Braun, V. , Tricklebank, G. and Clarke, V. (2013) It shouldnt stick out ...

GENDER AND HAIR REMOVAL 13
and women's torsos. Sections 2 and 3 each contained the same seven questions related to pubic
hair and pubic hair removal, applied first to women, and then to men (see Appendix). Section 4
contained 14 demographic questions about the participant and about their hair removal practices.
No personally identifying information was collected. Approval for the study was obtained from
The University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee.
Responses to recruitment advertisements were either received via a specifically created
email address or in person. Each potential participant was given more information about the
study and handed/emailed a participant information sheet. If they then wanted to participate, they
were handed/emailed a copy of the survey. Instructions for completing the survey included: (a)
“Please write down your own feelings and perspectives—there are no right answers.” (b) “Please
write your answers in your own words, in the space directly below the question.” (c) “Write as
much as you like—if you are completing a paper version, there is an overflow box at the end if
you wish to write more than fits in the space allocated to any one question.” (d) “Where there is a
question that could be answered with yes, or no, we ask that you explain your view.”
Participants were instructed to return the completed survey “as soon as possible,” either
in hardcopy (via post, to a university drop-off box or in person) or electronically. Reminders
were not sent. All 67 surveys distributed were returned, with approximately three-quarters (51,
76%) being completed by hand and returned as hardcopy. All data were then entered into a Word
file for analysis and initially collated by question. Each participant was assigned a code
according to the order in which each survey was entered (NZ01-NZ67); extracts presented here
are identified by participant number, sex, and age (e.g., 63F, 39).