The Great Pop vs. Soda Controversy

Click here to view a large non-interactive map.
(The zoomable Java map is temporarily disabled.)

View the Pop vs. Soda statistics.
(Click here to find out what people are saying for "other".)

View an excellent map (with statistics by county) created by Matthew Campbell and Prof. Greg Plumb of East Central University in Oklahoma.

ABSTRACT

Using the World Wide Web to gather and process data from across English-speaking North America, I intend to plot the regional variations in the use of the terms "Pop" and "Soda" to describe carbonated soft drinks.

RESEARCH

The primary source of data for this study will be submissions from readers of this web page. Obviously, this may not be a completely random sampling, but since the primary objective of the study is to map the regional distribution and not the population distribution per response, this sample should suffice. Also, since a large percentage of internet users are college students who may use dialects not local to their current place of residence, this survey asks for the respondent's "home town" and the beverage-term used by most of the population there. This data will be imperfect at best, but should be the most accurate possible without actually going into the field, and certainly the most comprehensive study of the field to date.

This research uses CGI scripts written in Perl to gather and process the incoming data, and displays the results on the map above using a Java applet.

THE SURVEY

This study obtains its data solely from responses to this web page; as a result, the researchers would very much appreciate it if you would take a moment to fill out this survey, and to encourage all your friends and acquaintences to do so as well.

Name and email address are optional. Hometown and state/province are also optional, but strongly encouraged. However, a valid zip or postal code is critical, because our software uses a database of zip codes and their latitudes and longitudes to plot the data on the map. Responses without a zip code will still be useful in the future, but may not currently be displayed on the map. Responses from outside the United States and Canada are also welcome, although they too currently cannot be displayed.

Thank you for your participation!

Your name: (optional)

Your e-mail address: (optional)

What generic word do you use to describe carbonated soft drinks? (Note that these could be of any brand or type, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, 7-Up, etc. We are concerned with the overall word, not a specific brand.)
Pop
Soda
Coke
Other (please specify word)

Please remember to give the city, state and zip code of your home town, the town where you learned the dialect of English you speak, even if it is not where you live now.

Your hometown:

State/Province: Zip/Postal Code:

Forgot the zip code of where you grew up?
These sites will tell you the zip/postal code for any address:
United States Postal Service
Canada Post

CONCLUSION

People who say "Pop" are much, much cooler.

REFERENCES

CommonCensus.org is a similar survey that asks you which city is the cultural center of your area, and also has a question about which sports teams you support.

Try this more scientific dialect survey developed by Prof. Bert Vaux, Scott A. Golder, Rebecca Starr and Britt Bolen.

I haven't read the relevant volume of The Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) but I'm sure it has already covered this topic thoroughly.

See also: Von Schneidemesser, Luanne. "Soda or Pop?" Journal of English Linguistics. December 1996.

The Atlas of North American English (ANAE) is another broad study similar to DARE, but focuses more on sounds rather than vocabulary.

Created by Alan McConchie.

Further comments? E-mail pvs@popvssoda.com