BRONY STUDY (Research Project)

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Bronystudy.com

Welcome to the Brony Study site.

We would like to thank the 24,000 Bronies who completed our three surveys!

We have ended the data collection upon this first phase of our research and are involved with data analysis and writeup of the results.

We have added a new page (FAQs) to answer frequently asked questions about the Bronystudy.

We are in the process of designing phase two of the research which will involve a longitudinal (3-4 year) project to investigate how the fandom is changing across time! We will investigate questions like: Do the newer/younger Bronies continue to represent a large percentage of the Social Bronies and do Brony types change over time (Secret Bronies become Social or Mixed Bronies)? E-mail us if you are interested in joining our effort and check back often for updates.

The Updated Results for Survey1 are posted and the results for Survey2 will be posted in the coming weeks! (see the Study Results button above).

Drs Edwards and Redden

Studying the Herd!

Let us start by again saying Thank You to the worldwide Bronies who took part in our surveys. In this first phase we managed to accomplish several of our goals:

1) We dispelled some common myths about the Brony Community.

2) We more clearly identified the characteristcs of the Brony Community, including potential "Types" of Bronies.

3) We began to answer the question of "What motivates the Brony Community's interest in the My Little Pony show."

4) We have begun to investigate how the Brony fandom is both alike and different from other Internet fandoms. How the fandom is evolving into a more structured Internet Community and what if any role does Rule34 materials play within the fandom.

Our study results were greeted with a rousing positive reaction by the Bronies who attended the BroNYcon in NYC on Jan 2012 and more recently at the June 2012 BronyCon at the Meadowlands in NJ! We are looking forward to the 2013 BronyCons not just in NYC but around the country. Please contact us if you are interested in our participation in your event!

Researchers will tell you that conducting sound and valid scientific investigations involves an ongoing process of answering questions and discovering new questions that require followup research efforts. As we dig deeper into our data we have no doubts that new and intriguing questions will arise. We very much appreciate the support of so many members of the Brony community. There would be no Bronystudy without the overwhelming level of participation displayed by "the herd." We hope to live up to the trust the fandom has placed in our efforts and that we will continue to receive it in our future efforts!

We would like to extend a special thank you to Lauren Rae Orsini of DailyDot for her recent articles which has heightened peoples interest in the Brony Community and Professor Danial Chadborn for his invaluable help in recruiting Non-Bronies for our second survey.

Also thanks to Will Edwards for his artistic efforts at "ponyfying" Dr. Edwards (Dr Psych Ology) and Dr. Redden (Dr Sci Entific)!

Click HERE to see the DailyDot.com article.

Reason for the Study:
Recently we have become aware that there is a new phenomenon emerging, primarly among adolescent and young adult males. This is an interest in the latest version of My Little Pony (MLP), a cartoon which was first introduced in 1982 with a target audience and marketing strategy directed at pre-pubescent females. The latest version of MLP, introduced in 2009 with improved graphics and story line, seems to have captured the imagination and interest of a very different audience. The cartoon and its story line, "The Magic of Friendship", have attracted a following amoung males in the population. They have labelled themselves as "Bronies", a term meaning boys who like ponies or bro ponies.
There are blogs, artwork, videos and websites devoted to Bronies. A recent commerical includes a young man who takes off his shirt to reveal MLP-like tattoo on his back. While some males are open about their interest in MLP, others are more low-key or even clandestine in their interest.
The purpose of this study is two fold:
The intial phase of the study investigated, by the use of online surveys, the response of the general population (non-Bronies) to this fan phenomenon, including initial responses too and perception of why this phenomenon is occuring, as well as several personality characterisitic that might mediate these reactions.
The second phase of the research (in the design phase) will use brief online surveys (6-8 questions) which the subjects will complete every 3-4 months. This project will allow us to look at how the fandom is changing over time.
Please be sure to return to our Bronystudy.com site in the future as we will post updates of the study results as they become available and ask for volunteers for the second phase of the study.

Legalities
Please read the following consent statement:

I understand that participation in this study is voluntary and I may withdraw at any time without penalty.
That all responses are anonymous and the researchers have no way of knowing my identity or responses.
Any contacts with the researchers are at my discretion, but will be held as strictly confidential.
This survey is for participants ages 18 and older.
I am entitled to know the results of the study and they will be posted on this website when they become available.
Please allow yourself adequate time to take the questionnaire. The survey takes 40-45 minutes.
THE NAME BRONYSTUDY, ALL ARTWORK AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT AND MAY NOT BE USED WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE RESEARCHERS.
If you AGREE with the above statements please proceed to the "Take the Survey" section at the top of this page.
If you DO NOT AGREE with the above statement then please return to this website in the future to learn about the study results.

Bronystudy.com