Age as a factor in evaluation of media literacy levels in Slovakia

Abstract

Evaluating media literacy levels in Europe involves a full range of socio-demographic indicators. These include age, gender, highest attained level of education, place of residence where the respondent lives, income level and others. Each of these indicators has a specific influence on the level of media literacy. The objective is to investigate the age of respondents as we consider it one of the most important indicators applied in media literacy research. This article is based data from Slovakia generated in a study named Media Literacy of the Adult Population in Slovakia conducted from 2014 to 2015. This representative study was conducted on a sample of 2815 respondents ranging in age from 16 to 83. The article focuses on selected segments of the research data involving statistical age testing as an important socio-demographic indicator of the level of media literacy in the adult population in Slovakia. The results of the study focused on the level of media literacy of the adult population in Slovakia showed the most significant differences involve age differences. Differences were found across the individual age groups involving traditional and new media, as well as user skills and critical thinking. This is more than a simple generational divide related to digital media as it also involves individual aspects of traditional media, where the level of media competencies and critical thinking appears to decline with age.