Horizon Europe

D2.1 Reading skills survey

(Report)

The iRead4Skills – Intelligent Reading Improvement System for Fundamental and Transversal Skills

Development is a Research & Innovation Action funded by the European Commission, Grant

number: 1010094837, Topic HORIZON-CL2-2022-TRANSFORMATIONS-01-07 – Conditions

for the successful development of skills matched to needs.

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

2

Document Control

Information:

Settings

Value

Deliverable No.

2.1

Document Title:

D2.1 - Reading skills survey

Author(s):

Susana Correia, Raquel Amaro, Ricardo Monteiro

Reviewer(s):

Xavier Blanco

Sensitivity:

Public

Date:

15/07/2024

Document Location: The latest version of this controlled document is stored in OneDrive-

fcsh.unl.pt/iRead4Skills/Project/Work Packages/WP2/Survey 1 - Reading Skills & Needs/D2.1 Reading skills survey.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 3

2. SURVEY STRUCTURE ............................................................................................................................................... 3

3. SURVEY DISSEMINATION ........................................................................................................................................ 6

4. PARTICIPANT PROFILE ............................................................................................................................................ 8

5. RESULTS .................................................................................................................................................................. 9

5.1. Portuguese survey ................................................................................................................................. 10

5.2. Spanish survey ........................................................................................................................................ 17

5.3. Trends ......................................................................................................................................................... 24

5.4. Summary of results ............................................................................................................................... 25

APPENDIX I – COMPARISON BETWEEN RESULTS ................................................................................... 27

APPENDIX II - PORTUGUESE SURVEY .......................................................................................................... 39

APPENDIX III - SPANISH SURVEY .................................................................................................................. 65

APPENDIX IV - FRENCH SURVEY ................................................................................................................... 89

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

3

1. Introduction

Within the Work Package 2 - Skills survey: needs, skills, and gaps of the iRead4Skills project, aiming at gathering

specific information on the needs, skills and skills gaps related to reading difficulties and literacy skills of the

target population- adult learners and trainers in Adult Learning (AL) and Vocational Educational Training (VET)

training centres, it was necessary to collect specific information on the needs related to reading difficulties and

literacy skills to inform further data collection and treatment.

The achievement of these goals requires the direct engagement of in-the-field, stakeholders and end-users,

achieved through the specially designed surveys, namely a new Reading Skills survey.

This survey consists in a qualitative and a quantitative survey of training centres, on people who are following

AL and VET courses or that act as trainers, designed with the participation of the in-the-field partners and

others with knowledge on reading skills and adult learning, to assure that the survey covers the specific

information required for the subsequent work packages (i.e., text genres, domains, cultural and scientific

expectations, etc.).

A first draft of the survey was built and discussed cooperatively and tested in a small group of people before

wider implementation.

2. Survey structure

The survey aims at a qualitative and quantitative inquiry of adult learners in AL and VET courses, as well as a

population with low literacy skills, to better understand the needs and skills gaps related to reading difficulties.

The idea is to create a sociodemographic profiling of the target population, as well as identifying this

population’s reading needs and preferences, and understanding the impact the lack of literacy skills causes on

their daily lives. This survey was designed by experts on education, who are partners in the project to cater it

to the target population.

In order to compose a survey that suited our target audience, the involvement of trainers and experts from

AL and VET centres was requested. Besides the input from the institutions of the three countries in which the

survey was conducted (UCLouvain – Belgium, UNL – Portugal, UAB – Spain), all partners and peer institutions

working closely with the adult learners and trainers were asked to contribute to the development of the

survey. Particularly, trainers from Portuguese government-backed AL programs, under the jurisdiction of the

MEC - Portugal, and experts in low-literacy population from UAB assisted in the survey’s constitution and

structure. The cooperation and direct engagement from experts and AL trainers resulted in a novel

questionnaire.

The survey collects information from adults, and trainees/students in AL and VET centres via the form of an

online questionnaire, designed in a web platform (Qualtrics) and distributed via direct contact and email.

Considering that the target group include people with low reading skills, the survey will also have an oral

version so people can listen to the questions and select the appropriate answers. The informed consent will

also be provided in both written and oral versions, to assure its understanding by all the envisaged target

groups.

