Objective analysis:

After I got all my results back, the first task for analyzing them was to differentiate between the different groups of people. I had no idea what these groups would end up being when I gave out the survey, but afterwards there were four really clear ones: Cosplayers, non-cosplayer anime fans, people who used to cosplay or used to like anime and then stopped, and people who aren’t cosplayers or anime fans.

For the hell of it, I divided each group into male and female. There were no female cosplayers. I think that’s a large bias in my research as a whole - this is from the point of view of 100% females. In other categories, I made sure I had exactly 5 females and 5 males. The results between genders weren’t really all that varied. Although finding female fans who didn’t cosplay was HARD!

So here are the results of the survey in case you’re desperately curious. Not all people are accounted for, as once I got to ten in each category, I stopped adding them up. And these are only the questions that had any real unskewed data.

Are you a fan?
Cosplayers: All yes
Anime Fans: All yes
Others: Three no, males

Do you watch anime at all?
Cosplayers and Anime Fans: all yes
Others: 3 yes, 7 no

What characters can you relate to/sympathize with? (books not included)
Cosplayers: 6 - all, 2 - all but video games, 1 - all but video games and live action
Anime fans: 6 - all, 2 - all but video games, 1 - none
Others: 1 - all, 5 - only live action, 1 - all but live action, 1 - only animated, 2 - all but video games

Can you relate to the general public or not?
Cosplayers: 9 don’t relate, 1 neutral
Anime fans: 7 don’t relate, 2 relate, 1 neutral
Others: 7 relate, 2 don’t relate, 1 neutral

How far would you modify yourself for a character?
Cosplayers: All answers chosen although a few would not touch their hair, but would wear wigs. One person will not act like a character.
Anime Fans: 7 would wear a Tshirt, 4 would modify their hair, three would act like a character, two would dress like a character, Two would do nothing
Others: Three would do nothing, five would wear a Tshirt, two would dress like a character.
Keep in mind that we can’t know what kinds of characters these people had in mind.

Do you role play?
Cosplayers: All yes
Anime Fans: Four yes
Others: None

Do you consider yourself an artist?
Cosplayers: Four yes
Anime Fans: Four yes
Others: Four yes

Do you like to do crafts?
Cosplayers: all yes
Anime Fans: Seven yes
Others: Nine yes

Do you like to sew?
Cosplayers: Six yes, two neutral, two no
Anime Fans: Five yes, one neutral, four no
Others: Six yes, four no

Is it rare or common for others to share your interests?
Cosplayers: Two rare, two neutral, six common
Anime Fans: Five rare, three neutral, two common
Others: Two rare, two neutral, six common

Is it rare or common in the general public for others to have the same interests?
Cosplayers: Four rare, two neutral, four common
Anime Fans: One rare, one neutral, seven common
Others: Four rare, one neutral, five common

Are you excited to meet people who think like you?
Cosplayers: Eight yes, two don’t care
Anime Fans: Six yes, two don’t care, two would not like it at all
Others: Eight yes, two don’t care

Is a convention a valid medium for meeting friends?
Cosplayers: Seven yes, two neutral, one no
Anime Fans: Seven yes, two neutral, one no
Others: Eight yes, two neutral

Is the internet a valid medium for meeting friends?
Cosplayers: Five yes, three neutral, two no
Anime Fans: Six yes, one neutral, three no
Others: Three yes, three neutral, four no

Do you find yourself wishing a character were real?
Cosplayers: Nine yes, one no
Anime Fans: Six yes, four no
Others: 10 no

Would you date a character if he or she were real?
Cosplayers: Seven yes, three no
Anime fans: Six yes, four no
Others: Two yes, eight no

Do you make comparisons between fictitious and real life characters?
Cosplayers: 10 yes
Anime Fans: Five yes, five no
Others: Two yes, eight no

Do you make up new stories about characters from movies/anime?
Cosplayers: Three yes, seven no
Anime Fans: Five yes, five no
Others: Ten no

Do you care more about actors or directors?
Cosplayers: Six actors, Two both, two directors
Anime Fans: Three actors, Five both, Two directors
Others: Three actors, Two Both, Three directors, Two neither

Is Fangirl/Fanboy a negative/positive term?
Cosplayers: Four negative, two positive, two neutral, two invalid responses
Anime Fans: Six negative, two positive, two neutral
Others: Four negative, two positive, four invalid responses

Do you remember author/character names more/less?
Cosplayers: Two author, one both, six character, one invalid response
Anime Fans: Three author, four both, two character, one invalid response
Others: Three author, one both, two character, four invalid responses

Age:
Cosplayers: 19-23
Anime Fans: 15-22
Others: 19-58

Do you consider yourself a geek/dork/nerd?
Cosplayers: 10 yes
Anime Fans: Seven yes, three no
Others: Eight yes, two no

Do you enjoy anime or manga?
Cosplayers: 10 yes
Anime Fans: 10 yes
Others: 3 yes, 7 no

Interests:
Note that some people didn’t fill out this section
Likes: cosplayers, Anime Fans, Others, - Dislikes: cosplayers, Anime Fans, Others

anime 9, 8, 2, - 0, 0, 2
movies 4, 10, 5, -0, 0, 0
manga 9, 7, 0, -0, 1, 1
comics 6, 7, 0, -0, 0, 1
games 8, 8, 2, -0, 1, 0
sports 1, 1, 3, -4, 5, 1
art 6, 6, 7, -0, 0, 0
crafts 4, 6, 3, -0, 0, 1
scifi 8, 6, 2, - 0, 0, 1
fantasy 9, 8, 1, - 0, 0, 0
reading 9, 8, 7, - 0, 0, 0
science 4, 5, 3, -0, 1, 2
RPing 7, 5, 0, -0, 0, 1
costumes 9, 4, 1, - 0, 0, 1
languages 9, 8, 6, - 0, 0, 0
Jpop 3, 4, 0, -0, 1, 2
Jrock 3, 3, 0, -0, 0, 2
music 7, 9, 6, -0, 0, 0
voice actors 6, 2, 0, - 0, 1, 1
actors 3, 4, 0, -0, 1, 0
animals 5, 6, 4, -0, 1, 0
microbiology 3, 2, 0, - 1, 1, 3
pets 6, 4, 5, - 0, 0, 0
role playing games 9, 6, 0, - 0, 0, 2
FPS 2, 3, 1, - 3, 1, 2
dating sims 3, 1, 0, - 1, 5, 2
characters 8, 6, 0, - 0, 0, 0
computer programming 2, 4, 3, - 0, 3, 6

If anyone wants to put any information here into a chart, go right ahead.


Funny story about survey results
Survey Question Analysis
Survey Results
My final paper
Cosplaying Schemas
The ability to Relate to Characters
Zip file of presentation
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