This questionnaire has been created by English Language students to investigate how the use of taboo language differs with age. Due to the nature of this investigation, some language may be considered offensive, but it is purely for research purposes, so please answer as honestly as possible. By completing it, you are giving your consent for the information you provide to be used in the previously mentioned investigation. All personal details are anonymous and if you have any queries, please contact Louis Atkinson at louis.atkinson@yahoo.co.uk or Samantha Guess at SXG006@bham.ac.uk
Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire.
Please circle the following category that applies to you:
Gender: Male Female
Age group: 18-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56+
Look at these words and answer the following questions:
1) Bloody
2) Cunt
3) Fuck
4) Shit
5) Twat
1. Are you unfamiliar with any of the words above? (Circle yes or no below)
YES NO
If yes, please state:________________________________________________
2. Which word are you most likely to in the following contexts (you can use the words more than once, or you can leave a space blank if you feel that none of the words are appropriate):
Anger/Frustration:____________________________________________________
Direct Insult:_________________________________________________________
For emphasis/exaggeration______________________________________________
Everyday conversation:_________________________________________________
Joy:_________________________________________________________________
Term of endearment:___________________________________________________
3. On a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being least offensive and 5 being most offensive, how would you rank these words? (Please circle)
Bloody 1 2 3 4 5
Cunt 1 2 3 4 5
Fuck 1 2 3 4 5
Shit 1 2 3 4 5
Twat 1 2 3 4 5
4. On a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being never and 5 being most frequently, how often do you use these words? (Please circle)
Bloody 1 2 3 4 5
Cunt 1 2 3 4 5
Fuck 1 2 3 4 5
Shit 1 2 3 4 5
Twat 1 2 3 4 5
5. Which word in the English Language do you find the most offensive? (You can select a word from inside or outside the five we have given you)
____________________________________________________________________________
6. If you have any further comments about taboo language, please feel free to express them:
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Good to see you making progress, Group 2. What's the status of this questionnaire? I'm assuming it's a draft. It certainly answers some of the questions I had when I read your revised project summary, as it makes aspects of what you had in mind a lot clearer. However, when you listen to the feedback I've just sent about your revised proposal, I hope you'll see the implications it has for the questionnaire.
ReplyDeleteThe draft also raises a few more questions for me: How did you select these words? How representative are they of all the taboo words in use by a range of speakers? How does this research instrument relate to the existing literature on this topic? Given that each word has the potential to be used in different ways grammatically (they are from different word classes), are the questions about degrees of offensiveness and context of use really appropriate? (E.g. some of these words are used on their own as exclamations, but others aren't)