Peoples' sensitivities and phrasing survey questions

[MikeH]

Rah has this spot on.

[rah]

Well at least my claim to experience in this area is backed up by almost 15 years in the business. Unlike some of my other claims of expertise.

[onodera]

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".

I had to google it, but I think I understand now. But how do I recognise a southern Indian? (Btw, does that mean a Dravidic person, not an Indo-Aryan?) Can a name help?
Some Indians here have "stereotypical" long names with easily identifiable roots, like Rajasekhar or Mahalingam . Some only have a short name with initials, like P J Harvey (name changed to protect the innocent). Maybe their accents or skin tone can be of any use?

[DaShi]

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?

Then it's a waste of time and money. You can never be published. No one will trust or care about your results. Even you shouldn't? Most professionals would think you're unethical, crazy, or both.

[aneeshm]

I had to google it, but I think I understand now. But how do I recognise a southern Indian? (Btw, does that mean a Dravidic person, not an Indo-Aryan?) Can a name help?

Generally, yes, south Indian means of Dravidian extraction. Southern names are quite often distinctive, as you pointed out below.

Some Indians here have "stereotypical" long names with easily identifiable roots, like Rajasekhar or Mahalingam .

Those are the stereotypically South Indian names that I'm talking about, but you can never be sure.

Some only have a short name with initials, like P J Harvey (name changed to protect the innocent). Maybe their accents or skin tone can be of any use?

The accent is something which helps me distinguish, but it can be hard to know for someone who doesn't know the nuances of linguistic variation in India. For instance, the difference between a Punjabi and a Tamil accent is glaringly obvious to someone from like me, from Maharashtra, but it may not be to someone who isn't familiar with them.

The skin tone is a definite indicator, but the problem is that you'll find that it correlates quite often to caste and economic background as much as position on the North-South axis. As a general rule, the more you move towards the South, the darker the skin gets.

[aneeshm]

Then it's a waste of time and money.

I fail to see how.

You can never be published.

I don't care. As I said, it's just to satisfy my personal curiosity.

No one will trust or care about your results.

Again, I don't care. This is not being done because I have something to show the world, I'm just curious about something and want to find out more. Isn't that what science is all about, after all?

Even you shouldn't?

Why should that be?

Most professionals would think you're unethical, crazy, or both.

Again, I fail to understand. Why do you think so? What's unethical or crazy about this, given that the data is to be used only in the aggregate, and is not personally identifiable in any way?



EDIT: In case it wasn't clear, I'm trying to find out two things:

a) The distribution of reading habits among everyone I survey (the state of reading in general)
b) Factors that affect this

The reason I'm collecting caste data along with that is so that I can factor that particular variable out of the equation. That is, I want to see how what I consider the more important stuff, such as a culture of reading at home (or its lack thereof), access to books, peer interaction, and so on, has an effect on reading habits. In order to do that, I want to be able to control for other variables. The reason I want to do this particular piece of research is because I want to see the extent to which our perception of ourselves is correct.

Public self-perception in Pune considers this a city of intellectuals, with a robust culture of personal reading. I haven't seen much (or rather, any) evidence of that during my stay here, and I'm trying to find out whether
a) For some reason, I've missed it, or
b) There has been a real decline of some sort.

[onodera]

One Indian we had had a very peculiar accent. Final "t"s in all his words were replaced with a popping sound, the one soap bubbles make in cartoons.
What do North Indian names look like?

[Zkribbler]

onodera-
In my limited experience, Indians from the south have very dark complexions.
From the north, it's much more of a tan, and they look much like Pakistanis.

[DaShi]

I fail to see how.



I don't care. As I said, it's just to satisfy my personal curiosity.



Again, I don't care. This is not being done because I have something to show the world, I'm just curious about something and want to find out more. Isn't that what science is all about, after all?



Why should that be?



Again, I fail to understand. Why do you think so? What's unethical or crazy about this, given that the data is to be used only in the aggregate, and is not personally identifiable in any way?



EDIT: In case it wasn't clear, I'm trying to find out two things:

a) The distribution of reading habits among everyone I survey (the state of reading in general)
b) Factors that affect this

The reason I'm collecting caste data along with that is so that I can factor that particular variable out of the equation. That is, I want to see how what I consider the more important stuff, such as a culture of reading at home (or its lack thereof), access to books, peer interaction, and so on, has an effect on reading habits. In order to do that, I want to be able to control for other variables. The reason I want to do this particular piece of research is because I want to see the extent to which our perception of ourselves is correct.

Public self-perception in Pune considers this a city of intellectuals, with a robust culture of personal reading. I haven't seen much (or rather, any) evidence of that during my stay here, and I'm trying to find out whether
a) For some reason, I've missed it, or
b) There has been a real decline of some sort.

And you want to go to top school in the US? This entire thread is a joke, right?

[Ben Kenobi]

Agree with Rah. Put the caste question as this:

"which caste do you believe best represents you?"

And include the untouchable, the proper term. It pays to be as accurate as possible with the options, and as vague as possible with the questions.

[aneeshm]

And you want to go to top school in the US? This entire thread is a joke, right?

You are aware that:

a) This is not my field, and
b) This is not a sponsored or formal study, and
c) I'm doing this purely for my curiosity, and finally
d) I'm not trained in any of this, not being an experimentalist but an engineer,

right?

[DaShi]

Yes, that was all factored into my assessment.

[aneeshm]

Yes, that was all factored into my assessment.

I'd like to know more. Could you point out the problems that you see?