Nearly one in five women sneeze like old codgers

Another popular topic for foreigners in Japan to whinge about is sneezing and the reluctance to cover coughs. So, this survey from iShare on that very topic perhaps gives us some concrete data on which to base our prejudices.

Demographics

Between the 3rd and 8th of March 2010 496 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.0% of the sample were male, 30.6% in their twenties, 33.9% in their thirties, and 35.5% in their forties.

The old codger sneeze in the title comes from Q3 and the phrase おじさんくさい, ojisan-kusai, a smell of old men. Recently, with hay fever and whatnot, I must admit to being rather loud and with a bit of excessive follow-through on my sneezes at home, although when out I almost always sneeze into my sleeve.

Research results

Q1: When you feel an urge to sneeze, do you surpress it? (Sample size=496)

	All	Male N=278	Female N=218
Always surpress	2.0%	2.9%	0.9%
Usually surpress	24.8%	20.1%	30.7%
Usually don’t surpress	54.6%	53.6%	56.0%
Always don’t surpress	18.5%	23.4%	12.4%

Q2: Do you cover your mouth when you sneeze? (Sample size=496)

	All	Male N=278	Female N=218
Always cover	53.2%	51.1%	56.0%
Usually cover	36.7%	38.5%	34.4%
Never cover	10.1%	10.4%	9.6%

Q3: Has anyone ever said you sound like an old codger when you sneeze? (Sample size=496)

	All	Male N=278	Female N=218
Yes	15.9%	13.7%	18.8%
No	84.1%	86.3%	81.2%

Q4: Have you ever ended up sneezing somewhere where you knew you shouldn’t? (Sample size=496)

	All	Male N=278	Female N=218
Yes	10.1%	8.3%	12.4%
No	89.9%	91.7%	87.6%