Based on the efforts of Herbert Halpert, George M. Story, William (Bill) Kirwin, John D.A. Widdowson, and others, the questionnaire series began in 1962. Early questionnaires, or surveys, were associated with linguistics and would eventually lead to the collection that became the Dictionary of Newfoundland English (DNE). Over the years a variety of topics relating to folklore and language research were covered and many of those surveys were used to build various collections, publications, and projects within the department.

Surveys were given a Q number as they were created, and original responses were deposited in the archive. Responses were gathered with varying degrees of success. Due to an agreement with the Department of English, the most successful response rates were with Q67 and Q68. The academic year was not semesterized at that time, so students would take surveys home over Christmas break and return them to the department in the new year as part of their course grade in English 100 and English 200.

In the 1970s, the perceived legitimacy of questionnaires decreased. By the 1980s, the creation of surveys dwindled as research methodologies evolved. Questionnaires were viewed as leading the informant in an oral interview and, as such, considered a poor fit for a more specific direction of research. The last survey number was assigned in 1986 as faculty changed direction and focused on the interview process as the preferred source of data collection.

Below is a blank PDF copy of each of the questionnaires assigned over the years. Click the Q-number to access the PDFs for those blank surveys that are available. You may find these useful as inspiration to shape your own research. Please contact MUNFLA staff or visit the archive to access the collection of responses.