2. Research Proposal
Hypothesis:
Pickup lines can be categorized into 3 types – direct, innocuous and flippant type. The direct type
of pickup lines is most effective towards female in face-to-face contexts.
Research Method:
Quantitative. The effectiveness of a pickup line is shown through the meanreceptivity of pickup
lines among the male and female participants. The receptivity will be determined when
participants are willingly providing their mobile phone number to the researcher.
Procedure and structure:
There are going to be three types of face-to-face pick-up lines:
• Direct
• Innocuous
• Cute/Flippant
Direct: Direct pick-up lines are straightforward attempts to introduce one. Direct pick-up lines
leave the user the most vulnerable to rejection. Unlike the other approaches, the direct approach
leaves no room for denying that the user was in fact trying to pick someone up. Males are more
likely to use this approach than females (Cunningham, 1989).
Example: Hi, my name is Garnette. I saw you from across the bar and wanted to come
introduce myself.
Innocuous: Innocuous pick-up lines enable the user to appear as if he or she is doing something
else. Instead of directly introducing oneself, the pickup line user can hide behind a request for a
lighter or the time. This indirect approach allows the user a buffer zone for plausible deniability
in case of rejection (Murray, 1985).
Example: Can you hand me that ashtray?
3. Cute/Flippant: Cute or flippant pick-up lines are creative ways to pick someone up. These pickup lines can range from funny to rude. Much like the innocuous approach, this type helps deflect
rejection as well. The user can protect him or herself by claiming that the pick-up line was only a
joke (Murray, 1985).
Example: You must be a parking ticket...because you've got fine written all over you.
This pickup lines will be presented by both male and female to also both male and female
participants and researcher will try to obtain the participant’s mobile phone number to present
the effectiveness of each type of pickup lines.
Then, the type of each pickup line is analyzed to obtain a conclusion.
Videography of experiment will be provided to prove effectiveness of pickup lines.
Ethic consideration:
A participant will be asked to sign a Consent Form to record informed agreement to take part.
Incentives to take part should generally not be provided. If an incentive is used it needs to be
only a token, and not enough to encourage someone to participate who would really prefer not to
take part. Autonomy means the freedom to decide what to do. Even when someone has signed a
Consent Form, they must be made aware that they are free to withdraw from the study at any
time, without giving a reason.
