(Here's something jimhoyt passed along to me, which folks here
might want to see.)

-- Forwarded Message --

Hey all,

Below is a survey that I am taking for my thesis.  Please, please, please,
take a few minutes to respond.  Please feel free to post on other boards,
print out and take copies to grove or coven meetings, or in any other way
disseminate to the Pagan community.  The more responses the better, I
say...as long as they are not responses trying to "save" my soul of
course, that is a lost cause and would just clutter up my email.
Thank-you,
Thank-you, Thank-you,

Suzette Henderson
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Survey:  The Interaction between Popular Occult Fantasy Fiction and the
Pagan Community.

Hello,  my name is Suzette Henderson and I am conducting this survey to
provide my with some statistical information for my thesis which is
primarily on several novels written by Diana Paxson.  My training is in
literature and my approach and theoretical bent is radical feminist.  I am
not a sociologist by training and I am not attempting to make any sweeping
statements about the Pagan community of which I have been an active member
in several states for close to ten years now.  Basically I just want to
know whether or not fantasy fiction has had an influence in people's
introduction to, "conversion" to, and/or ritual practice of, Paganism.  I
am sending this survey out on the internet, please feel free to pass it on
to other lists--it can be returned to me at my address BrynnScott@aol.com
or Suzette Henderson, 7160 Norfield Rd., Zanesville, OH 43701-9321.  The
more respondents, the better the statistical information.  If people would
like to know the results of this survey, I would be happy to send/e-mail
it to them.  However, do not feel that you must give me your name or
address for this survey, and of course all responses will be confidential.
I do ask that people provide some location information for statistical
purposes, and if you would like to add further comments (that I might wish
to quote) I ask that you give some name as a form of identification
purposes: Craft name, middle name, nick-name, SCA name, dentist's name,
whatever.  NB: for the purposes of this survey, I am not defining the word
Pagan, I would rather use the term as broadly as possible and allow
respondents to provide their own meaning.

1)  Do you consider yourself a Pagan?  If so, what does the term, Pagan,
mean to you, i.e. what is your definition.
If you are writing a hard copy of this, please feel free to completye this
question or any others on the back.





2)  What form of Pagan, i.e., Wicca, Asatru, Santeria, etc.?  Include all
that are applicable.


3) Do you practice any other religions? If so, what kind(s)?


4)  How long have you been a Pagan?  Or interested in Paganism?

5) How did you become involved/interested in Paganism?




6) Where are you located geographically? (you do not have to give the name
of the town you live in or your address--I am just trying to get some idea
of how widespread my responses are coming from, e.g., Central Ohio, Nile
Delta, Northern Alberta, etc.)


7)  Do you/ have you read fantasy or science fiction?


8)  Have you ever used something that you gleaned from a work of fiction
in your religious practice?  If so how what did you use and how did you
use it?








9)      a) Do you think that fiction serves/can serve the Pagan Community
as a ritual tool or resource? Why? Why not?


        b) As a means of community identification and information
dissemination? Why?  Why not?




10) What books, especially--but not limited to--fiction, do you recommend
to Pagan friends or to people interested in Paganism?





11) Have you personally ever read any of the works of Diana Paxson?
 Particularly, The White Raven, The Serpent's Tooth, Brisingamen, or The
Wolf and the Raven?



12) If you have, do you feel that she, Paxson, adequately representes the
Pagan faith and Religious Practices in her fiction?




13) Would you consider yourself a feminist?  an environmentalist?  an
eco-feminist?  an ethnic traditionalist?  Explain if you wish.





14) Do you see any conflict between these socio-political concerns and
being a Pagan?  If so please explain.






15)  Any other comments.








16)  The name you wish to use for identification purposes in this =
survey:

17) Gender:       M     F

18) Address, e-mail preferred, if you would like to know the results of
this survey.


Thank-you for your time.  Please return this to BrynnScott@aol.com

9 responses total.

Please keep in mind that the person conducting this survey is
not on Grex, so posting your answers here won't get them to her.
Of course, you can post your answers here and discuss them, if you
like.  And I'm sure someone will.  >8)

eerrr... i hate readical feminists

I don't mean to step on anybody's toes here, but in my experience and
coversion to femenism, I have learned that all too oft the term 'radical' is
added to all femenists as a generalization.  This may lead to people calling
themselves 'radical' because they don't understand how the publick uses it.
There is, of course, the possibility that they use the term on purpose with
knowledge of its meaning to say that they are the more extreme of the
femenists rather than a simple advocate of women's rights as myself.

By using the term "radical feminist" in her introduction, her survey will be
very skewed (since most of us who dislike radical feminism will be off-put
by it). It shocks me what a paltry survey method she's using for her thesis.

I presume this person is an undergrad.  It's not a very good survey; her
bias, as you point out, skews things, and also the questions will be hard for
her to collate and quantify.  I wonder if her advisor gave her much direction,
or if she had a methods or stats class before beginning.  Sigh.

I'm a bit more surprised that she's focussing on only one author,
I'm sure Diana Paxson does some fairly pagan-friendly SF, but what
about Patricia Kennealy-Morrison?  Charles de Lint?  Ursula LeGuin?
How about William Gibson's _Count_Zero_Override_, with its wonderful
high-tech reinterpretation of voudon?  Or Roger Zelazny's
_Lord_of_Light_, a science fiction take on Hindu mythology?

The term "thesis" leads me to believe it's an MA, but I guess most colleges
are doing senior theses for undergrads, too.
Undergrad senior theses don't always have advisors.

The poor dear is clearly trying to get a paper done.  She's in literature,
not social science.  Let's let her professor worry about methodology.  WHo
knows, this may be one of those "learning experiences" where doing it wrong
is more useful than not trying at all.  

She's doinbg a social science paper, though..
(opr part of a paper)

Response not possible - You must register and login before posting.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss