Scientific survey about dolls

jantra · Post by **jantra** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 1:27 am

And just to interject some weirdness: My favorite bumper sticker at the moment: " Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity".

Post by **Rock13** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 3:06 am

jantra wrote:And just to interject some weirdness: My favorite bumper sticker at the moment: " Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity".

That's brilliant! I love it.

Mcpesch · Post by **Mcpesch** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 3:53 am

Hey all,

seagull wrote:Mcpesch
Haven't taken the interview yet but a qualitative approach is reassuring.
However of immediate concern to a number of doll owners are efforts to link a lump of sculpted plastic to child abuse legislation

When I wrote my first expose to outline my study (I didn't do any research at that point yet), I stated that I would leave out the child-looking doll topic and the robotic topic. But then I realised that I can not find a way around that topic. It's just too important to the community currently. I'm well aware of the prejudgments that often happen and I try not to reproduce that in my study. And on a sidenote, it's just a masters' thesis and will very likely not affect policy making

(Maybe luckely maybe sadly

)

kevinth1985 wrote:Weird, I was almost done the survey and the site stopped working. I don't feel like going through it again.

Oh no! I'm very sorry to hear that! Maybe you can just skip all the questions you already answered and just continue where you stopped? For me it would be a help you just stated in the interview somewhere "I'm the guy who wrote XY in the first half of his answer" so I can glue the two documents together. But I totally understand if you don't like to anymore

Mr Franz wrote:Oh, doesn't annoy me in the least, Mcpesch. I'm not saying that sex questions are not appropriate, just that these surveys are often skewed disproportionately in that direction and that the information already available on TDF may be a better barometer than conducting such a survey. Just my opinion. Attach to it however many grains of salt you deem appropriate. Best wishes and good luck with your endeavors.

I will!

Muninn wrote:A most refreshing survey, certainly different to the usual ones that have a very obvious bias... I've filled it in and I'd be most interested to see the results.

As mentioned above, it may be worth your while taking a look at some of the sections of the forum where the doll owners are more into the relationship/roleplay aspect of their doll. For example, there's a whole sub-forum where our dolls post with their own personality, and form good friendships together. Also there's plenty of threads on here that show just how much our dolls mean to us as partners, companions and lovers - I can point you in the direction of a couple of good ones if you're interested in that aspect.

Cool, as mentioned above, the stuff here in the forum definitally affected the way I do the study already. Thanks!

Unknown03 · Post by **Unknown03** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 10:31 am

I took the survey last night. Wow, were those some deep questions! I love to talk about my relationship with my doll, but it took me at least an hour - and then there was even more I wanted to say, but I didn't want to spend any more time. This morning I emailed the link provided for the research, and offered some more information. I also host a thread about feelings for our dolls; it replaces the old one (over 100 pages) that was taken down over YLD concerns, but I still have the transcript. There have been some wonderfully deep philisophic discussions and shared experiences around these issues which I would be happy to share further with you if you are interested.

Post by **Rock13** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 10:57 am

I completed the survey as well. I was happy with the open response format and I wrote quite a few paragraphs on some Q's. Most of the other surveys I've taken were dominated by often ridiculous multiple choice questions and even when the choices didn't reveal inherent biases, they did not allow for depth or nuance in the answers. Since the participants are free to say a little or a lot and express their individuality, I think it will be interesting to see the results on this one.

Mcpesch · Post by **Mcpesch** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 12:23 pm

autolycus wrote:I took the survey last night. Wow, were those some deep questions! I love to talk about my relationship with my doll, but it took me at least an hour - and then there was even more I wanted to say, but I didn't want to spend any more time. This morning I emailed the link provided for the research, and offered some more information. I also host a thread about feelings for our dolls; it replaces the old one (over 100 pages) that was taken down over YLD concerns, but I still have the transcript. There have been some wonderfully deep philisophic discussions and shared experiences around these issues which I would be happy to share further with you if you are interested.

Hey there, thanks for the mail! I don't make it to answer right now. But I'll get to it

Rock13 wrote:I completed the survey as well. I was happy with the open response format and I wrote quite a few paragraphs on some Q's. Most of the other surveys I've taken were dominated by often ridiculous multiple choice questions and even when the choices didn't reveal inherent biases, they did not allow for depth or nuance in the answers. Since the participants are free to say a little or a lot and express their individuality, I think it will be interesting to see the results on this one.

I totally feel you!