Equivalent versions of the survey will be provided in French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Part 1: Information on the project and informed consent

Welcome message

Instructions on how to hear the text

Information on the iRead4Skills project

Informed consent

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

4

Figure 1: Preview of the first page of the PT survey (computer screen/tablet and smartphone).

Part II: Sociodemographic characteristics

Age

Gender

Location of residence (broad areas, depending on the specific geopolitical context: Belgium/France;

Spain; Portugal - see annexes for the specific lists).

Native country (different options for the different geopolitical contexts; see annexes for specific lists)

Nationality (different options for the different geopolitical contexts; see annexes for specific lists)

Status (married, single, widower, etc.)

Dependents

Professional situation (employed, unemployed, studying, etc.)

General health situation

Level of education (different options for the different geopolitical contexts; see annexes for specific

lists)

Languages known with estimated level of knowledge (different options for the different geopolitical

contexts; see annexes for specific lists)

Part III: Reading activities, needs and skills

Reading motivation

Favourite topics

Texts genres/document types and communicational contexts

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

5

Figure 2: Partial preview of the FR survey on reading needs and skills.

To avoid empty surveys, several options were implemented:

- all questions required an answer.

- in part II, an option 'I do not want to answer' was always available.

- whenever possible, closed lists were presented reflecting each geopolitical context (see Annexes).

- in part III, questions covered needs, text types/genres and skills simultaneously:

e.g., 'Have you ever needed to read these types of texts to find work?'

¬

(needs)

(text types/genres)

¯

I did

not

read

I read but I

did not

understand

I read and I

understood

little

I read and I

understood

almost all

I read and I

understood

all

¬

(skills)

job offers in newspapers,

magazines, or the Internet

information for job application

(for instance, which documents

to present, how to write the cv)

work contract

working hours

salary receipt

The goal was to reach a short, but comprehensive, survey. The final version of the survey consists of 24

questions: 12 sociodemographic questions and 12 questions encompassing reading needs, text types/genres

and reading skills.

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

6

3. Survey dissemination

The survey was widely disseminated with the support of partners and peer institutions that work directly with

AL and VET centres.

In cooperation with Work Package 7 - Communication, dissemination and exploitation, the surveys were

announced in the project website (https://iread4skills.com/activities/#surveys;

https://iread4skills.com/fr/activites/; https://iread4skills.com/es/actividades/; https://iread4skills.com/pt-

pt/atividades/), as well as in the project social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, X, YouTube).

Furthermore, the dissemination of the survey was also supported by dedicated media explaining the project

objectives and calling for participation (3 specific videos concerning Survey 1 for FR, SP and PT (see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e-qWMvG5rM; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy94cBCxhoc; and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz5c3_hRC2c).

Regarding the partner institutions and AL and VET centres in Portugal, Spain, Belgium and France, we

prospected the engagement with the total of 210 AL and VET centres (around 70 per country) with a minimum

response of 50% (100 centres) with 25 individuals per centre, resulting in a wide range of profiles, with a

minimum of 2500 participants. This expected engagement was actually surpassed in numbers with the number

of total entities contacted being 620, as detailed in the numbers below. However, as it will be shown further

ahead, the deficit of response and participation of the majority of these centres meant that our results were

scarce. This was particularly evident in French-speaking countries (Belgium and France). The close contact

between stakeholders, and UNL and UAB during the construction of the survey granted a greater involvement

in the dissemination and consequent implementation of the survey, making this dissemination vehicle most

effective in Portugal and Spain.

Call for participation and for dissemination was also directed to stakeholders and related entities, namely:

A. For French:

Number of entities contacted since May 2023: 220

Positive responses received for collaboration on the IRead4Skills project: 13

National or regional networks/institutions:

Agence nationale de lutte contre l'illettrisme (FR)

Centre de ressources Illettrisme Analphabétisme, France (FR)

Réseau Alpha Ile-de-France (FR)

Training centres:

Savoirs pour Réussir Paris (FR)

EPFC (BE)

Welcome Babbelkot (BE)

Eyad ASBL (BE)

Greta-CFA Aquitaine (FR)

Individual teachers: 3 teachers from different associations

Editors/writers of material for our target audience:

Le Français pour adultes (FR)

Culture et Santé (BE)

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

7

B. For Portuguese:

Number of entities contacted since May 2023: 350

Positive responses received for collaboration on the IRead4Skills project: 7

National or regional networks/institutions:

Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), OCDE

APCEP - Associação Portuguesa para a Cultura e Educação Permanente

Agência Nacional para a Qualificação e o Ensino Profissional

Training centres:

Qualifica Centres, through the MEC partner

Universidade Sénior de Lisboa

Universidade Sénior de Porto - Universidade Sénior Contemporânea

Universidade Sénior de Coimbra

The national network of Qualifica Centres consists of 303 centres, of which 34 are part of the IEFP's Directly

Managed Employment and Vocational Training Centres and 44 are part of Participated Management Centres.

