--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's very little solid research on…" description: "\"There's very little solid research on readership, yet people make pronouncements about it all the time.\" — Robert Hass" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d66/robert-hass-3548_journalism_there-s-very-little-solid-research-on-re_1507660.png" --- # There's very little solid research on readership, yet… ![“There's very little solid research on readership, yet people make pronouncements about it all the time.” quote by Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d66/robert-hass-3548_journalism_there-s-very-little-solid-research-on-re_1507660.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d66/robert-hass-3548_journalism_there-s-very-little-solid-research-on-re_1507660.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d66/robert-hass-3548_journalism_there-s-very-little-solid-research-on-re_1507660.png) > “There's very little solid research on readership, yet people make pronouncements about it all the time.” [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Research on reading habits is scarce, yet people frequently claim expertise, exposing a gap between knowledge and opinion. **In simple terms:** Reading research is limited. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about literacy. Themes knowledge gaps public discourse literacy Mood critical inquisitive Type academic commentary When to use this quote - education policy - book clubs - media analysis Key Concepts epistemology media criticism Questions to Reflect On - How can we improve reading research? - Why do people feel confident without data? A Different Perspective Some informal insights can be valuable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) ## Related quotes > [Obviously Feministing is kind of a women's space in a certain way, even though we have a lot of male readership and people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-valenti/obviously-feministing-is-kind-of-a-women-s-space-in-a-certain-way/) [Jessica Valenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-valenti/) > [“There was too little solid ground under one's feet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-maria-remarque/there-was-too-little-solid-ground-under-one-s-feet/) [Erich Maria Remarque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-maria-remarque/) > [My suspicion is that once you have literacy in place, the readership has not changed very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/my-suspicion-is-that-once-you-have-literacy-in-place-the-readership/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [When Emily Dickinson's poems were published in the 1890s, they were a best-seller; the first book of her poems went through eleven editions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/when-emily-dickinson-s-poems-were-published-in-the-1890s-they-were-a/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [There's a really generous readership with YA.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-h-k-choi/there-s-a-really-generous-readership-with-ya/) [Mary H.K. Choi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-h-k-choi/) > [In the 1950s we use to feel that television was taking away our comic readership; with today's exciting, powerfully visual movies I have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-simon/in-the-1950s-we-use-to-feel-that-television-was-taking-away-our-comic/) [Joe Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-simon/) > [The combination of an out-of-control tabloid press and a readership that thrills to the destruction of the England head coach is something no other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-barnes/the-combination-of-an-out-of-control-tabloid-press-and-a-readership/) [Simon Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-barnes/) > [It's part of a writer's profession, as it's part of a spy's profession, to prey on the community to which he's attached, to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/it-s-part-of-a-writer-s-profession-as-it-s-part-of-a-spy-s-profession/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [I realized early in my career that precisely what one reader doesn't like is what another reader loves. Collectively, any writer's audience presents a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/i-realized-early-in-my-career-that-precisely-what-one-reader-doesn-t/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“Readership is highly dependent upon format and distribution as much as it is on content.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/readership-is-highly-dependent-upon-format-and-distribution-as-much/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [Newspaper readership is declining like crazy. In fact, there's a good chance that nobody is reading my column.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/newspaper-readership-is-declining-like-crazy-in-fact-there-s-a-good/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [It used to be, if you wanted to have a strong, influential voice in the feminist movement, you really needed to be part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-valenti/it-used-to-be-if-you-wanted-to-have-a-strong-influential-voice-in-the/) [Jessica Valenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-valenti/) > [I had a blog for many years. Once you develop your readership on your blog, and you can put something out there or direct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-williams/i-had-a-blog-for-many-years-once-you-develop-your-readership-on-your/) [Evan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-williams/) > [A readership crisis is really a leadership crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hyatt/a-readership-crisis-is-really-a-leadership-crisis/) [Michael Hyatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hyatt/) > [It's about being right and trying to get the facts and get the story right, and inform, you know, the readership or the viewership.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-spicer/it-s-about-being-right-and-trying-to-get-the-facts-and-get-the-story/) [Sean Spicer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-spicer/) ## More by Robert Hass > [It's the same with this idea of a literate public, and also of a democracy in which people have access to and really read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/it-s-the-same-with-this-idea-of-a-literate-public-and-also-of-a/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [All the new thinking is about loss. In this it resembles all the old thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/all-the-new-thinking-is-about-loss-in-this-it-resembles-all-the-old/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [Poetry, when it takes sides, when it proposes solutions, isn't any smarter than anybody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/poetry-when-it-takes-sides-when-it-proposes-solutions-isn-t-any/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [When I was in college, I lost my scholarship one year. I had enough money for tuition, but not room and board. So I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/when-i-was-in-college-i-lost-my-scholarship-one-year-i-had-enough/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [As poet laureate, I was asked to be a spokesman for literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/as-poet-laureate-i-was-asked-to-be-a-spokesman-for-literature/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [After Pope, in the beginning of Romanticism, people developed the idea that imagination rather than reason was a special form of knowledge and its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/after-pope-in-the-beginning-of-romanticism-people-developed-the-idea/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [They are the kinds of things that make us a community: attachment to place, attachment to local arts traditions, the ability to read literature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/they-are-the-kinds-of-things-that-make-us-a-community-attachment-to/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [I think that were I in the middle of an obsession to write about, say, sudden oak death in California or my grandchildren