Create your survey using Google forms. (I have created a sample survey (Links to an external site.) that you can use for guidance as you draw up your own. DO NOT EDIT THIS SAMPLE! You must create your own! ) For the format, include…
A brief introduction and description of the survey (including a note that the survey will contain swear words and that anyone should feel free to opt out if they find seeing swear words in print offensive)
Demographic questions: Include some questions to collect demographic information, such as age, gender, whether English is their L1, etc. (though answering these questions should be optional). Do not ask for any personal identifying information, such as their name.
Instructions on how participants should rate the sentences, using the same 1-7 Likert scale I had you use for the tabooness survey I gave you all in week 1. You may use the same instructions I include in my sample survey.
Each of the 12 sentences you wrote for Part I.
Administer the survey
Administer the survey to at least 5 participants online by sharing the link to the Google form you created. (You may survey more than 5 participants, as more responses will would provide you with additional data for you discussion, but you must at least collect data from 5 people). Consider who to administer your survey to. Ideally, try to ask individuals of differing demographics (e.g., different gender, age, first language, etc.; however, you should not ask minors to participate), as this is more likely to lead to variation in your responses which will give you more to analyze.
Calculate your results
Once you have collected your survey results,
Calculate the average/mean rating for each sentence (i.e., add up the scores for each sentence and find the average by dividing by the total number of participants — like I did in my Survey results video — either manually or using a spreadsheet). You may also wish to find the minimum and maximum.
Include a chart in your write-up clearly summarizing these data.
Analyze and discuss your results
Analyze your results and discuss what they show.
How do your results compare with the predictions you made in Pt. I?
What observations can you make based on your findings? Were certain taboo words rated more highly than others? Were certain types of swearing (e.g., emotive vs. invective, etc.) rated more highly than others? Which ones?
Did you find any demographic differences in the taboo ratings for certain words? Gender differences? Age differences?
Do your results line up with what Eggert has found in his classes (which he discussed in the textbook)?
Lastly, if you were to follow up on this study, what else might you ask? If you were to do this study again or redesign it, would there be anything you’d change? Anything you’d ask differently? What kinds of research questions do you think you could ask and answer with a survey like this?
