Hi folks,
In the wake of our recent AMV discussions about Stephenie Meyer it seemed to me that actual readers were not being fairly represented, especially outside the world of Mormon letters. Most of the people who write scholarly articles and papers are the type of people who wouldn’t be reading Meyer in the first place–unless they can find a way to use her books and Mormon identity to further their personal agendas. I want to put actual readers (and non-readers) of Meyer’s books on the record. To that end, I have put together a questionnaire that I need you all to take. Well, at least all the ladies out there. Sorry guys, for right now I’m focusing on the female readers’ responses. I plan on compiling the responses and putting together a paper for Reading Until Dawn to get this stuff on the record in a way that the scholarly folks will hopefully pay attention to. So whether you’re a lover or a hater, Team Edward or Team Jacob, even if you have not read the books, if you are female and you have any thoughts on the Twilight phenomenon I want to know what they are. Seriously. Email me and I will reply with the questionnaire.
Thank you!
A Motley Vision 
Two questions:
1. Do you have a URL for the questionnaire? (I haven’t read the books, but I’d happily pass along the questionnaire to friends who have.)
2. Do you want responses only from Mormon women? (And, if so, is that reflected on the questionnaire?)
Bonus question: You know how when you write a word too often, it starts to look weird? (Questionnaire, questionnaire, questionnaire . . .)
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Unless you want to let the surveys out one at a time, surveymonkey seems like a more efficient idea.
Katya–
I want you to take the survey too! I’m interested in the non-readers as well as the readers. Most women seem to have a reason for not reading the books and I want to include those opinions as well.
1. I don’t have a URL for the questionnaire (is the word still weird?) but I’d be happy to email it to you and you could forward it.
2. RUD’s objective is to look at Meyer’s work from an LDS perspective BUT that doesn’t mean people who aren’t Mormon can’t contribute. The questionnaire has options for people who are LDS and for those who are not.
Th.–
I tried Surveymonkey but my questionnaire is too long by their standards. I avoided an online option because I’m low tech and because I didn’t want respondents to feel limited by the medium. I’m hoping that doing it over email will help people feel like this is more of an individual interview and they will spill 🙂 Email also gives me good options for follow-up. I know doing it over email is a little laborious, but I want more than just cursory answers from people.
I read the first book and a half. Too long for Surveymonkey doesn’t mean it’s a daunting, essay-style endeavor, does it?
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Email it to me, Laura, and I’ll try to get you some responses (including Katya).
Chillylint–
Surveymonkey limited me to ten questions. The questionnaire is more than that, but it doesn’t have to be a daunting essay-style endeavor if you don’t want it to be. I like the long answers; I’m the type of person frustrated by multiple choice questions because I would rather just tell people what I think. But if you want to answer the questions in just one or two sentences you can!
Th–Thanks!
I thought that the Twilight books were great reads, and I’m a guy! I love the suspense and thought that the vampires that Meyer created were cool. I never, EVER read vampire books or watch vampire movies. I hate them! Too Gothic for my taste, but these vampires were different. They could go out in the sun, they weren’t emos, and they didn’t sleep in coffins. I don’t even know if you could classify them as undead. I would just say that they were immortals.
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Well. Maybe not all of them were emos….
Hey Laura: if you send me a survey, I’ll see if I can get you some responses, too.
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Have you heard back from any of mine?
Tyler–
I’ll email you right now. Thanks!
Th–I have! I’ve gotten probably 20 completed questionnaires at this point, but I’m not sure how many are from your contacts. At least 5 or 6. Thanks so much for your help! I’m still working on the thank yous for the individual respondents 🙂
If anyone else is interested, please, please contact me!
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Awesome.