Academic Survey Needs Movie Memories From Baby Boomers (those born between 1940 and 1970)

[JimWhalley]

Hi,

My name is Jim Whalley and I'm a college professor in the UK working on a major new research project titled 'Hollywood and the Baby Boom: A Social History'.

The aim of the project is to discover how the Baby Boom generation both experienced and changed the movies in the United States. Our hope is to base the study (and resulting book) around the memories and opinions of Boomer audiences. To do this we've created an online survey, and the administrators at The Straight Dope have very kindly given me permission to post a link to it here.

The survey is at www.hollywoodandthebabyboom.com.

If you were born between 1940 and 1970 and live in the United States, you would be doing us a huge service if you'd take the time to fill it out. Crucially, we don’t just want to hear from film fans; it’s just as important that we get the views of those who avoid the movies as well as those who watch something every week. It should only take 10-30 minutes and you'll be contributing to a new history of American film. We're trying to get as many responses as possible, so if you enjoy filling the survey out, please tell your friends.

Many thanks for your time,

Jim Whalley

[kirk1168]

Done.

[John Mace]

Done. That was time consuming. You need to include streaming video on TV. DVDs are on their way out.

[JimWhalley]

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to fill it out. I hope it wasn't too time consuming John!

[TubaDiva]

Jim, like I told you earlier, you need to tell people that you got permission to do this -- otherwise they will keep reporting it to us as spam. You do not want to aggravate the moderators. You know what aggravates moderators? Many people reporting spammers. We kill spammers, so it's kind of important.

So no one gets this wrong we're not aggravated at people who report spammers -- they're the greatest. They do that because we ask them to, they do as we instruct them. We do get aggravated at spammers. And people who don't follow instructions.

[kenobi 65]

Done! Happy to help.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by TubaDiva

Jim, like I told you earlier, you need to tell people that you got permission to do this -- otherwise they will keep reporting it to us as spam. You do not want to aggravate the moderators. You know what aggravates moderators? Many people reporting spammers. We kill spammers, so it's kind of important.

So no one gets this wrong we're not aggravated at people who report spammers -- they're the greatest. They do that because we ask them to, they do as we instruct them. We do get aggravated at spammers. And people who don't follow instructions.

He did. Last sentence in the 2nd paragraph.

[JimWhalley]

Hi TubaDiva. I put a mention about permission in the second paragraph, but I can certainly make it more prominent. Though I am struggling to find the 'edit post' button...

[EmAnJ]

Originally Posted by JimWhalley

To do this we've created an online survey, and the administrators at The Straight Dope have very kindly given me permission to post a link to it here.

He did say he had permission.

I can't fill it out because I don't fit the criteria, but good luck!

[EmAnJ]

Originally Posted by JimWhalley

Hi TubaDiva. I put a mention about permission in the second paragraph, but I can certainly make it more prominent. Though I am struggling to find the 'edit post' button...

You can't edit after five minutes. Perhaps one of the mods can highlight it for you...

[TruCelt]

Wait, what?!? 1970? When did I become a Baby Boomer?!?

We usually end it at 1965 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomer

[Pai325]

Done, but I thought Baby Boomers ended in 1964, not 1970. I dont know what they're called, but it's not Baby Boomers.

[JimWhalley]

Don't worry, TruCelt, we expanded the dates to provide some context. Depending on the source, Boomers are 43-60 (culturally speaking) or 46-64 in terms of pure numbers.

[Jonathan Chance]

Done

[muldoonthief]

Originally Posted by Pai325

Done, but I thought Baby Boomers ended in 1964, not 1970. I dont know what they're called, but it's not Baby Boomers.

Generation X came after the Boomers. The "X" makes us sexy.

[Snowboarder Bo]

Done.

[TubaDiva]

Originally Posted by JimWhalley

Hi TubaDiva. I put a mention about permission in the second paragraph, but I can certainly make it more prominent. Though I am struggling to find the 'edit post' button...

The edit window is only five minutes long ... and the clock starts when you hit the Send button.

Sorry about that -- apparently some folks didn't get to the second paragraph before they jumped on the report button.

I have highlighted that permission was asked for and granted in advance.

Hope your survey goes well. Remember that usually if you got two Dopers you have at least three opinions ...

[Lasciel]

I can't vote - I'm too young.

Do one for Gen Xers next!!

[Missy2U]

Done.

[JimWhalley]

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far - our numbers have shot up in the last hour or two.

[Skammer]

I'm not a Boomer, but I was born in '69 (and I'm a movie lover) so I filled it out. Good luck!

[Czarcasm]

Is tooken.

[zut]

I took the survey. On comment n the survey itself:

"Very important" and "quite important" mean the same thing to me. I infer that "very important" is meant to be more important than "quite important," but you may want to reword that.

[gwendee]

Happy to do it. But now I want to close up shop and go to the movies. Not stream one online, or watch a DVD while I work, but go sit in a darkened theatre eating popcorn ...

I have a very hard time picking one single favorite of anything.

[Kiber]

Done and done.

It was kind of fun - made me remember some of my favorites from years gone by.

