Media Lives Study

The Media Lives study was originally set up in early 2005 to provide a small-scale, detailed, qualitative complement to Ofcom’s quantitative Media Literacy Tracker. It examines how digital media fits into people’s lives , what is s ue s and concerns they have regarding digital media, what motiva te s them to adopt new technology and learn new skills, and what the barriers are to them getting the most out of such technologies.

Whereas the Tracker seeks to quantify in a statistically robust way how many and what kind of people have different levels of access, awareness, skills and understanding, Media Lives aims to provide a human face to the data.

Each participant is interviewed at length and in-home, which allows for a full exploration of the relevant issues and for demonstration/observation of media usage in situ.  Six waves of research have now been conducted, in February 2005, and October 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

View and download the study