On Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 3:24 AM, Erik Moeller
<erik@wikimedia.org> wrote:
2011/2/11 Samuel Klein <meta.sj@gmail.com>:
> could this be on ongoing survey, run in a way to target a low
> randomized % of visitors continuously over time?
Oliver is right that this kind of continuous data-gathering is
non-trivial, but there are some great examples to learn from.
My favorite (and I mention it at every opportunity) is the Mozilla
Input program. It's built into their Firefox 4 betas, and it gives
users a continuous opportunity to report whether Firefox made them
happy or sad, in 160 characters that go into a massive text mining
database at: http://input.mozilla.com/en-US/beta/
Here's the UI they use in the browser:
http://www.mozilla.com/img/firefox/beta/4/feedback-button.png
Imagine this integrated into the Wikimedia UI, and associated with
anonymized user info, including gender for those willing to report it.
That could be a really useful way to gather tons of data continuously
about factors deterring people from contributing, including factors
that relate directly to the gender gap. (I personally believe that the
value of free-text feedback is greatly underestimated in surveying
communities. The Mozilla Input site showcases some great approaches to
making sense of tens of thousands of text messages.)
--
Erik Möller
Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation
Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate