[Foundation-l] Surveys

[Marc Riddell]

on 10/2/07 9:40 AM, Brock Weller at brock.weller at gmail.com wrote:

> The reason behind this, i suspect, is that most people complaining are
> not seen as 'in the project'. There was a large discussion sometime
> ago about how at some point, early 2005 or so, the influx of new users
> got so great that we stopped being able to enculturate them to the
> mindset and goals of the project. There are simply quite a few people
> here who just never got it as a result of that. You can see it in the
> responses to certain situations on wiki and on the mailing list. It
> would be nice to begin to show new users the point and culture of the
> wiki again, but numbers just don, allow it, and the longer users are
> doing a fine job of shepherding the community as a whole in the
> correct direction that holds true to our original goals.

I question some of your thoughts and reasoning here, Brock; but that would
be for another thread. Right now I think it a good idea to get a sense of
where we are as a collaborative project - from the perspective of its
people.

Marc


> 
> On 10/2/07, Marc Riddell <michaeldavid86 at comcast.net> wrote:
>> on 10/1/07 4:34 PM, Debbie Garside at debbie at ictmarketing.co.uk wrote:
>> 
>>> OK... Forget the question :-)  I just realised there were another 30
>> emails
>>> above the one I responded to ;-)
>>> 
>> Thank you for responding, Debbie. What I am interested in, generally, is the
>> state of online collaboration and community building; and I am particularly
>> wanting to study interpersonal dynamics, conflict resolution and identity
>> within the Foundation's projects. In other words, I would like to take a
>> Project's emotional temperature.
>> 
>> In the English Wikipedia, for example, there are those on the Mailing List
>> who say, we're fine, the culture's fine - don't mess with it.
>> 
>> However, there are also enough posts from persons who say they are feeling
>> abused, ignored, and not being treated fairly in the Project. And, when
>> these persons do post, they are usually portrayed as whiners, malcontents,
>> and as persons who "need to get with the program".
>> 
>> In short, people simply don't seem to know how to talk with each other
>> without being extremely defensive, or grossly offensive. This severely
>> inhibits and degrades the quality of collaboration.
>> 
>> I have some ideas on how to improve some of this, but first I would like to
>> conduct an honest, objective survey to see if this is simply my imagination,
>> or is actually a true picture of the state of things.
>> 
>> My field is Clinical Psychology. I could assist in analyzing such a survey,
>> but I am not schooled or experienced in actually creating one.
>> 
>> My thoughts are to present the findings to the Foundation itself. There is
>> plenty of time to work within here. I would like to do this right. I welcome
>> your input.
>> 
>> Marc Riddell
>> 
>> 
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: foundation-l-bounces at lists.wikimedia.org
>>>> [mailto:foundation-l-bounces at lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf
>>>> Of Debbie Garside
>>>> Sent: 01 October 2007 19:34
>>>> To: 'Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List'
>>>> Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Surveys
>>>> 
>>>> Hi
>>>> 
>>>> By survey can you clarify what you mean please?  I do have
>>>> quite a lot of experience in both designing, implementing and
>>>> analysing survey data - most recently conducting an online
>>>> survey for an ISO TC.
>>>> 
>>>> Best regards
>>>> 
>>>> Debbie
>>>> 
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: foundation-l-bounces at lists.wikimedia.org
>>>>> [mailto:foundation-l-bounces at lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf
>>>> Of Casey
>>>>> Brown
>>>>> Sent: 29 September 2007 13:59
>>>>> To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List
>>>>> Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Surveys
>>>>> 
>>>>> I believe there are currently some attempts at creating surveys by
>>>>> individual community members, but I don't think anything on a large
>>>>> scale has been done yet.  This is definitely something that a few
>>>>> (most?) people would like to see done, to just get a better idea of
>>>>> who uses or edits the site.
>>>>> 
>>>>> On 9/29/07, Marc Riddell <michaeldavid86 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Folks,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Has any type of survey of individual Community Members ever
>>>>> been taken
>>>>>> on any online Foundation project?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> If there has, what were the mechanics involved in taking
>>>>> it? If not,
>>>>>> would conducting such a survey be possible?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I am somewhat computer-challenged, so please be gentle :-).
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Marc Riddell
>> 
>> 
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