Catharina Nyström Höög

What do people actually think? On scale measuring and personal narratives in attitude studies

Abstract Based on experiences from a study of language attitudes within the framework of the research project Modern Import-Words in the Languages of the Nordic Countries (the MIN project), this paper deals with advantages and disadvantages of closed-ended and open-ended research methods. Two different sets of data are discussed: questionnaire responses and personal narratives excerpted from a free speech material. The questionnaire responses, marked on Likert scales, makes comparisons between studies from different Nordic countries relatively easy, but the Swedish study shows that the Likert scales and the pre-formulated responses pose problems to quite a few of the informants. Data collection also included a less structured discussion and yielded personal narratives from some informants. Those narratives show how informants reason about language issues when they are free to choose topic and wording, and thus contribute valuable data. To conclude, the paper suggests a bigger emphasis on free spoken material in attitude studies.

För många texter kan skymma sikten. Om myndigheternas uppdrag, tidens ideal och policydokument vid svenska myndigheter

Under the influence of New Public Management, the text repertoires of public authorities in Sweden have changed. Today, public authorities produce a number of different policy texts, such as policies for communication, and for behavior within the workplace. The mere existence of such texts, not explicitly directed at addressees outside the authority, challenges the role of plain language. Is it worthwhile to establish plain language strategies for those texts, or do they call for a different kind of action? Are the advocates of plain language obligated, according to the language act, to make policy texts “cultivated, simple and comprehensible”? In this article, I argue that it might be more important for the language cultivation within the public authorities to discuss the amount of texts produced, and why texts are produced. Too many texts may be a plain language problem in itself; they tend to blur the view.