For Spanish:

Number of entities contacted since May 2023: 50

Positive responses received for collaboration on the iRead4Skills project: 9

National or regional network:

FAEA (Federación de Asociaciones de Educación de personas Adultas)

Fundació Gentis

Training centres:

Centre d’adults Alzina (Cerdanyola, Barcelona)

Institut Formació Professional Sant Cugat (Barcelona)

Instituto Provincial de Educación Permanente (Jaén)

Escuela de Educación Técnica nº477 (Argentina)

Escuela de Educación Primaria para adultos “España” (Argentina)

Escuela de Educación Secundaria para adultos “Maestro Leiva” (Argentina)

Instituto de Educación Superior nº28 Olga Cossettini (Argentina)

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

8

4. Participant profile

Based on the respondent’s answers, a profile of the participants in this survey can be made. This profile is

specific to the language/territory, as it is shown below. Due to the different response capacity of the

stakeholders in the target countries, only the Portuguese and Spanish results are considered for this purpose.

Portuguese survey:

Figure 3: Portuguese survey data summary

Based on 633 respondents who took the Portuguese version of the survey, the average participant of this

survey is a woman, aged 18-40 years, of Portuguese nationality and with Portuguese as native

language. Regarding the socioeconomic component, this participant lives in the urban area of Lisbon (Lisbon

and Setúbal), is employed, married and has children under her care. Furthermore, the participant has

completed basic schooling (4

th

grade) and considers herself to be healthy.

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

9

Spanish survey:

Figure 4: Spanish survey data summary

With respect to the 192 respondents who took the Spanish version of the survey, the average participant of

this survey is a woman, aged 18-23 years, of Spanish nationality and with Spanish as native language.

In what concerns the socioeconomic aspect, this participant lives in the region of Catalonia, is a student,

single and does not have any children. The participant enrolled in a Vocation Educational Training

program and considers herself to be healthy.

5. Results

This section presents an analysis of the survey results, highlighting some relevant trends.

The results presented below are divided by language/survey, with a subsection focused on the results of the

Portuguese survey, and another on the results of the Spanish one. Due to the low number of respondents for

the French survey (8 respondents), the results of this survey will not be considered.

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

10

5.1. Portuguese survey

In total, information from 637 respondents was collected. From these, 633 were included and analysed -

although not everyone has responded to all the survey’s questions. Considering that the number of responses

per question was statistically satisfactory, the survey was closed and considered complete.

Most of the respondents stated that they read to learn new things and, after that, to learn about the news.

In general, respondents like to read about current issues of society, and health and wellness.

Considering the reading skills and needs in all the categories inquired, the respondents stated the following:

I. Home – they do not read home-related texts (adverts in newspapers, magazines or on the

internet, information or adverts on posters, lease agreement and condominium regulations) or that

they read and understand everything.

II. Transport – they generally read and overall comprehend timetables, destinations and stops

on posters or billboards, but tend not to read or fully understand information about strikes

and disruptions in transport information.

III. Government – respondents usually read and fully understand all types of text except for

instructions for filling in taxes, which they also don’t read, when compared to the others.

IV. Shopping – they read and understand (a little or a lot) the information presented in products

packaging and labelling when shopping, and product and restaurant prices on posters, flyers,

leaflets or catalogues are normally read and fully understood as well.

V. Healthcare – texts related to healthcare issues (medical prescriptions, medicine leaflets and

packaging, information about health services, etc.) tend to be read and partly or fully

understood.

VI. Security – respondents claim that they usually read and fully understand posters with safety

measures. The other types of text in this category are either not read or read and fully

understood.

VII. Education – generally, there is not a significant difference between all the types of text in this category.

The most part of the respondents states that they read and fully understand these texts.

VIII. Professional – respondents state that they read and understand everything in all of these texts.

Texts in work schedule are the most read and the most fully understood.

