Re: 0x011

[Roger Dingledine <arma@mit.edu>]

In message <3a07ab6a.35eb6d07@aol.com>, eamorical@aol.com writes:
>I would like to try and get the survey finished up in the
>next couple of weeks. Will be getting a new computer mid
>Sept. Would like to play with my new toy. Also the strike at
>USWest is over so I can look into RADSL.
>Part A
>user-types I believe is done.

user-types are done, except we need descriptions under each user-type.
We need to be very careful about which descriptions we use, because
we don't want to bias anybody from which category they put themselves
in. (statements like "probably has a local ethernet network" can't be
used.)

>user-info
>(contact info) name, email address
>The Linux Journal's wish list survey is asking for contact  info.
>Could it be optional?

Frankly, I don't want the person's name. e-mail address should
definitely be optional. Perhaps they can sign up to a list that
sends out statistics every so often. That way they get something
out of giving us their email address...

>age - At one time I thought we had a set of age ranges.

yes, it's in the archives. We should use the one with "wider"
spans (the one Karsten suggested that went up to 80 years old or
something).

>profession - Do you want me to work up a set?

there are several sets in the archives, but I was never really very
happy with any of them.

Check out
http://www.seul.org/archives/seul/research/Jun-1998/msg00040.html
and followup posts, for both of these issues.

>income - Fill-in or ranges?

range, as per the above url

>Maybe we need to ask on each one is it really necessary.

yes, we should :) more specifically, we should ask what we can
use it for. If we can't think of a useful thing to do with the
data (a reason for asking it), then we shouldn't be asking it...

>What do you do - Is this a reword of profession, a fill-in or what
>		do you do with your computer.

this is a reword of profession. kill it.

>How much do you make - Reword of income. Fill-in or ranges

and kill this

Also:

|>> 6. education level, and specialization (if applicable)
|>
|>Some secondary, secondary, some college/2 year college, baccelaureate,
|>advanced degree, technical training, professional degree.
|
|what's the comparison between advanced degree (presumably that's a Master's)
|and 'technical training'?
(quote from the above URL)

>What part do you play in purchasing decisions - Fill-in or reword
>		to yes/no.

how about a 4- or 5-choice multiple choice for this, like the other
ones.

>What sector do you work in - Reword of 'What do you do'?

There's a list of "sectors" in the above url. I never really
figured out what the difference was between that and profession. hm.

>For discussion should we group together the ones that appear to
>say the same thing using different words.
>Gender Race - optional?

i think race is maybe pushing it. the reason why i had thought of
it originally would be that if we had a lot of answers from asia and
some of them were much different than others, race (white vs not) might
explain it. We'll need a group of choices for race tho, if we decide to
keep it. Gender isn't a very difficult thing to ask, and I think we could
get some use out of it.

>Country - These three are necessary if you're concerned with
>		distribution.

I think it could be very valuable to get the country of the person filling
out the survey. We could get a list of countries (from their .xy country
code), and use that..

>Is your house/dwelling urban/rural  - What is it that we are trying
>		to find out. Is it where is the computer you're talking about
>		located? What about laptop?

Er, what was I thinking when I wrote this. :) I was trying to come
up with ways of segregating our audience so we could analyze things
better (more specifically). But I think this might be going a bit far..

>Part B
>Pete I guess  we didn't connect. I really meant Windows 95/98
>because there is little difference in how they operate. Basically
>98 is 95 + Internet Explorer. I have never used a Mac but I am
>asking around if there is a significant difference between
>System 7/8.

I agree we should have "Windows 95/98" as a single option. Don't
separate them.

I don't know anything about Mac Sys7 vs Sys8, so I'll defer to
somebody who does.

>Part C
>Will try tomorrow.
>
>Bob

--Roger