3 Minute Wonder: Research - Synesthesia Research

SECONDARY RESEARCH

What is Synesthesia?

'Synaesthesia is a joining together of sensations that are normally experienced separately.' - http://www.sussex.ac.uk/synaesthesia/ (13/03/2014)

'Synesthesia is a condition in which one sense (for example, hearing) is simultaneously perceived as if by one or more additional senses such as sight. Another form of synesthesia joins objects such as letters, shapes, numbers or people's names with a sensory perception such as smell, color or flavor. The word synesthesia comes from two Greek words, syn (together) and aisthesis (perception). Therefore, synesthesia literally means "joined perception."' - http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/syne.html (13/03/14)

How common is it?

'[...]This type of synaesthesia occurred in a little over one percent of the population.' - http://www.sussex.ac.uk/synaesthesia/faq (14/03/14)

'[...]Anywhere from one in every 100,000 people to one in every 5,000 people, but it's difficult to get a good count because of the nature of synesthesia.' - http://www.bu.edu/synesthesia/faq/ (14/03/14)

Existing Documentaries on Synesthesia





PRIMARY RESEARCH

I have whipped up a quick questionnaire using Google Forms to send out, and I've received around 29 responses.

My survey consisted of 9 questions:

Are you male or female?

While a little forward, this information is extremely helpful to finding trends in results. Out of 29 responses, 19 of those were female, which leaves the remaining 10 as male.

What is your age?

From a selection of 11-13, 14-16, 17-19 and 20+, 3 responses were 11-13, 16 of them were 14-16, 8 of them were 17-19, and one was 20+.

Have you heard of Synesthesia?

From all 29 responses, 13 had not heard of synesthesia. With 15 who had heard of it, it's a fairly equal split, but more people had heard of it than I had initially expected.

What does the word 'synesthesia' mean to you?

This was to gauge what the public opinion on synesthesia is, and mostly it's pretty accurate, with most people who had heard of it knowing what it is. There are a couple of misfires (someone thought it meant homosexual, and someone else took it as being an infection of the nose, while another seemed to think it was another word with the same root as 'anesthesia' which is fair enough) but most people who hadn't heard of it didn't guess.

Do you know anyone who has it?

Mostly a resounding no on this one with 17, but a surprising number of people actually said they have synesthesia (6), and a few said they know more than two people who have it (4).

If you don't know a huge amount about it, is it something you would like to hear more about?

Almost unanimous 'yes' here, with only two people saying no.

Have you heard of Channel 4's '3 Minute Wonder' series?

As it turns out, 3 Minute Wonders aren't very widespread in culture. 25 say they haven't heard of it, 3 people have, and one person was too lazy to answer this question.

If so, do you like this short format of documentary?

I threw the word 'documentary' into this question so that those who haven't heard of it have a good idea of what a '3 Minute Wonder' is, and generally people seem rather supportive. Well, those who had heard of it. A lot of people didn't answer because they hadn't heard of them.

Would you watch a documentary about synesthesia?

7 people would rather not see a documentary about synesthesia, but unsurprisingly these are the same people who haven't heard of it or 3 Minute Wonders. The other 22 people seem rather receptive to the idea of a documentary on the subject, however.