Study information
GuestCulture trains hotel staff for conversations with guests. The Culture Atlas study asks about everyday customs in the places you have lived. Later research reviews can use the results to revise the country comparisons in Atlas.
What the study asks
For each place you mark, the survey asks what the people around you usually did. How did they show they disagreed? What did they do when a restaurant meal disappointed them? You describe other people during the parts of your life you spent there. Choose “I don’t know” for anything you did not see.
Many country comparisons draw on older research. Hofstede’s original country scores came from IBM employee surveys collected from 1967 to 1973. This study asks whether the customs of a rural upbringing and of adult life in a large city can differ more within one country than customs differ between countries.
What we collect
- Your confirmation that you are at least 18 and that you agree to take part.
- For each place: the country, the centre of the area you mark rounded to about 10 km, the type of place, the parts of your life you spent there, and a place name if you add one.
- Your answers for each place and how long the survey took.
- An invitation code, if you use one, and the organisation that issued it.
- With an account: your name and verified email address, your contact choices, lecture registrations and any enquiry you send from the study page.
Who receives it
GuestCulture stores your contribution in the Atlas study database and reviews it for research. Published findings combine participants’ answers. The participation page lists a country once at least 20 people have described it.
- The survey map loads its tiles from OpenFreeMap. To find place names, your browser sends your place searches and the rounded centre of the area you mark to OpenStreetMap’s Nominatim service. These requests go from your browser to those services directly.
- Google or Microsoft handles sign-in when you create an account.
- When you start the Learning trial, GuestCulture Learning receives a signed confirmation linked to your contribution.
- The organisation behind an invitation receives your name and email only when you tick the box to share them with it.
- Lecture confirmation emails are sent through Resend.
How your answers are used
Your answers go into GuestCulture’s research on everyday customs. They also set your comparison profile in Atlas, which compares other places with the customs you described. Creating an account saves that profile so you can open it again on any device.
Copies and withdrawal
To request a copy of your contribution or withdraw it, write to hello@guestculture.com with your contribution reference or account email. The contribution reference appears on the study page after you submit your answers.