[Foundation-l] Surveys

Tue Oct 2 22:58:32 UTC 2007

on 10/2/07 6:35 PM, Brock Weller at brock.weller at gmail.com wrote:

> 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.

I'm sorry, Brock, I misunderstood your position, I apologize.

Marc

> 
> 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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> 