IX. Cultural – in general, posters for movies, concerts and festivities are the most read and fully

understood by respondents, as opposed to their city’s cultural agenda which is the least read and

the least understood.

X. Entertainment – Newspapers/magazines together with novels/shorts stories are the most read

and totally understood answers by respondents. Dictionary and technical books are the ones

that are the least understood by respondents. Self-help books as well as theatre plays are the least

read.

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

11

The following graphs present these data:

I. Why respondents read

II. What respondents like to read most (topics and genres)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

To learn new things To learn about news For entertainment To solve daily problems Other

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

animals

sports

family

technology

romance and love

travel

culinary

society

history

life stories

health and wellness

current issues

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

12

III. In which areas (home/transport/health) do respondents experience the most difficulties

a. Home

b. Transport

0,0%

5,0%

10,0%

15,0%

20,0%

25,0%

30,0%

35,0%

40,0%

45,0%

50,0%

Didn't read Read but

didn't

understand

Read and

understood a

little

Read and

understood a

lot

Read and

understood

everything

adverts in newspapers,

magazines or on the internet

information or adverts on

posters

lease agreement

condominium regulations

0,0% 10,0% 20,0% 30,0% 40,0% 50,0% 60,0%

Didn't read

Read but didn't understand

Read and understood a little

Read and understood a lot

Read and understood everything

informations on strikes and travel disruptions timetables, destinations and stops on posters, leaflets or billboards

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

13

c. Government

d. Shopping

0,0%

5,0%

10,0%

15,0%

20,0%

25,0%

30,0%

35,0%

40,0%

45,0%

50,0%

Didn't read Read but

didn't

understand

Read and

understood

a little

Read and

understood

a lot

Read and

understood

everything

forms to ask request documents

and/or government assistance

(identity card, maternity leave,

etc)

government messages (hospitals,

city hall, alerts)

instructions for filling in taxes

notifications to pay taxes or fines

0,0% 20,0% 40,0% 60,0% 80,0%

product packaging, labeling

product or restaurant prices on

posters, flyers, leaflets or

catalogues

special offers or promotions

Read and understood

everything

Read and understood a

lot

Read and understood a

little

Read but didn't

understand

Didn't read

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

14

e. Healthcare

f. Security

0,0%

10,0%

20,0%

30,0%

40,0%

50,0%

60,0%

70,0%

Didn't read Read but didn't

understand

Read and understood a

little

Read and understood a

lot

Read and understood

everything

medical prescriptions

medicine leaflets or packaging

health service messages (booking appointments and examinations, paying fees)

informations about health services or medical insurance in a leaflet or on the internet

health advice on posters (e.g. what to do in case of na heart attack)

0,0%

5,0%

10,0%

15,0%

20,0%

25,0%

30,0%

35,0%

40,0%

45,0%

50,0%

Didn't read Read but

didn't

understand

Read and

understood a

little

Read and

understood a

lot

Read and

understood

everything

posters or leaflets with safety

and preventive measures

instructions on how to file in a

formal complaint or claim

traffic tickets

car accident report

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

15

g. Education

h. Professional issues

0,0% 20,0% 40,0% 60,0% 80,0% 100,0%

ads for kindergarden, school or

courses in newspapers, magazines

and on the internet

enrolment instructions

list of school classifications and

grading

teacher's comments and notes

Didn't read

Read but didn't

understand

Read and understood a

little

Read and understood a

lot

Read and understood

everything

0,0% 20,0% 40,0% 60,0% 80,0%

ads for jobs in newspapers,

magazines and on the internet

information to apply for a job

(which documents to have, how to

write a resumé)

employment contract

work schedule

payslip

Read and understood

everything

Read and understood a

lot

Read and understood a

little

Read but didn't

understand

Didn't read

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

16

i. Culture

j. Entertainment

0,0% 20,0% 40,0% 60,0% 80,0%

ads for movies, series,

concerts and festivities in

newspapers, magazines or

on the Internet

posters for movies, concerts

and festivities

posters or newsletter for

the city's cultural agenda

Read and understood

everything

Read and understood

a lot

Read and understood

a little

Read but didn't

understand

Didn't read

0,0% 20,0% 40,0% 60,0% 80,0%

Others

novels or short stories

theatre plays

poetry or song's lyrics

dictionaries or technical books

comics

biographies

recipe books or gardening or…

self-help books

newspapers or magazines

Read and understood

everything

Read and understood a

lot

Read and understood a

little

Read but didn't

understand

Didn't read

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

17

5.2. Spanish survey

In the Spanish case, a total of 192 respondents answered the survey. Like the Portuguese case, not all

respondents provided answers to all of the questions in the survey.

