As discussed on the main page, the respondents were asked to rate each of the studied dialects on a scale of 1-5 against four personality traits. Respondents were asked if they would spontaneously associate these traits (Friendliness, Education, Refinedness, and Politeness) with a speaker of each dialect. They were also asked to list other traits that they may spontaneously associate with a speaker of each dialect. It was intended that the questionnaire include both qualitative and quantitative information, and that it focus on the perceptions of dialects rather than on the dialects themselves.
Here is a pdf file of the survey I used
Here is an English translation of the survey
Here is an Excel Document of my results
The majority of respondents reported that they spoke a dialect of some sort in every place but Hanover (50% in Berlin, 80% in Dresden, 80% in Augsburg, 60% in Stuttgart, and 15% in Hanover). In Berlin and Stuttgart I visited universities, and it seems likely that the relatively lower numbers of dialect-speakers in those places is due to a bias of higher education. In Berlin and Dresden several people wrote "no" where the survey asks if they speak a dialect, and then in parenthesis they wrote "actually..." and then listed their dialect. It may be that they speak Hochdeutsch day-to-day but can switch into a dialect if necessary, or there may be a more powerful stigma against Berlinerisch and Sächsisch in general.
When people were asked to write a few words or phrases that were typical of their dialect, the most common response was to write a modal or otherwise common word with a distinct pronunciation (for example haste = hast du). Distinct words for foods and insects were also occasionally examples, although there was an interesting distinction: people chose vocabulary words rather than pronunciation differences in Augsburg and Stuttgart but not so much in Berlin and Dresden. Bayrisch and Schwäbisch are conceived as having a very distinct lexicon.
In the section on people's attitudes towards different dialects, there arose a general pattern: each dialect was rated as sounding Friendly, Uneducated, Unrefined, and Polite. There are many variations on this pattern, which are discussed individually on the Results by City page. However, there was hardly ever a very universal agreement on the four qualities: some people in Dresden think Schwäbisch sounds rude, others say polite. The patterns are not very stark.
In fact, the most common response to any query was indifference. Each quality was rated from one to five, and three (signifying the middle ground) was the most common response. If the respondent did not answer a question I took that as another expression of indifference, and altogether about half of all responses were indifferent. People just did not want to rate dialects on this scale of qualities.
We might take from this that Germans hold few prejudices based on speech. However, the data indicate otherwise. After rating the four qualities, respondents were asked to list any other attributes they would associate with a speaker of a specific dialect, and these were almost always filled in with colorful and non-neutral adjectives like prollig, intolerant, kumpelhaftig, etc. (Occasionally respondents would rate a dialect as sounding not particularly polite or impolite, and then write "impolite" in the space below!) It seems more likely that many respondents were reluctant to rate dialects on a scale because it would seem intolerant, but they had less trouble listing a few stereotypical adjectives of their own.
In fact, this sensitivity was something I noticed several times during my survey-taking. In Berlin and most especially Hanover, a few people out of the thirty would tell me that they did not have any prejudices based on speech and that they therefore couldn't fill out the survey. They left the entire bottom half blank. I believe that this attitude was most pervasive in Hanover, which is very interesting because it may mean that dialect-speakers are more likely to judge each other based on dialect than Hochdeutsch speakers are.
In contrast to the dialects, Hochdeutsch was almost invariably given all positive qualities: Friendly, Educated, Refined, and Polite. This was the most salient result of the survey: that Hochdeutsch is generally associated with better qualities than any dialects.
The map diagrams are similar to those used by Pitzer Professor Carmen Fought. They consisted simply of a blank map of the country of Germany. Respondents were asked to draw and label the main dialect regions in Germany and to indicate their place of birth on the map with a star.
Here is an example of a map diagram
The most interesting feature of the map diagrams (at least, from an American English-speaking perspective) is just how detailed they are. Most Germans know of at least ten distinct dialect boundaries, and people most often agree on their name and location. However, there seem to be an infinite number of subtle distinctions within dialect boundaries; cities and even small towns are known for their local dialects. In the United States people tend to have only the vaguest concepts of American English accents, and associate them with a few cities such as New York and Boston. Germany's long history as a region of separate kingdoms is undoubtedly a reason for this diversity, but it is still fascinating that people know so much about them. Even so, the most common response I received when explaining the idea behind the map diagrams was that the task was an impossible one.
In addition, respondents had a real sense that a) dialect boundaries are very stark and well-defined and written down in books and b) that they are strongly tied to geographical abstractions like cities and states. Many people told me that I would be able to find all of the answers I was looking for in a good atlas.
This conception is somewhat at odds with what I have been taught about dialect regions. I have been taught that they are very difficult to define and chart precisely, that they blend into one another and that their definition depend a great deal on the perceptions people have of them. In the United States this is perhaps easier to see, but my research in Germany has confirmed this as well. For example, I visited a border region where two dialects blend, and obtained occasionally conflicting reports from dialect speakers of what characterizes their own dialect.
