Kirk/Spock Questionnaire
| Fan Survey | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Kirk/Spock Questionnaire |
| Surveyor: | Judith Gran and Dorothy Laoang |
| Date(s): | began in 1982, distributed in 1984-85, results printed in 1985 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom(s): | Star Trek: TOS |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Kirk/Spock Questionnaire was written, distributed, and tabulated by Judith Gran and Dorothy Laoang.
Some of the results were printed in Not Tonight, Spock! #11 in November 1985.
The questionnaire was distributed in a variety of fan publications and at conventions likely beginning in 1982. Some of those zines were: K/S & K.S. (Kindred Spirits) #9 and #15, Amazing Grace (unknown issue), R & R (unknown issue), and APA Enterprise #23.
The Survey's Origins
This survey likely began in 1982 as a project by Bev Lorenstein and Judith Gran and was to have been published in the second issue of Organia, which never made it off the ground due to a falling out between these two fans. In November 1983, Gran wrote:
I've included some questions on reader identification with the characters. About 85% of all ST fans, K/S or not, identified strongly with either Kirk or Spock or both. There were no significant differences between K/S fen and non-K/S fen in this respect. [BL] and I are planning a survey on K/S for a future zine we are publishing. A fellow K/S fan has drafted an instrument, but other fans are encouraged to submit questions and hypotheses. We will have some high-powered technical assistance on this survey from the head of Research and Evaluation in the multidisciplinary university center I work in, so this is your big chance, K/S fen. Besides, I have to find something to keep my new TRS-80 II computer off the streets, before my kids fill up its data banks with their Dungeons and Dragons programs. [1]
In September 1984, Laoang wrote:
Thank you for your willingness to distribute the Kirk/Spock Questionnaire through NOT TONIGHT, SPOCK! It is a perfect vehicle for this type of survey. With invaluable editorial input from Judith, the whole project has been almost two years in the making, I point this out because the questionnaire was in no way a reaction to the recent David Gerrold fracas. To date, it has also been distributed through AMAZING GRACE, at Shore Leave, as well as in an earlier issue of this APA. We are looking for additional zines for distribution!
K/S as well as non-K/S, in order to get as wide a sampling of fandom as possible. The replies that have come in so far have been, in a word, fascinating! NTS will, of course, get a full article on the results. Observations and opinions are likely to find their way into these pages from time to time as well. [2]
Discussion Regarding Sending the Questionnaire to TPTB
One of the survey's creators wrote in 1985:
I wish Roddenberry could read and comment on your brilliant send-up of his T'HY'LA footnote. Since becoming involved in active fandom, I've been a bit surprised and disappointed that we have so little contact with or input from the creators and stars of ST, I wish I knew of a way to find out if Bennett got the KATRA idea from Jean Lorrah! We actually have no idea of how they feel about agreat many things — including K/S. Rumors and hearsay are often contradictory and always unreliable, I know we discussed the possibility of sending copies of the questionnaire to Bennett, Roddenberry, Shatner, Nimoy, etc, with a cover letter explaining that we'd really like to hear their opinions, but other fans have said that perhaps K/S should be kept "underground" as much as possible, so nothing has been done along these lines (so far). [3]
Discussion Regarding Sending the Questionnaire to "APA Enterprise"
Susan Beth Schnitger wrote in K/S & K.S. (Kindred Spirits) #12:
I'm willing to run your K/S questionnaire through APA Enterprise. It has a mainly non- and anti-K/S membership so the opinions would probably be quite different from those you'll get from here or NTS. If you're interested, I'd need 30 copies; the next deadline is February 1, 1985.
The survey did indeed appear in "K/S & K.S. (Kindred Spirits)" in issue #23 (February 1985) where they had been included by Schnitger who prefaced it with:
One of the items on the TOC is a K/S questionnaire which I am franking through. If you are willing to take the time to fill it out your help will be appreciated. As long as you are familiar with the basic premise (and given the running debate on the subject in this APA, how could you not be?) it doesn't matter whether you approve or disapprove of K/S: The people running the survey are trying to discover why people do/don't like the genre and what if any traits those who like/dislike it have in common. You don't need to sign it, and no individual’s answers will be revealed. The compiled results and any conclusions that the authors draw from them will be reported in the K/S APA and NTS (Not Tonight, Spock! -- a letterzine devoted to K/S) and maybe through here if interest is expressed.
The Questionnaire
References
- ^ K/S & K.S. (Kindred Spirits) #3
- ^ from K/S & K.S. (Kindred Spirits) #11
- ^ from K/S & K.S. (Kindred Spirits) #15