Bias
Some people [1,2] have commented on the classical sociology problem of self-selection bias. By advertising our survey and relying on the goodwill of people for replies, we are essentially reducing our sample to represent only those people who are willing to do surveys. Does this sample represent bloggers on the whole? That is something we can never claim with absolute certainty. Things like comparing demographics, etc. of the target population with the sample can help support such an assertion.
Surveys have their disadvantages in that they are inflexible. Unstructured interviews and field studies are some alternatives. I recommend you all read Bonnie Nardi's paper on blogging. In that study, she focuses a select group of bloggers, noting their behavior, analyzing their blogs and interviewing them in person. Some of our survey questions are directly gleaned from results of that paper.
Another commenter stated that the survey doesn't take into account for the fact that some people primarily participate in a group blog (is that what they are called?). In other words, several people contribute to a single blog. We had to narrow our focus to just the opinions of bloggers; if we had wanted to find out how group dynamics play a role (how do bloggers of the same group blog differ/relate to each other?), then a different set of questions might've been necessary (like requiring participants to write what blogsite they write on). A separate study on group blogs would certainly be interesting; I suspect there are already studies that have been done on this (any pointers?).
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We're nearing 1000 hits on our survey page. Obviously, we don't have 1000 participants, but I'm amazed at the spike in hits lately. Unfortunately, we are still in desperate need of people to fill out the Chinese, Japanese and Korean surveys. Right now, we have:
China: 7
Japan: 38
Korea: 17
(these don't include Asian language speakers who filled out the English survey)
How and where can I find more Asian bloggers? Do you know any forums, bulletin boards, or particular blogs I can post to? Perhaps I should try pursuing some of the Chinese blog links...
Surveys have their disadvantages in that they are inflexible. Unstructured interviews and field studies are some alternatives. I recommend you all read Bonnie Nardi's paper on blogging. In that study, she focuses a select group of bloggers, noting their behavior, analyzing their blogs and interviewing them in person. Some of our survey questions are directly gleaned from results of that paper.
Another commenter stated that the survey doesn't take into account for the fact that some people primarily participate in a group blog (is that what they are called?). In other words, several people contribute to a single blog. We had to narrow our focus to just the opinions of bloggers; if we had wanted to find out how group dynamics play a role (how do bloggers of the same group blog differ/relate to each other?), then a different set of questions might've been necessary (like requiring participants to write what blogsite they write on). A separate study on group blogs would certainly be interesting; I suspect there are already studies that have been done on this (any pointers?).
We're nearing 1000 hits on our survey page. Obviously, we don't have 1000 participants, but I'm amazed at the spike in hits lately. Unfortunately, we are still in desperate need of people to fill out the Chinese, Japanese and Korean surveys. Right now, we have:
China: 7
Japan: 38
Korea: 17
(these don't include Asian language speakers who filled out the English survey)
How and where can I find more Asian bloggers? Do you know any forums, bulletin boards, or particular blogs I can post to? Perhaps I should try pursuing some of the Chinese blog links...
3 Comments:
If u wanna more Japanese bloggers u can ask a reference post on Joi Ito's blog. (http://joi.ito.com/)
I filled out the survey and posted a link to it on my blog. It would be interesting to see the results if possible once you have completed your research. I have taken several blogging surveys and have enjoyed reading the results on the ones that were published publically.
If you do this, please notify me if at all possible.
Try contacting Isaac at www.isaacmao.com / www.cnblog.org for help.
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