Did Women Listen to News? A Critical Examination of Landmark Radio Audience Research (1935–1948)

Abstract

This paper critically analyzes the generalizations researchers made about women's program preferences and the quantitative data used to support these statements. This study suggests that researchers drew on pre-conceived notions of what programs women preferred listening to, even as their research suggested otherwise. In particular, early research published in 1935 in The Psychology of Radio failed to see significant overlaps in men's and women's program tastes. Later research by Paul Lazarsfeld perpetuated the myth that women were not interested in news or current events.