The Furry Sociological Survey: Closing soon, OMG

[FurrySurvey]

Greetings,

Before I go into my proposal, I just want to mention that I have contacted Amber who has given me permission to post this proposal on the forums. And yes, I know that not everyone here considers themselves to be a fur. Anyway, onto my proposal:

I'm here to tell you about the Furry Sociological Survey. You may or may not know, but a few years ago David Rust, a furry and history student, conducted a survey of 360 furs. Now in 2007, I hope to replicate his survey, as well as ask a few questions that Rust didn't ask.

So why do this? The answer is: out of curiosity. Once the results have been collected I will collate them and present them online so that you can see what trends we have amongst us furs.

If you wish to complete the survey all you need to do is visit this page and download the survey from here:

http://www.furnation.com/thefurrysurvey/participate.htm

Then fill it in and email it to furrysurvey@gmail.com. Be sure to read the consent statement and instructions carefully.

With many thanks,
Kyle (furry and first year psychology student)


PS. There is no deadline by which the survey must be submitted. I'll keep taking them as long as people keep sending them in. But it would be appreciated if you don't take too long.

Also if you don't have Microsoft Word on your computer just email me and I'll send you version of the survey that you can work with, such as a txt file.

And also, you can see the original survey by Rust here: http://www.visi.com/~phantos/furrysoc.html

And finally, you can read more about this project on the website here: http://www.furnation.com/thefurrysurvey

[Azraelle]

Woot!  The survey has an "other" response to gender!  About time someone realized the importance of this.

[Netami]

For the poor, unfortunate souls born with either none or non-working both. God bless his heart.

[RJ]

I find this very interesting since you're also Australian. As far as I know, I've never even heard of Australia having a furry convention before... well, not a major one at least. I can't wait to see the results though.

[Moonfrost]

-takes the survey-

[FurrySurvey]

I find this very interesting since you're also Australian. As far as I know, I've never even heard of Australia having a furry convention before... well, not a major one at least. I can't wait to see the results though.

We did have a convention called AusGather that was held sometimes in Sydney, sometimes in Melbourne. But the last year that happened was in 2002. Now Australia doesn't have any conventions, but it does have large annual gatherings of about 50-80 furries in Sydney (FurJam), Melbourne (MiDfur) and Brisbane (RivFur). Plus we have regular small furmeets organised through the Ozfurry mailing list.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

-takes the survey-

Put it back, so other people can fill it out. :-P

[Tapewolf]

I note that although you say the survey is available in non-Word format by request the link does also have a plain ascii version.  Are they the same?

I can probably read the Word version, mind - but whether you'd be able to read the filled-in version as output by OpenOffice is between you and Microsoft 

[FurrySurvey]

I note that although you say the survey is available in non-Word format by request the link does also have a plain ascii version.  Are they the same?

I can probably read the Word version, mind - but whether you'd be able to read the filled-in version as output by OpenOffice is between you and Microsoft 

Yup, all surveys are exactly the same in content.
If you need any file format that isn't already on the website, I can probably provide what you need.

[FurrySurvey]

Also, don't forget to read through the statement of consent closely.

[EvilIguana966]

9. Are you a zoophile?
Yes   
No 

Better question would be "Do you rape your pets?" and anyone who answers yes should be shot.  That way you can separate people with unblemished minds who assumed it means they share a strong platonic bond with their animal companions from the freaks who believe that it's ok to screw rover so long as you put on some pretense about caring for  his "feelings".  Of course, I have doubts about how many people would answer the question honestly in the first place, thus calling into question the purpose of it even existing. 

Woot!  The survey has an "other" response to gender!  About time someone realized the importance of this.

What exactly is the importance of it?  Male and Female accurately describe well over 99% of the world and probably 100% of everyone who will answer the survey.  People born with true gender abnormalities are rare, and most of the people who would pick other choose to be seen as something other than what they were born as.  If ascertaining what sex someone wants to be is important then it ought to be a separate question. 

[Tapewolf]

You haven't specified the currency in the income question.  Presumably it's USD, but it could be Yen, gold coins or obsidians for all I know 

And I have to say, Evil Iguana has taken the words right out of my mouth about _that_ question.

[superluser]

Woot!  The survey has an "other" response to gender!  About time someone realized the importance of this.

What exactly is the importance of it?  Male and Female accurately describe well over 99% of the world and probably 100% of everyone who will answer the survey.  People born with true gender abnormalities are rare, and most of the people who would pick other choose to be seen as something other than what they were born as.  If ascertaining what sex someone wants to be is important then it ought to be a separate question.

Well, as mentioned before, sex is not gender.  If the researcher wanted to know if the respondent has a penis or a vagina, the question should be ``What is your sex?''

And yes, given the nature of the survey questions, I suspect that the purpose of this study is to establish that there is no significant difference in incidence of paraphilia in furries than in the populace at large.

[Azraelle]

There is a broader spectrum of "gender" than male or female.

[Zedd]

I dont want to offend but I dought i wanna take the test

[Netami]

Gender is defined by what wobbly bits you have. Perceived gender, identity crisis', trapped souls, etc aren't really the focus of most polls, or at least this one I believe.

[superluser]

Gender is defined by what wobbly bits you have.

Er... no.  See the entry for gender at The American Heritage Dictionary.  Your sex is your physical characteristics, your gender is your social role.  And yes, there are more genders than just masculine and feminine.

