Editor survey

Introduction

Wikimedia is proposing to conduct a survey of Wikipedia users, both editors and readers. The survey will be an update of the previous survey of Wikipedia readers and editors that was conducted in 2009. The survey will be limited to a smaller subset of language Wikipedias. The survey will be an online self-administed survey, but it would target users based on their unique markers like editor login or IP addresses to ensure that the survey is not skewed towards power users of Wikipedia.

Objectives

The study will gather new quantitative data about the Wikipedia community, shedding light on key metrics around contributions, motivations behind contributions, reasons for not contributing, perceptions towards content, funding history and motivations behind funding and gather baseline demographic data about the Wikipedia community, especially editors. The study will also update, validate and revise findings from the UNU-Merit survey of the Wikipedia community. The survey will be key for Wikimedia to have a better and deeper understanding of the community, especially editors. It would be key to answer objectively questions around who contributes to Wikipedia, what drives them, what are the barriers for contribution, what do readers think about Wikipedia content, which readers donates to Wikipedia and why.

Methodology

Method

We will conduct a 15-20 minute survey of readers and editors of Wikipedia users limited to key language Wikipedias with no open ends. To ensure that the survey is not self-selected we will target users based on their unique ID or IP address.(Erik M has details about how we can do it)

Sample Size

We will ensure that we have a large sample size for key sub-sets to be able to provide statistically relevant results. For example, if necessary, we should have large sample of women who are very active editors to provide a statistically relevant result to compare them to men who are also very active editors.

Respondent Criteria for the Survey

Sample for key Wikipedia languages.
Ensure that we have a representative sample based on frequency of contribution and readership.
Ensure that we have representative sample based on gender.

Timeline

Kick Off -- Week 1 (Mani, Barry, Zack, Erik M, Parul, Howie F, Winfred, Dario, Rob)

Requirements Gathering from Key Stakeholders (Barry, Zack, Erik M) -- Week 2-3

Sampling Strategies, coordination with tech -- Week 4-5

Questionnaire Development -- Week 6-9

Feedback and review -- Week 10

Translation of questionnaire -- Week 11-16

Programming and testing -- Week 17-18

Survey Launch -- Week 19

Modeling, data processing & cleaning -- Week 20-21

Analysis, reporting writing and review -- Week 22-24

Staff Allocation & Resources

Team

Survey Lead: Mani

Team Members: Mani, Winifred, Parul, Dario and Howie

Tech Contact: Rob Lanphier

Stakeholders: Barry, Zack, Erik M

Tasks

Needs Assessment: Mani, Barry, Zack, Howie, Parul

Sampling Strategy: Mani, Rob, Erik M. Howie, Parul

Questionnaire Development: Mani, Winifred

Programming of Survey: Mani, Winifred, Tech, ?

Data cleaning: Mani, Winifred, ?

Toplines: ? (wincross)

Data Analysis: Mani

Report Writing: Mani, Winifred

Resources Needed

Programming of Survey to ensure that quotas are met

Data cleaning: check for incompletes, straight lines etc.

Translation of survey into key languages

Frequently asked questions

Main page: Editor survey FAQ