Harry Potter Survey #1

[Ripleywriter at aol.com]

Hello all, 

   I'm doing a project on Harry Potter and J.K Rowling, and it's finally come 
time for me to survey the fans. I've been waiting for this bit for about a 
month! If a HP survey sounds like fun, please read on. 

  I'm going to send it in pieces because I don't want to overwhelm anybody 
with a big long form. Pick and choose as you wish the questions you'd like to 
answer. I have to spell out a few things in this initial e-mail, and then the 
others will only be questions. Please send all replies to 
ripleywriter at aol.com, unless, of course, you want to discuss something with 
the list. 

  Ok, the jargon. These questions will range from typical (in the interest of 
statistics) to asking your opinion, and so on. I would love and very much 
appreciate any time you give to these questions as I would like to be able to 
give the fans' perspective in my reports; it's really important to me. And 
please remember that there is no limit to how much I'm willing to read, so 
for those of you who love to talk, here's your chance (I hope)! 

  This is a school project, so anything you say--not that I'll be asking 
anything controversial--will not be widely published. ;-) 

  Please copy and paste the entire survey (between the lines) into another 
e-mail and write in your answers beneath each question. Things will go much 
smoother that way.

And here you go:

-----------------------

Basic questions first (for the purposes of saying: "Ann, a 43-year-old doctor 
from Illinois…"):

Your first and/or last name:  
Your general location (for example, Britain or New York): 
Your age or age group: 
Your occupation:

Thank you for your time and I hope you have fun! 

Survey Questions 1-20. 

1. Who is your favorite character, and why? Are there any characters you 
don't enjoy? 

2. What do you hope will happen in the 5th book? 

3. What do think actually *will* happen based on speculation or official 
information you've heard (skip this q if you avoid that type of info)? 

4.  Which, if you had to choose one and only one, is your favorite book: 1, 
2, 3, or 4?

5. Which is your least favorite book of the series, and why?

6.  Of all the covers for all the editions of all the books that you've seen, 
which would you say is your favorite? For example, mine is the American cover 
of the Order of the Phoenix. 

7. Have you pre-ordered or reserved your copy of OotP? How and when did you 
do it? Online? At a local bookstore? What discount, if any, will you receive?

8. Will you be attending a release party for the new book? Who's arranging 
it? Tell me about your plans. 

9. Recent events have brought up an interesting question I'd like to include 
in my article on the 5th book: if you found a 100% official copy of The Order 
of The Phoenix tomorrow that you figured must have been illegally obtained 
and/or lost, what would you do with it? Please be honest. I will: honestly, I 
think I'd read the first chapter before turning it over to the police. 

10. What was your initial reaction to first hearing the official release date 
for the 5th book? How did you find out? And any other related info you can 
think of would be helpful, such as if you were one of the people who rushed 
to pre-order a copy on amazon.com.

11. I've heard several accounts of people planning to purchase more than one 
copy of OotP, such as the American version and one from Britain, etc. Will 
you be buying more than one copy to be able to own more than just the 
available edition in your area? Have you done so with any of the past books?

12. What, if any, Harry Potter related products have you purchased aside from 
the books and/or the movies themselves? 

13. If you own anything like that, what would you say is the craziest product 
you own? Did you go to any crazy lengths to get a product, such as paying far 
too much, trading your car...? ;-)

14.  And what I've been anticipating the fan response of...what are some of 
the strangest/craziest/unbelievable Harry Potter products you've seen or 
heard of released? Did you consider buying any of these products, or did you 
actually purchase any of them?

15. What is your greatest hope for the third HP movie, The Prisoner of 
Azkaban? For example, mine is that the 'iffy' new casting decisions prove all 
the nay-sayers (including me) wrong. And what is your greatest fear? For 
example, some are afraid Sean Biggerstaff's absence will ruin Quidditch. 

16. So, some of us were less than thrilled with the aforementioned casting 
decisions. If it were up to you, how would you otherwise cast Lupin and/or 
Sirius? I've heard Ralph Fiennes mentioned for Lupin, for example. Even if 
you feel repetitive in saying so, any names you've considered would be great 
(even if it's another tally for Fiennes!) 

17. Which PoA casting decisions, if any, are you satisfied or even pleased 
with? 

18. Have you ever convinced a skeptic to read the books? Did they get hooked 
just like you? Any stories surrounding this topic would be terrific! 

19. Another anticipated question of mine: when/why did you pick up a Harry 
Potter book? Were you a fan before or after the movies? Were you a skeptic 
who got converted to reading the books? 

20. If you could ask J.K. Rowling herself one question, what would it be? For 
example, a question that you have not seen or heard her response to before. 

-----------------

And that's it for now. There will be another set of questions sent out within 
the next few days, depending upon the response I receive. That is to say if I 
don't get any I'll consider my efforts ill spent. ;-)

Please let me know, having answered any of the q's, if you would be willing 
to answer more in the next week. 

Thank you again for your time and I hope this was an enjoyable experience for 
you. I hope my questions weren't boring! 

Melly

P.S. These surveys will also be going out to One_Eyed_Witch and 
glassesreflect, so please delete repetitive copies if you get them. I 
apologize for that.