CLB's dictionary survey

[Lynne Murphy]

Thinking more about dictionary surveys...

I've read various studies based on surveys, and I have to admit that when
I read them, I doubt their usefulness.  (They're better than nothing,
but...)  If someone asked me what I do when I use a dictionary, I doubt
that what I remembered doing would be the same as what I actually do.  For
instance, if you asked me if I use the dictionary for pronunciations
never/occasionally/sometimes/often, I'd really be doing no better than
guessing, I think.

I'd be more interested in either tracking actual use or
controlled-observation studies.

Tracking could consist of having a set of volunteers (perhaps households)
keep a record of when/why/how they use a dictionary over the course of,
say, a year.  They could, for instance, be given a worksheet to keep with
their dictionary, in which they note the date, the word, what part of the
entry they were looking for (definition, pronunciation),how satisfactory
they found the information and how easily they found it on a scale of 1-5.
   Am I making this up, or did someone already do a study like this that
is creeping out from my subconscious?

Controlled observation would involve setting a task for volunteers and
watching how they achieve the goal.  So, for example, have the volunteers
look up a word to see how to pronounce it.  One way of achieving this
would be to videotape the process, possibly having the volunteer 'think
aloud' about what they are doing.

If someone were interested in a collaborative project like one of those, I
would probably be interested in participating.  I'd be particularly
interested in tracking dictionary use in classrooms...

Lynne