The ill-conceived use of `gender' in lieu of `sex' seems to come from an abhorrence with the word sex (``You mean...coitus?'').  Before the 20th century, `gender' chiefly meant that letter beside the word in your Latin-English dictionary.  Both the OED and Fowler's Modern English Usage list the use of the term `gender' for `sex' as jocular.

These citations seem to show that in the beginning of the 20th century, gender began being widely used as a synonym for sex differences.  In the mid 20th century, feminists seem to have co-opted the term as a distinction for social roles.  This is good, because such a distinction is actually useful, whereas the perfect synonym of gender for sex is useless unless you're writing poetry.

[Netami]

Riiight...

[Attic Rat]

Since I do not consider myself a "Furry" I'll leave the survey to someone else. I'd hate to bias the results in favor of mundania.

[superluser]

Since I do not consider myself a "Furry" I'll leave the survey to someone else. I'd hate to bias the results in favor of mundania.

Yeah.  That's a really good point.  Does this study have a control?

[FurrySurvey]

Ok, looks like I've got a few questions to answer and things to clarify.

First, currency:

For the question regarding yearly income, participants are expected to answer in their own national currency. Afterwards, I look at on what continent they resided and convert their national currency into United States dollars. Because the answer options are divided into $10,000 integers, variations in currency values within a continent would be negligible. That said, it would have been better to have either stated that participants should answer in their own national currency, or let participants perform that currency conversion themselves and answer in United State dollars.
So bottom line is, just answer in your own national currency.

Second, gender:
The 'other' catagory generally assumes the participant is a hermaphrodite, it may also include persons who have had a sex change. I used the term 'other' to be all inclusive of persons with genders which were neither clearly male nor female. Even though hermaphrodites and people have had sex change operations are in a minority, does not make them any less important to the survey. In fact, I personally am very interested in knowing just how many furries out there don't fit into the standard male or female catagories.

Third, control:
Well...what do you mean Superluser? This study has a number of elements to it that are designed to create the most balanced possible survey - or as balanced as an online survey can be. As far as non-furries go. Well, I'd hardly expect anyone other than furries to complete something entitled "The Furry Sociological Survey."

[Moonfrost]

-takes the survey-

Put it back, so other people can fill it out. :-P

Nope. It's mine now.

[RJ]

I find this very interesting since you're also Australian. As far as I know, I've never even heard of Australia having a furry convention before... well, not a major one at least. I can't wait to see the results though.

We did have a convention called AusGather that was held sometimes in Sydney, sometimes in Melbourne. But the last year that happened was in 2002. Now Australia doesn't have any conventions, but it does have large annual gatherings of about 50-80 furries in Sydney (FurJam), Melbourne (MiDfur) and Brisbane (RivFur). Plus we have regular small furmeets organised through the Ozfurry mailing list.

Ah, that's interesting... if I didn't live so out of the way, I'd probably like to go to one. But I have a pretty hard time getting to my usual anime con each year as it is

[Aridas]

Well, I'd hardly expect anyone other than furries to complete something entitled "The Furry Sociological Survey."

Wanna bet?

[FurrySurvey]

Well, I'd hardly expect anyone other than furries to complete something entitled "The Furry Sociological Survey."

Wanna bet?

I'd bet a bazillion dollars!

[bill]

Well, I'd hardly expect anyone other than furries to complete something entitled "The Furry Sociological Survey."

Wanna bet?

I'd bet a bazillion dollars!

You lose. 
*took the survey*

[Goatmon]

Well, I'd hardly expect anyone other than furries to complete something entitled "The Furry Sociological Survey."

Wanna bet?

I'd bet a bazillion dollars!

You lose. 
*took the survey*

By being a fan of DMFA you're already removed from the "non-furry" denomination.  ^_-

[Tapewolf]

By being a fan of DMFA you're already removed from the "non-furry" denomination.  ^_-

DMFA is the gateway drug to furry.

[Gabi]

I have filled in the survey and sent it, but I had to mark two xs on the race question since I'm both white and Hispanic (white by physiology, Hispanic by cultural background). Why are options that are not mutually exclusive and do not refer to the same thing listed as separate answers for the same question?

[superluser]

Because the answer options are divided into $10,000 integers, variations in currency values within a continent would be negligible.

Hm.  There are a few currencies that would cause some trouble.  The British Pound is currently something like 1.5 euro, meaning that someone making £70,000 is going to place himself in the 50-75,000 category instead of the Above 100,000 category.

(And let's not get into the Venezuelan Bolivar)

It would be very easy to simply add ``please indicate currency'' there.

Third, control:
Well...what do you mean Superluser? This study has a number of elements to it that are designed to create the most balanced possible survey - or as balanced as an online survey can be. As far as non-furries go. Well, I'd hardly expect anyone other than furries to complete something entitled "The Furry Sociological Survey."

Every survey must contain a control group.  If you don't have a control group, the survey winds up saying very little.  There are many reasons for using a control, but in a self-selecting online survey, the most injurious aspect is that the demographics of those who respond to such a survey are not going to be the same--regardless of topic--as the populace at large.

Online survey takers are going to skew heavily toward higher income and higher education.  If your results skew toward higher income and higher education does that mean that furries skew that way or online survey takers in general?

I feel like I'm constantly bringing you down.  I don't mean to do that.  This is actually a pretty good survey for a first year.  These are simply things to add for future surveys.

I'm not getting you down at all am I?  I wouldn't like to think I was getting you down.