About This Research

Researcher: This research project is being conducted by Druann “Dru” Pagliassotti, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Communication Department of California Lutheran University. Both components of this study have been approved by CLU’s Institutional Review Board for legal and ethical compliance.

Please note that although this study is being conducted by a professor who works in a religiously affiliated university, no moral judgments on the content of boy’s love manga or its readers is being or will be passed in any presentation of this research.

Dr. Druann Pagliassotti
Associate Professor
Communication Department, MC 3600
California Lutheran University
60 West Olsen Road
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

phone number: 805-493-3374
email: paglia [at] clunet.edu

Purpose: This study is intended to describe boy’s love manga readership and fan participation in the United States. It addresses the following research questions:

(1) What are boy’s love manga readers like, in terms of gender and other factors?
(2) Why do readers enjoy boy’s love manga?
(3) What role does the fan community play for boy’s love manga readers?
(4) To what extent do boy’s love manga readers contribute to the genre themselves, and how and why?

Methodology:

Emailed survey: The follow-up component of this research will be emailed to volunteers and will consist of two Word documents: a consent form and the actual survey. Consent forms must be faxed or mailed back before any data from the individual's survey answers will be used. If you're interested in participating in this part of the research, please send an email to paglia [at] clunet.edu.

Online survey: Participants took an online survey that included multiple-choice questions and, in some cases, provided text boxes for additional information. The survey was created in, and was hosted by, ZoomerangPro.

Length:

Emailed survey: This study consists of 13 questions, all of which are open-ended.

Online survey: This study consisted of 43 questions and took up to 20-45 minutes. Actual survey length varied, as some answers bypassed questions.

Age of Participants: Only men and women 18 years or older should participate in this study.

Participation & Withdrawal: Participation in this study is entirely voluntary. Participants may skip questions that they do not want to answer and may quit the study at any time.

Confidentiality: All responses will be kept anonymous. No identifying data was collected by either ZoomerangPro or will be collected by the researcher.

Use of Data: The data collected in this study may be presented as part of a conference presentation or published in various forms. Responses will appear either in aggregate form (that is, described in terms of numbers, percentages, or ratios, or shown as a table or chart) or quoted individually. In the case of individual quotes, demographic information such as country of origin, age and gender may be used as identification (for example, “I really love this survey,” Canadian Female, 18-24.)

This website will provide information about any presentation of the research findings on the Announcements page.

Statement of Risk: Some of these questions are personal in nature and collect background information such as religious affiliation and sexual orientation.

Questions: If you have any other questions about this research project, please feel free to contact Dr. Druann Pagliassotti.