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| Poll: Internet Use & Reading habit In Palestine
This poll (No.142, 07 September 2005), carried out bu the Palestinain Center for Public opinion, aims at probing the opinion of the people about the use of Internet and the habit of reading in the OPT.
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With the
beginning of the scholastic year
(60.8%) Of the
Palestinians have their own PC.
(37.6%) Of the
Palestinians use the Internet.
(13.1%) Are Internet
subscribers.
(27.2 %) Did not read a
book since a long time.
(36.7 %) Are wearied of
reading due to their reliance on the media.
From Majd
Kokaly ? Information Section
In the latest poll
prepared by Dr. Nabil Kukali and published by the Palestinian Center for
Public Opinion (PCPO) in the period from (30 Aug ? 3 Sep), 2005
during different working hours, a random sample of (1040) Palestinian
adults over 18 years was included, representing the various demographic
models of the Palestinian society in the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip.
"The most important thing this poll has
revealed", Dr. Kukali said is that (37.6%) of the Palestinians are
using the Internet." They are divided into (52.1%) males and (47.9%)
females. (60.8%) of the Palestinians have their
own PC at home and (41.6%) of them use the Internet at home, which is
the highest rate among the other Internet locations. "The increase in
the Internet users", Dr.
Kukali commented "is due
to the services and facilities the Telecommunication and Internet
companies operating in Palestine
are providing for the citizens". He further indicated that the
Palestinians, compared with other countries, are very advanced in this
field of technology, taking into consideration that the Internet users
in the Palestinian territories are increasing many times over the rate
of the neighboring countries.
Dr. Kukali said further that the educational
institutions in the Palestinian territories should exert more efforts
on the building of a strong relationship with the people and perform
educational programs encouraging them to develop the reading habit.
?All interviews took place
on the basis of random choices of respondent?s homes, i.e. face to
face?, Elias Kukali, from the Public Relations Office at PCPO,
said. The choices were takes from a total of (118) election sites.
These election sites are randomly chosen by using the method of the
simple random sample. These sites in turn were the beginning of the
random sample choice made from those regions in accordance with PCPO?s long experienced methodology. The sampling
error throughout the survey is found at (?3.04%). Elias Kukali added "the percentage of female respondents
was (47.7%) whereas that of the male respondents reached (52.3%). He stated that the average size of the
respondent families was (7.2) individuals. He said that the composition
of the sample according to the type of residence was as follows:
(52.6%) city, (29.5%) village, (17.9%) refugee camp. And the Average
age of the sample: (33) years.
Elias kukali added that the percentage of married
respondents in the sample added up to (66.0%), while that of the single
ones reached (29.4%), and that of other cases was (4.6%).
Dr. Kukali said the
results of the poll were as follows:
Internet Use:
1) Do you have a PC at
home?
2) Are you using the
Internet?
3) Are you an Internet
subscriber?
4) How frequently did you
use the Internet in the running year?
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1. Daily
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23.7%
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2. More than 3 times a? week
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27.4%
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3. Once or twice a? week
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31.3%
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4. 1 ? 4 times a? month
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13.7%
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5. 1 ? 12 times in the last months.
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3.9%
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5) Where is the location
of your Internet?
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1. At home
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49.6%
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2. At work
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20.2%
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3. Internet Caf?s
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18.5%
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4. University
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9.0%
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5. Otherwise
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2.7%
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6) If you are a regular user of the internet,
apart from email, what are your one or two reasons for using it?
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1. News
and current affairs
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17.7%
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2.
Educational reference
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18.8%
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3.
Professional reference
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7.1%
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4.
Business information and contacts
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10.2%
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5.
Travel and tourism information
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2.3%
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6.
Social chat
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22.5%
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7. Sport
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4.1%
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8.
Culture
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13.2%
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9.
Other recreation
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2.8%
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10.
Consumer information and purchases
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1.3%
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Reading habit:
7) Specify the time
elapsed since you have read the last book?
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1. Less
than one month
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37.3%
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2. Two
months
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21.8%
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3. Six
months
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13.7%
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4. I
didn't read a book since a long time.
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27.2%
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8) Specify the type of
book you have read?
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1.
Scientific
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17.7%
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2.
Notional
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15.2%
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3.
Cultural
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22.5%
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4.
Political
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11.3%
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5.
Religious
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21.5%
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6.
Otherwise
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11.8%
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9) From where did you get
that book?
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1.
Purchased from the market
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41.3%
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2.
Borrowed from a public library
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28.6%
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3.
Borrowed from a friend.
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30.1%
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10) How do you explain
your weariness of reading?
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1. The
psychological status due to the prevailing conditions
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31.1%
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2.
Relying on the media
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36.7%
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3. Lack
of money
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18.8%
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4.
Unwilling to read
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13.4%
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11) Education:
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1. Illiterate
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4.8%
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2.
Primary (1 ? 8 years)
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10.7%
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3.
Partial secondary (9 ?11 years)
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14.1%
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4. Full
secondary (12years)
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26.7%
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5.
Further (13 ? 14 years)
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18.7%
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6.
Academic (15+ years)
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27.8%
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7.
Refused to answer
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0.2%
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? Palestian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO)
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