Peoples' sensitivities and phrasing survey questions

[aneeshm]

I'm trying to conduct a survey about reading habits, and there's a problem I'm facing - the lack of a "sensitive" or "politically correct" vocabulary which I can use in the demographic information parts. The part I'm having trouble with is getting information about a person's "traditional" caste. A lot of people could be very sensitive about this, and the modern terminology doesn't provide a way to break the information up by the old classification.

In the old system, it would be {Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, Other/Nomadic/NA}. The new system, used on government forms, is not broken up this way, because its job is to divide people up into those who receive state-mandated benefits, and those who do not. So there is no mapping from one to the other, because people from all the old groups can fall into either of the new categories. However, I want this information in the survey, but I can't find any way to ask the question without using words which some people may be offended by. This is because some of the old words, particularly "Shudra", have implicit judgements and connotations hidden in them. This is a rather systemic problem - I don't think even the Indian social sciences have a good way to talk about the old terminology.

What should I do?

[rah]

Do what all normal researchers do.
Put those demographic questions at the end so they've already finished the important part before they get pissed. Use whatever terms you need to do your analysis but understand that not everyone is going to cooperate. There is no other way. Unless you can define questions that can get that information without them knowing, which is usually not effective and can make your results not reliable.

[Felch]

Well, you might try asking questions about ancestry. "Were your parents X?"

I think we're the wrong people to ask, because questions that are innocuous in America might be more of an issue in India. I'd think nothing of describing my ethnic ancestry to a surveyor. I'm half Irish, a quarter French, and a quarter German. But if being Irish were associated with something unpleasant like Shudra is, it might be different.

[Felch]

Go with what rah said.

[snoopy369]

Certainly put it at the end; and ask the question something like,
One aim of this survey is to determine how social advantages/disadvantages may affect reading habits. Under the so-called "traditional" caste system, would you have identified with: (list)

That way you make it clear that you're not judging them, but attempting to determine it for a research purpose. Obviously adjust the words [well, and translate them...] for your audience.

[onodera]

Is the "Other" option for the untouchables? What is the current PC term for the untouchables, by the way?

[aneeshm]

Is the "Other" option for the untouchables? What is the current PC term for the untouchables, by the way?

Yes. I couldn't bring myself to use the traditional term, "Antyaja", literally meaning "untouchable". First of all, most don't know what it means, and secondly, it'd be quite offensive to those who understood it and could be described by it.

The problem is, there is no universal term, though "Dalit" is what their self-identification is with at the moment.

The suggestion to phrase it as an ancestry rather than current status is a good one. "What would you describe your ancestry as under the traditional (chaturvarna) system" sounds much better than asking directly about themselves.

[-Jrabbit]

You should also make it clear that the answers will only be used as grouped data; basically that the information is "blind" and will never be personally identifiable.

(if that is, in fact, the case)

[onodera]

Oh, oh, I have another Indian question for you, aneeshm. Some of our Inidan contractors (usually those that aren't total code monkeys) wear a grayish-white smear in the middle of their foreheads. What's that and what does that mean?

[rah]

cultural sensitivity at it's best

[aneeshm]

Oh, oh, I have another Indian question for you, aneeshm. Some of our Inidan contractors (usually those that aren't total code monkeys) wear a grayish-white smear in the middle of their foreheads. What's that and what does that mean?

It's generally either a mark of Shaivism/Vaishnavism, or a caste mark. This is WRT to those from the south. If it's someone else, then it's probably vibhuti or angara, meaning "sacred ash".

[Theben]

End the questionnaire with "Are you or your family from a subhuman stock not worthy of being pissed on by regular folk?" I'm certain you'll get a good response.

[DaShi]

First contact your IRB to see whether you can ask such questions for your study.

[aneeshm]

First contact your IRB to see whether you can ask such questions for your study.

What's an IRB? This isn't a study which is sponsored by any research body, I'm just doing it for my own curiosity, and the primary reason is to find out about reading habits in general - what the distribution looks like.

Could including an explanatory note before that section, telling the candidate how there is no neutral language, and thus why such terminology is necessary, work?

[Zkribbler]

Are there problems which you have not foreseen? For example, what if someone has a Brahmin-ancestry father and a Kshatriya-ancestry mother? What is the caste? What about people who are ignorant of their ancestors's castes?

Would you not be better off asking about something which is more up-to-date, such as family income?