Language Matters Research
New research exploring the public’s views about language used to describe different social and demographic characteristics
Language evolves. What meant one thing 10 years ago, may have a different meaning in the present day. As researchers, it’s important to understand where the public sits on the use of language and terminology we use to describe their social and demographic characteristics, be that ethnicity, their disability or sexuality.
Using more inclusive language can help to create environments where everyone feels respected and valued. Yet there can be a level of discomfort and uncertainty about the best terminology to use in social and market research. ‘Official’ terminology can often differ from how people prefer to talk about themselves (or others). And what meant one thing 10 years ago, may have a different meaning in the present day.
We wanted to understand more about where the public sits on some of this, through a large-scale survey.
Our latest research, run with the support of Yonder Data Solutions, looks at what language people feel is acceptable or preferable to use in relation to different social and demographic characteristics that define individuals in a particular group or population – characteristics like age and ethnicity - including how people self-identify.
We engaged with a representative sample of over 4,000 adults living in the UK, as a way of permitting detailed analysis of the views of different groups.
The survey findings highlight the need for us to be more mindful of the different language preferences of particular individuals or groups, and that it’s not a neat picture.
We look forward to socialising the findings with the wider research community, and hope others find the results helpful to supporting their work.
Key findings from the research can be found in our report here
Get in touch
