results revealed a significant difference in reading time between male and female students so that female students spent more time studying their lessons. However, there was no significant difference between male and female students in reading leisurely. The results showed that State University students spent significantly more time (168.48 minutes per day) studying their lessons comparing with Azad University students (129.14 minutes per day). Nevertheless, there was no significant difference between these students in reading leisurely. The data obtained from Study Determinants Questionnaire revealed that the students considered the most significant barriers to academic reading to be watching TV and surfing the Internet, the influence of campus atmosphere and course books, poor prospects of their field of study, high prices of course books and poor library facilities, respectively. Such factors as motivation for academic success, personal interest and parents’ influence were found to have a positive effect on the amount of academic reading in students. The factors affecting leisure reading included gaining general knowledge, deriving pleasure from reading, lack of understating of good books and lack of time.