[Foundation-l] Surveys

[Brock Weller]

I rather expressly said they weren't my thoughts per se. They were the
results of a rather long discussion among a couple dozen people,
mostly old timers, on the irc channel this summer.

On 10/2/07, Marc Riddell <michaeldavid86 at comcast.net> wrote:
> 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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> >>
> >
>
>
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-- 
-Brock