Measuring reading time: Comparing logged and self-reported data in relation to reading skills

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Child Development

Background:

• Home reading time is crucial for children's literacy development.
• Traditional self-report measures of reading time are prone to bias.
• Mobile app data offers a potentially more reliable method for tracking reading behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare logged versus self-reported reading time in primary school children.
• To assess the association of each measure with reading fluency.
• To determine the predictive validity of different reading time measures.

Main Methods:

• 109 French primary school children (Grades 1-5) and their parents participated.
• Parents provided retrospective self-reported weekly reading time.
• A mobile application logged children's reading activities over 14 days.
• Children's reading fluency was assessed.

Main Results:

• Self-reported reading time (6.26 hrs/week) was significantly higher than logged time (2.11 hrs/week).
• Logged reading time demonstrated stronger predictive validity for reading fluency (r=.39) compared to self-reports (r=.25).
• Only logged reading time remained a significant predictor of reading performance in regression analyses.

Conclusions:

• Logged reading time via mobile apps provides more accurate estimates than self-reports.
• Digital logging methods offer superior predictive validity for reading skills.
• Ambulatory assessment using mobile apps is a promising tool for studying reading habits and literacy.