Date:  Tue, 30 Nov 1993 19:34:00 EST

From:  "Dennis.Preston" <22709MGR[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MSU.BITNET>

Subject: Re: Half Past the Hour



A grad student of mine is currently eliciting responses to <What time is it?>

requests with an eye towards half-past and quarter to (and after). She will

also check on the respondent's timepiece configurationm (digital versus

nondigital), and she we <challenge> accuracy (e.g., What time is it exactly? I

need to set my watch?) to see what influence different time tolerances have on

the type of response. This research will be reported on next week, and I'll

try to post a summary to you. (It will not, of course, deal with regional

variation except to the extent that the responses will be all taken from young

Michiganders.)

Dennis Preston