Word Associations: A sociological study

I was involved in a discussion about the banning of language that lead to another discussion about how language affects socialization…or at least that is the direction I was going. I believe that while between individuals, we can claim that word only have the meaning they are given or that they have no meaning at all, but in the wider scheme of society, words do in fact have relevance to our social construct.

Just to test this theory out, as well as gather tangible data for analysis, I would like to play a word association game. While this is not my intention to offend anyone, I assure you there is a method to my madness, however I am reluctant to offer any additional information for fear your responses will be tainted. Once you have responded to the words, you are welcome to analyze why you believe you associated the words as you did, as well as any additional reflection you might find helpful to my research. Later I will write an article including this and other research.

Since this experiment (and not necessarily the research for my article) are dependant on participation, I want to thank everyone in advance for your help.

Instructions: Examine the list of words below and respond to each with the word that first enters your mind. It is very important to the integrity of this experiment that you are honest with both me and yourself. Don't think to hard; just answer.

Jews
Black
White
Immigrant
@!$%#
Bourgeois
Communist
Liberal
Beautiful
Conservative
Rebel
Christmas
F.U.C.K

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