The Media Use in the Middle East study is the largest, most comprehensive longitudinal examination of media use and cultural attitudes in the Arab world ever compiled, and is freely available to the public, at this website. The project has generated important knowledge about media use among both Qatari nationals and non-national residents, and how media usage in Qatar compares to other countries in the Arab region.
This report provides insight extracted from the analysis of the data collected during the eight wave of this study. Unlike previous years, when face-to-face interviewing was used as the primary methodology for data collection in all countries except Qatar, in 2021/2022 data in all countries were collected via telephone interviews, as face-to-face interviewing was not possible due to COVID restrictions in the participating countries. Despite the slight methodological shift, samples across waves remain comparable, as consistency in sample quotas by gender, age, geography and national vs. expatriate status; and survey content replication was followed rigorously.
The 2021/2022 survey replicated many of the questions included in the 2014, 2016, and 2018 surveys, which focused on entertainment media; longitudinal comparisons are provided when applicable. The 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 surveys focused on news media in the Middle East and are referenced in a smaller number of questions where longitudinal comparisons are available.
Background of the project
Knowledge economies need data on the kinds of information citizens and residents use, and what devices and means they prefer to access it. In 2013 and 2014, Northwestern University in Qatar conducted its first multinational surveys of media use and cultural attitudes in the Arab region, and put the resulting data online in a user-friendly interactive format, so that business owners, government officials, researchers, students, journalists, teachers, and others can learn about media use patterns and behaviors in Qatar, and can compare findings from the Emirate to those from other Arab countries. With support from NPRP 7-1757-5-261, researchers at NU-Q continued to publish findings and interactive data online for the public in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022.
Each year of the project alternates between a primary focus on news/information use and entertainment media use. Specifically, in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019, the study examined media use related to news and general information consumption, while in even-numbered years the study carries an entertainment media use focus. The alternating focus of the study ensures that the findings will not only be useful to, say, journalists and political scientists, but also researchers and practitioners in entertainment media fields such as film, gaming, and music industries.
Objectives of this study
The three primary goals of Media Use in the Middle East: Qatar in a changing region are,
- To collect nationally representative, longitudinal data on media use and related attitudes in Qatar and other Arab countries, and to place Qatar’s media use and information needs in the context of a changing region.
- To publish the findings in a dynamic, online interactive platform that users can employ to filter results by country, age, gender, nationality, education levels, and more.
- To utilise the resultant raw data for secondary analyses published in refereed journals, so as to explore in greater depth the behavioral, attitudinal, and demographic correlates of media use and information needs.
For any enquiries related to this study, contact mideastmedia@qatar.northwestern.edu.
Eddy Borges-Rey is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University in Qatar and is the Lead PI of the Media Use in the Middle East study. His area of academic expertise is digital journalism and emerging media, and his research looks at the interplay between media, technology, and power, particularly around issues in data journalism, critical data, code and algorithm studies, artificial intelligence and automation, mobile journalism, photojournalism, and data and media literacy. He is co-editor of the book series Palgrave Studies in Journalism and the Global South. Prior to obtaining an MA and PhD in Media and Communication, Borges-Rey worked as a broadcast journalist, media producer and PR practitioner for almost 15 years. eddy.borges-rey@northwestern.edu
Venus Jin is a Professor at Northwestern University in Qatar. She is a social scientist committed to interdisciplinary research on emerging technologies, branding, social media marketing, and consumer behaviour. Jin is a prolific researcher and currently acts as the Lead PI of the research project “Assessing Qatari Emerging Media (VR/AR) Engagement”. She also is the Director of the Communication Program at NUQ. Venus.Jin@northwestern.edu
Bianca Simon is the Manager of Research Administration at Northwestern University in Qatar. bianca.simon@northwestern.edu
APA:
Borges-Rey, E., Jin, V., Khalid, J., Al Manaa, M., & Khamis, I. (2022). Media use in the Middle East, 2021-2022: A seven-nation survey. Northwestern University in Qatar. Retrieved from www.mideastmedia.org/survey/2022
MLA:
Borges-Rey, Eddy, Venus Jin, Joe Khalil, Malek Al Manaa and Iman Khamis. Media Use in the Middle East, 2021-2022: A Seven-Nation Survey. Northwestern University in Qatar, 2022, www.mideastmedia.org/survey/2022.
Chicago:
Borges-Rey, Eddy, Venus Jin, Joe Khalil, Malek Al Manaa and Iman Khamis. “Media Use in the Middle East, 2021-2022: A Seven-Nation Survey.” Northwestern University in Qatar, 2022. www.mideastmedia.org/survey/2022.