Most of the respondents declared that they read, firstly, to learn new things and, secondly, for

entertainment. Most of them like to read the most about the current issues, followed by texts about society.

Considering the reading skills and needs in all the categories inquired, the respondents stated the following.

I. Home – in general, the respondents don’t read home-related texts, except for information or

adverts on posters, which they usually understand everything about.

II. Transport – respondents usually read and understand everything in both texts regarding

information on strikes and texts with timetables, destinations and stops.

III. Government – usually, respondents don’t read texts in this category, with the exception of

government messages and forms to request documents, which they usually read and

understand, with the second being fully understood much more often than the first.

IV. Shopping – respondents don’t seem to show any problems comprehending these texts, reading and

understanding completely all of them, albeit with a decrease in comprehension levels when

concerning product packaging and labelling.

V. Healthcare – these texts are usually read and fully understood by respondents, with health service

messages standing out in this regard from the others. On the other hand, texts in medicine leaflets

and packaging are the least read and understood.

VI. Security – respondents reported that they rarely read traffic tickets followed by reports of car

accidents. On the contrary, posters with safety measures are often read and fully

understand.

VII. Education – usually, respondents read and understand everything in texts of this category, except

for educational ads which they either don’t read or have trouble fully understanding.

VIII. Professional – respondents state that they generally read and fully understand work schedules.

However, they show some slight difficulties in understanding payslips and are more likely to not

read the rest of the texts and, if they do, to have some difficulties understanding them.

IX. Cultural – generally, respondents read and fully understand posters for movies, concerts and

festivities as well as ads in newspapers, magazines and the Internet for these same events.

They report a bit more disinterest in reading their city’s cultural agenda or newsletter, as well

as completely understanding these texts.

X. Entertainment – respondents state that novels/short stories and newspapers/magazines are the

genres which they read and fully understand the most. They seem to have a bit more issues with

gardening and DIY manuals and even more difficulties with poetry and song’s lyrics and with

technical books. Lastly, they tend to not read self-help books.

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

18

The following graphs better detail these data.

I. Why respondents read

II. What respondents like to read the most (topics and genres)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

To learn new things For entertainment To learn about the

news

To solve daily

problems

Other

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

gardening

religion

biography

crimes and thrillers

animals

cars and motorcycles

politics and citizenship

family

fashion

culinary

society

current issues

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

19

III. In which areas (home/transport/health) do respondents experience the most

difficulties

a. Home

b. Transport

0,0%

5,0%

10,0%

15,0%

20,0%

25,0%

30,0%

35,0%

40,0%

45,0%

50,0%

Didn't read Read but

didn't

understand

Read and

understood a

little

Read and

understood a

lot

Read and

understood

everything

adverts in newspapers,

magazines or on the

internet

information or adverts

on posters

lease agreement

condominium

regulations

0,0% 5,0% 10,0% 15,0% 20,0% 25,0% 30,0% 35,0% 40,0% 45,0% 50,0%

Didn't read

Read but didn't understand

Read and understood a little

Read and understood a lot

Read and understood everything

informations on strikes or travel disruptions timetables, destinations and stops on posters, leaflets or billboards

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

20

c. Government

d. Shopping

0,0%

5,0%

10,0%

15,0%

20,0%

25,0%

30,0%

35,0%

Didn't read Read but didn't

understand

Read and

understood a

little

Read and

understood a lot

Read and

understood

everything

forms to ask request

documents and/or

government assistance

(identity card,

maternity leave, etc)

government messages

(hospitals, city hall,

alerts)

instructions for filling

in taxes

notifications to pay

taxes or fines

0,0% 10,0% 20,0% 30,0% 40,0% 50,0% 60,0%

product packaging, labeling

product or restaurant prices on posters,

flyers, leaflets or catalogues

special offers or promotions

Read and understood everything

Read and understood a lot

Read and understood a little

Read but didn't understand

Didn't read

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

21

e. Healthcare

f. Security

0,0%

5,0%

10,0%

15,0%

20,0%

25,0%

30,0%

35,0%

40,0%

45,0%

50,0%

Didn't read Read but didn't

understand

Read and understood a

little

Read and understood a

lot

Read and understood

everything

medical prescriptions

medicine leaflets or packaging

health service messages (booking appointments and examinations, paying fees)

information about health services or medical insurance in a leaflet or on the Internet

health advice on posters (e.g. what to do in case of a heart attack)

