Fanlore:Featured Article Archives/2020: Week 33
Surveyfail is the name used to refer to a late August 2009 incident in which two researchers -- Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam -- instigated a survey about women's desire and fandom, with an eye toward publishing a book called Rule 34: What Netporn Teaches Us About The Brain. In their communications they implied they were officially affiliated with Boston University.
The following comes from the survey's "About" page (no longer online):
The structure and activity of our subcortical circuits are shaped by neurohormones such as testosterone, estrogen, oxytocin, progesterone, and vasopressin; these circuits function differently in men and women. As cognitive neuroscientists, we draw upon a wide variety of empirical data sources to model these circuits, including brain imaging studies, primate research, cognitive science experiments, machine learning algorithms--and behavioral data. The Internet offers large, unprecedented sources of data on human activity: one of these data sets is fan fiction.
We're deeply interested in broad-based behavioral data that involves romantic or erotic cognition and evinces a clear distinction between men and women. Fan fiction matches this criteria perfectly.
The survey received widespread backlash and pushback from members of fandom for its ethically and methodologically questional approach, as well as offensive comments uttered by the researchers in discussions about the survey and their refusal to listen to the well-founded criticisms of fans. Boston University also publicly distanced itself from the researchers' actions following complaints from fans and emphasised that it did not endorse the survey.