[Mrs. Cake]

Done

[Nava]

It's not going to apply to me in any case, but by "live in the US", does that include:

* people born in the US and who now live abroad? (Regardless of citizenship)
* same but for a short period?
* people born outside the US and who now live in the US? (Regardless of citizenship)
* same but for a short period?

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

Originally Posted by zut

I took the survey. On comment n the survey itself:

"Very important" and "quite important" mean the same thing to me. I infer that "very important" is meant to be more important than "quite important," but you may want to reword that.

Ditto.

[Trinopus]

Done and fun! I could happily have written 500 word essays on several of the questions! Thank you for allowing us to take this survey. I hope the results are meaningful, but, as TubaDiva suggested, if 500 people participate, you'll get 750 different opinions! I predict you get a real "shotgun" distribution of responses, absolutely all over the map! Box the compass!

[Dr. Woo]

I filled it out, and I'm one of the people you were looking for: boomer, not a movie fan.

[mcgato]

Done. My one comment is that I hate scrollable areas within a webpage. Wait, I have to have my mouse over here to scroll down to see the bottom of the window? But I have to have my mouse over here to scroll down inside the window? OK, that is probably SurveyMonkey idiocy, so I'll end my mini-rant.

Being somewhat of a movie junky earlier in my days, I could have spent hours writing thoughts about some of the open ended questions. When I started it, I figured that I could answer the survey in the 10 minute lower limit. I ended up a little past the upper limit due to enthusiasm. Good fun for me, and good luck to the survey group.

[chloes1]

I'm a 68 model myself and when ahead and filled it out. Weird to think of myself as a boomer though. I'm so accustomed of being the antidote to that little problem.

[Clothahump]

Done, and glad to help.

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by JimWhalley

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far - our numbers have shot up in the last hour or two.

Damn. That means the odds on my getting that AOL gift certificate are shrinking.

[Sampiro]

That was fun, though if I'd answered it three hours before or two days after some of the exact movies I mentioned would probably be different as it depends on what memories are firing at any particular time. (Except the one about GONE WITH THE WIND being the southern Illiad & Odyssey, that would be unchanged.)

[Accidental Martyr]

Originally Posted by chloes1

I'm a 68 model myself and when ahead and filled it out. Weird to think of myself as a boomer though. I'm so accustomed of being the antidote to that little problem.

Same here, I never knew I was a Baby Boomer. Generation X is so much cooler!

[panache45]

Done. But it's strange to lump together people born in 1940 and 1970 . . . neither of which are Boomers.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by panache45

Done. But it's strange to lump together people born in 1940 and 1970 . . . neither of which are Boomers.

He's British. Maybe they started early and kept at it longer.

[Roderick Femm]

Done, and somewhat interesting; I was surprised to realize how many movies I remember from my childhood (the 50's) and how relatively few from the next two decades.


Roddy

[a35362]

Done!

Yeah, 1965 is definitely Generation X. Now where are my Ray-Bans? Ah, yes.

[JimWhalley]

Thanks again for all the responses so far. You're the first forum we've contacted in this way, and the result has been really, really encouraging. We went with 1940-1970 to give us points of comparison immediately before and after the boom - we don't want to say something is specific to boomers when those older and younger think the same thing. This way we can try to create a more accurate picture of continuity and change. Thanks also for the comments on the survey. The 'very/quite' issue didn't come up in testing, but I'll definitely address it. As Zut surmised, we're using 'quite' to mean less than 'very'; would 'somewhat' be a clearer option for American usage? Regarding the scrolling issue, I'll certainly look into what can be done.

[zut]

Originally Posted by JimWhalley

The 'very/quite' issue didn't come up in testing, but I'll definitely address it. As Zut surmised, we're using 'quite' to mean less than 'very'; would 'somewhat' be a clearer option for American usage?

I've seen the words "very," "somewhat," and "not at all" as survey options in multiple places in the past, so I think that should be clear enough. It certainly is to me.

[Miss Mapp]

I've done it. Yeah, that brought back some memories.

[Cat Whisperer]

Dammit, now I want to go fill it in. Can Canadians fill it in? We saw all the same movies as the US Americans.

[BMalion]

Done, and it was fun! I must be the ideal responder, born in 1960.

[Spoons]

Originally Posted by Cat Whisperer

Dammit, now I want to go fill it in. Can Canadians fill it in? We saw all the same movies as the US Americans.

I don't think we can complete it, Cat; I had a look and it asks what state you live in, and it doesn't seem that you can proceed without selecting a US state. I'll admit that I often find myself in a State of Confusion, but that wasn't a choice.

Everybody who can fill it out seems to be having a lot of fun with it, Jim. Any chance those of us non-Americans can at least have a look at it (without being able to fill it in so we don't skew your results)?

[Voyager]

Done - though I can hardly remember what I did when I was 8.

[freckafree]

Done!

[elbows]

Oooopsy!

I did it, and I'm in Canada. I just skipped the what state question, and, in the next question, filled in "I live in Canada!"

Hope I didn't screw it up too badly for you!

(Are we not just unarmed American's with health care?)

[pete66]

Done.. Now i want to go and try and find some of the Movies i haven't seen since the 70's.