During my Bachelor I had to answer many of those questionaires and I never liked it...But that's the way psychology works at the moment. My qualitativ approach is rather unusual in psychology and I'm happy that I found a supervisor for that

Mcpesch · Post by **Mcpesch** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 3:43 am

Hey everybody,

on monday I'll close the survey. So everybody who still didn't make it to answer: this weekend is your last chance

After closing the survey I'll start with the analysis. This will take a few months. After the analysis you'll hear from me and I'll show you my results.
Thanks for all your answers, help, feedback, info, discussions...! Amazing, how many of you responded!
If you have any further questions, just send me an e-mail oder pm. I'm happy to hear from you

Yours
Lasse

Johnny Lee · Post by **Johnny Lee** » Sun Jan 31, 2021 9:59 pm

Awh crap. I just finished the survey after pausing a few times and typing an awful lot for the sake of science! This popped up "Unfortunately this survey ended on 02/01/2021."

jantra · Post by **jantra** » Sun Jan 31, 2021 11:01 pm

Mr Franz wrote:I took the survey. Better than most, but like those similar, places too much emphasis on the sexual aspects of doll ownership, IMO. That's like conducting a survey of married couples from the standpoint the sole purpose of getting married is for sex and that's bound to skew your results. I think rather than a survey, anyone who seriously wants to do research on doll ownership, need look no further than the threads on TDF. Everything you ever wanted to know about dolls and doll owners is right here.

O

Agreed, Everything you ever wanted to know about dolls and doll owners is right here. You don't need a survey. You just need to do a ton of reading right here. Oh yes, the photos aren't bad either, though might skew the research a bit. HOPE SO!!!!!

xseria · Post by **xseria** » Mon Feb 01, 2021 12:21 am

Not trying to be mean here but.....why help this person?

What good do you think a survey like this will do? What good will research into the how's and why's of doll ownership do? If you guys think that we will ever be accepted by the mainstream, you're dreaming in my opinion. Not in any of our lifetimes, maybe not ever. Yeah, we want to let the world know we aren't /just/ a bunch of degenerate creeps who turned their backs on real women and the dating game in general, but as long as those types number among us at all no amount of *science* is going to sway public opinion in our favor. So no shade but, what's the point of this?

Thesis-man, you could have just read TDF to find out what makes us tick. But sure, maybe you'll get cool-guy points for even tackling such a topic for your final project. I'll give you one for bravery.

Mcpesch · Post by **Mcpesch** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 2:37 pm

Johnny Lee wrote:Awh crap. I just finished the survey after pausing a few times and typing an awful lot for the sake of science! This popped up "Unfortunately this survey ended on 02/01/2021."

Oh no! I'm really sorry!
I guess that all the text you wrote is gone? Otherwise you can always email me...damn! But thanks for your efforts and again, sorry....

@jantra: I agree that there is a lot on TDF and I learned a lot by lurking and reading along! However, a survey is just another way of approaching the topic. The ideal in the end would be many articles about dolls that all used different approaches. And mine is the survey and in depth interviews

There is an article that analysed a forum which is actually quite nice, I can look it up for you if you like!

@yseria: I'm sorry that you have become so pessimistic! Obviously, I have a different opinion

Science is one part of how the puplic opinion of something is shaped. And I belive it's one of the more just parts (so less shaming for dolls etc.). Anyway, thanks for the bravery-points!

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 3:46 pm

Opinions of minority groups do not have much impact on greater society.
We have more than enough haters making our lives difficult i.e. Islamic countries have an outright ban on dolls.
There is a creep of punitive legislation against small dolls, laws based on unsubstantiated bs research driven by conservative groups in the UK, Australia, Canada and the US
Legislation is generally fast tracked when big business and big money is involved, the doll industry is composed of many small manufacturing businesses producing hand made toys, definitely not big

An analysis of the forum is not something I would consider, far too broad with enough variables to choke the proverbial horse
The targeted survey is a better approach and when there are enough of them then someone will do an exhaustive analysis and get a much more accurate picture of this aspect of human behavior

Mcpesch · Post by **Mcpesch** » Wed Jun 09, 2021 4:28 am

Dear Doll Community,

Thanks again for your participation in the doll study. Thanks for sharing all those stories with me!
In the following weeks I will be finished with my thesis, and I can give you first insights into my analysis. Here are two links to a two-page long summary.

German version:
https://unibamberg-my.sharepoint.com/:b ... A?e=yOxIaG

English version:
https://unibamberg-my.sharepoint.com/:b ... g?e=xsVKsp

If there is anything to add or you have questions, please get in touch!
I wish you all the best!
Kind regards,
Lasse
dollstudy.allgpsych@uni-bamberg.de

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Wed Jun 09, 2021 6:51 am

Impressive summary, there is an omission in the young looking dolls section, people with health or fitness challenges being drawn towards the practicalities of smaller or lighter dolls

Post by **Rock13** » Wed Jun 09, 2021 11:02 am

seagull wrote:Impressive summary, there is an omission in the young looking dolls section, people with health or fitness challenges being drawn towards the practicalities of smaller or lighter dolls

Through our daily review of the forum- which itself is just a sample based on the active membership- it seems that most of us have a good qualitative sense for how many have this or that kind of doll and interact with them in this or that manner- but these scientific surveys are at the mercy of people's willingness to participate. As he points out, the majority of his sample were heterosexual males who "use a doll as a substitute for a woman". The only distinction I would've liked to see there is the difference between those males who he says "can't get a woman" vs. the one he doesn't mention- those who have had relationships with women and now prefer dolls.