The Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives / Materials / Records / Inventories
	Inventory of the Records of The Body Politic & Pink Triangle Press
	Page 14 of 40 / Appx 340 words

Page 14 / Inventory Series 6
Research

This series includes material on independent surveys conducted through the pages of The Body Politic [1], as well as readership research done by the magazine itself, and later by Xtra.

The Body Politic didn't much depend on "market" research -- and certainly did not begin with any. The "Gaylup Poll" in # 3 (Mar / Apr 1972, p 2) asked for reader critiques of TBP, but sought no demographic data beyond gender and sexual orientation. Results were reported -- mostly tongue- in- cheek -- in the next issue, May / Jun 1972, p 8.

Of particular value to anyone interested in the later composition of TBP's readership and their views on the magazine is "True confessions," a questionnaire published in the Feb 1981 issue and answered by 502 people.

Extensive reports on their responses appear in "Who reads TBP?" # 76 (Sep 1981), p 43; "Getting -- and getting into -- TBP," # 78 (Nov 1981), pp 46-47; and "Looking ahead," # 80 (Jan / Feb 1982), p 18. We'd been looking ahead even before that: the Out in the City Toronto listings section was launched with the Apr 1981 issue -- after the survey, so not reflected in readers' comments.

83-010 / 02

"Gaylup Poll." Developmental papers, 1972.

82-019 / 04

Printouts related to research by John McConnell, 1977.

82-019 / 04

"True confessions." Papers on development and assessment, 1980-81.

82-019 / 05

"True confessions." Response forms, 1981.

88-004 / 01

Xtra / Out in the City three-question readership survey, 1985. Response cards.

88-004 /14

Xtra readership survey, 1987. Response forms and coding sheets.

1. See Greg Lehne: "Gay fantasies: A plea for information" (survey form), TBP # 9 (1973), p 21; "Gay male fantasies: A collage" (selection of responses from Issue 9 survey), TBP # 14 (Jul / Aug 1974), pp 22-23; and "Gay male fantasies" (survey report), TBP # 15 (Sep / Oct 1974), pp 12-13. See also John McConnell's "What's going on?," a questionnaire on gay attitudes and self- perceptions, TBP # 28 (Nov 1976), pp 19-20.
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