0,0%

5,0%

10,0%

15,0%

20,0%

25,0%

30,0%

35,0%

40,0%

45,0%

Didn't read Read but didn't

understand

Read and

understood a

little

Read and

understood a

lot

Read and

understood

everything

posters or leaflets with

safety and preventive

measures

instructions on how to

file in a formal complaint

or claim

traffic tickets

car accident report

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

22

g. Education

h. Professional issues

0,0% 20,0% 40,0% 60,0% 80,0% 100,0%

teacher's comments and notes

enrolment instructions

list of school classifications and

grading

ads for kindergarden, school or

courses in newspapers, magazines

and on the internet

Didn't read

Read but didn't

understand

Read and understood a

little

Read and understood a

lot

Read and understood

everything

0,0% 10,0% 20,0% 30,0% 40,0% 50,0%

ads for jobs in newspapers,

magazines and on the Internet

information to apply for a job

(which documents to have, how to

write a resumé)

employment contract

work schedule

payslip

Read and understood

everything

Read and understood a

lot

Read and understood a

little

Read but didn't

understand

Didn't read

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

23

i. Culture

j. Entertainment

0,0% 20,0% 40,0% 60,0%

ads for movies, series, concerts and

festivities in newspapers,

magazines or on the Internet

posters for movies, concerts and

festivities

posters or newsletter for the city's

cultural agenda

Read and understood

everything

Read and understood a

lot

Read and understood a

little

Read but didn't

understand

Didn't read

0,0% 10,0% 20,0% 30,0% 40,0% 50,0% 60,0%

Others

novels or short stories

theatre plays

poetry or song's lyrics

dictionaries or technical books

comics

biographies

recipe books or gardening or…

self-help books

newspapers or magazines

Read and

understood

everything

Read and

understood a lot

Read and

understood a

little

Read but didn't

understand

Didn't read

iRead4Skills D2.1 Reading skills survey

Date: 15/07/2024

24

5.3. Trends

The data resulting from the survey’s responses were analysed with the purpose of highlighting some relevant

trends and statistically relevant connections between variables. These will mainly be focused on relating the

reading habits and reading skills with the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents. As there are many

differences in the results of the Portuguese and the Spanish survey, these trends are presented separately for

each survey (for a direct comparison between Portuguese and Spanish surveys, cf. Appendix 1).

Portuguese survey:

The genres/topics most read by respondents varies according to their professional situation, as shown in the

table below.

Retired

%

Student

%

Employed

%

Works

from

Home

%

Unemployed

%

Genres

/

Topics

Culinary

62

Current

Issues

43

Current

Issues

67

Current

Issues

60

Current

Issues

49

History

50

History

33

Health and

Wellness

45

Culinary

36

Health and

Wellness

38

Although the most read topic (Current Issues) is stable among different categories, apart from Retired, the

second most read topic changes from category to category.

Regarding reading skills, an interesting trend is present amidst a certain age group. Individuals of 18 years old

are the ones that show the most difficulties understanding texts related to the Home category. This age group

in specific is the one that has the highest percentage of selection of the answer “Read but didn’t understand”,

in the Home category, in its four subcategories (38%, 29%, 13%, 29%), leading them to be the age group that

comprehends the least these texts.

When contrasting the answers from individuals with different kinds of health situations and their understanding

of texts associated with the Health domain, the data shows that individuals who are healthy (no health issues)

are the most likely to fully understand texts in this domain. On the other hand, individuals with health

complications (chronic, severe and light health issues) tend to not read these texts (40-50%).

Lastly, when analysing the responses from the individuals from the two most common regions in the survey –

Lisbon and the autonomous region of Madeira – the data shows contrasts between the two. The table below

shows these differences.

Lisbon

%

Madeira

%

Schooling

University degree

28

Basic school

38

Vocational Training

18

Secondary school

32