This research study discusses the reading habits of the 1595 people it surveyed and the relationship of periodical mass media to individual political involvement. Focusing on popular magazines and organizational publications as periodical types, the study indicates that the amount of time available for reading periodicals and an individual's knowledge and activity in political issues are the two factors which have greatest impact on a person's choice of periodical literature. In general, people who are more involved in political activities read more organizational periodicals, while people less concerned with political issues read only popular magazines; and this variance increases as less time is available for reading periodicals. Appendixes provide further details on the data and analyses. (RL)