or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/i-think-that-were-i-in-the-middle-of-an-obsession-to-write-about-say/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [I suppose there's something to be said for the sheer reinforcement of our beliefs, but really I think poetry is more useful as disenchantment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/i-suppose-there-s-something-to-be-said-for-the-sheer-reinforcement-of/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [If you were making poetry out of convictions - trying to convince other people - you were in the territory of rhetoric, and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/if-you-were-making-poetry-out-of-convictions-trying-to-convince-other/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [Milton was the first person who really experimented with putting politics into sonnets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/milton-was-the-first-person-who-really-experimented-with-putting/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [When I came into the job, funding for the humanities at the federal level was being drastically cut. This was the high tide of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/when-i-came-into-the-job-funding-for-the-humanities-at-the-federal/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [One may prefer spring and summer to autumn and winter, but preference is hardly to the point. The earth turns, and we live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/one-may-prefer-spring-and-summer-to-autumn-and-winter-but-preference/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [“ A Faint Music by Robert Hass Maybe you need to write a poem about grace. When everything broken is broken, and everything dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/a-faint-music-by-robert-hass-maybe-you-need-to-write-a-poem-about/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [“When everything broken is broken, and everything dead is dead, and the hero has looked into the mirror with complete contempt, and the heroine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/when-everything-broken-is-broken-and-everything-dead-is-dead-and-the/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) [Explore all 128 Robert Hass quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) ## More Journalism quotes > [A flourishing, morally credible media is a vital component in the maintenance of genuinely public talk, argument about common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/a-flourishing-morally-credible-media-is-a-vital-component-in-the/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [Television, radio, social media. The 24/7 news cycle plows forward mercilessly on our desks, in our cars and in our pockets. Thousands and thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-prince/television-radio-social-media-the-24-7-news-cycle-plows-forward/) [Joseph Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-prince/) > [I don't think about the press or the crowds or the other leaders of the race. The focus is only on myself. As soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magdalena-neuner/i-don-t-think-about-the-press-or-the-crowds-or-the-other-leaders-of/) [Magdalena Neuner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magdalena-neuner/) > [Having small children and being an investigative reporter would seem like a difficult mix, but it worked well for me. I was often working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-abramson/having-small-children-and-being-an-investigative-reporter-would-seem/) [Jill Abramson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-abramson/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [I have always been a big meta guy because I think the way journalism is practiced in Washington, and the way everyone sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leibovich/i-have-always-been-a-big-meta-guy-because-i-think-the-way-journalism/) [Mark Leibovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leibovich/) > [I didn't get how big it was until I went home, turned on the television and saw it on all the news, and later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/i-didn-t-get-how-big-it-was-until-i-went-home-turned-on-the/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [One lesson to learn is that the press and the broadcasters are not neutral. And it seems we have to learn it each time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-loach/one-lesson-to-learn-is-that-the-press-and-the-broadcasters-are-not/) [Ken Loach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-loach/) > [If you want to change something by Tuesday, theater is no good. Journalism is what does that. But, if you want to just alter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-you-want-to-change-something-by-tuesday-theater-is-no-good/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Newspapers have an extraordinary amount of local content, including real estate listings and restaurant reviews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimbal-musk/newspapers-have-an-extraordinary-amount-of-local-content-including/) [Kimbal Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimbal-musk/) > [If, for instance, they have heard something from the postman, they attribute it to a semi-official statement; if they have fallen into conversation with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/if-for-instance-they-have-heard-something-from-the-postman-they/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [In essence, I see the value of journalism as resting in a twofold mission: informing the public of accurate and vital information, and its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-greenwald/in-essence-i-see-the-value-of-journalism-as-resting-in-a-twofold/) [Glenn Greenwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-greenwald/) > [It’s a shameful moment for U.S. media when it insists on being subservient to the grotesque propaganda agencies of a violent, aggressive state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-s-a-shameful-moment-for-u-s-media-when-it-insists-on-being/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Drill in exact translation is an excellent way of disposing the mind against that looseness and exaggeration with which the sensationalists have corrupted our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-weaver/drill-in-exact-translation-is-an-excellent-way-of-disposing-the-mind/) [Richard M. Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-weaver/) > [People think they're getting objective information, but they're not. They're getting news wrapped up in opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-samuels/people-think-they-re-getting-objective-information-but-they-re-not/) [Lynn Samuels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-samuels/) [Browse all 8,189 Journalism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There's very little solid research on readership, yet people make pronouncements about it all the time.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Hass" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/there-s-very-little-solid-research-on-readership-yet-people-make/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Journalism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/there-s-very-little-solid-research-on-readership-yet-people-make/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d66/robert-hass-3548_journalism_there-s-very-little-solid-research-on-re_1507660.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d66/robert-hass-3548_journalism_there-s-very-little-solid-research-on-re_1507660.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d66/robert-hass-3548_journalism_there-s-very-little-solid-research-on-re_1507660.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There's very little solid research on readership, yet people make pronouncements about it all the time.” — Robert Hass", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert Hass", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There's very little solid research on...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/there-s-very-little-solid-research-on-readership-yet-people-make/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/there-s-very-little-solid-research-on-readership-yet-people-make/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```