How does MRI measure magazine readership?
During the personal interview, MRI uses a four-step process to measure magazine readership. The first step, called a six-month screen, eliminates those publications that the respondent has not read in the last six months. In the second step, the respondent is then asked about the frequency of reading (on average, out of four issues published, how many does he or she read?). The third step determines whether the respondent qualifies for the publication’s average issue audience, determined by whether or not he or she has read the publication during its most recent publication period (for example, if the magazine is published weekly, has the respondent read or looked into it in the past 7 days?). In the final step, the respondent is asked about more detail (where read, how obtained, etc.) on the magazines for which he or she has qualified as part of the average issue audience.
