Help with research

[elena]

I'm a Java/C++ developer who is also studying psychology.

I would really appreciate it if you would complete a survey that I'm
using for a research project on programmers.

It's easy [Yes/No answers] and takes about 5 minutes.

I will be presenting the results at the American Psychological
Association convention in August.

The study link is:

http://www.elena.com

The survey measures "cognitive style" (analytical/intuitive) which
describes how you process information and learn. The people I've
pre-tested it with found it to be pretty interesting.

I can go to my friends, however it occurred to me that it might be
better to post in a newsgroup and get a larger, more diverse, and
random sample.

Thanks again for your time,

Elena

[infobahn]

Re: Help with research

elena wrote:[color=blue]
>
> I'm a Java/C++ developer who is also studying psychology.[/color]

Try comp.lang.java. programmer or comp.lang.c++ (if you're not merely
a spambot, which is the explanation that most immediately comes to
mind).

[Steven]

Re: Help with research

Even if she is a Java or C++ programmer, shouldn't the post be in a
phychology newsgroup?

Interesting, she has her name (an awefully common one too) as an URL...

[Steven]

Re: Help with research

Even if she is a Java or C++ programmer, shouldn't the post be in a
phychology newsgroup?

Interesting, she has her name (an awefully common one too) as an URL...

[Walter Roberson]

Re: Help with research

In article <1108528479.256 484.86950@z14g2 000cwz.googlegr oups.com>,
elena <elena@monmouth .com> wrote:
:I'm a Java/C++ developer who is also studying psychology.

:I would really appreciate it if you would complete a survey that I'm
:using for a research project on programmers.

That would be "self-selection", and such a proposal would not pass
the ethics department at any reasonable university that I have
heard of. Or don't research studies require approval anymore?
--
Are we *there* yet??

[Default User]

Re: Help with research


Walter Roberson wrote:[color=blue]
> In article <1108528479.256 484.86950@z14g2 000cwz.googlegr oups.com>,
> elena <elena@monmouth .com> wrote:
> :I'm a Java/C++ developer who is also studying psychology.
>
> :I would really appreciate it if you would complete a survey that I'm
> :using for a research project on programmers.
>
> That would be "self-selection", and such a proposal would not pass
> the ethics department at any reasonable university that I have
> heard of. Or don't research studies require approval anymore?[/color]


Walter is absolutely right. Without a properly selected and controlled
survey group, the results are meaningless.

According to the web site, she's with Northcentral University, which
seems to be one of those "distance learning" universities.

http://www.universities.com/Distance_Learning/Northcentral_University.html

Brian

[Mark McIntyre]

Re: Help with research

On 16 Feb 2005 09:00:12 -0800, in comp.lang.c , "Default User"
<defaultuserbr@ yahoo.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>Walter Roberson wrote:[color=green]
>> In article <1108528479.256 484.86950@z14g2 000cwz.googlegr oups.com>,
>> elena <elena@monmouth .com> wrote:
>> :I'm a Java/C++ developer who is also studying psychology.
>>
>> :I would really appreciate it if you would complete a survey that I'm
>> :using for a research project on programmers.
>>
>> That would be "self-selection", and such a proposal would not pass
>> the ethics department at any reasonable university that I have
>> heard of.[/color]
>
>
>Walter is absolutely right. Without a properly selected and controlled
>survey group, the results are meaningless.[/color]

Not necessarily - a randomish sample also has meaning, provided you
understand and document the nature of its randomness. Whats at least as
important is the questions asked and how they're phrased.
--
Mark McIntyre
CLC FAQ <http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html>
CLC readme: <http://www.ungerhu.com/jxh/clc.welcome.txt >

[Mark McIntyre]

Re: Help with research

On 16 Feb 2005 09:00:12 -0800, in comp.lang.c , "Default User"
<defaultuserbr@ yahoo.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>Walter Roberson wrote:[color=green]
>> In article <1108528479.256 484.86950@z14g2 000cwz.googlegr oups.com>,
>> elena <elena@monmouth .com> wrote:
>> :I'm a Java/C++ developer who is also studying psychology.
>>
>> :I would really appreciate it if you would complete a survey that I'm
>> :using for a research project on programmers.
>>
>> That would be "self-selection", and such a proposal would not pass
>> the ethics department at any reasonable university that I have
>> heard of.[/color]
>
>
>Walter is absolutely right. Without a properly selected and controlled
>survey group, the results are meaningless.[/color]

Not necessarily - a randomish sample also has meaning, provided you
understand and document the nature of its randomness. Whats at least as
important is the questions asked and how they're phrased.
--
Mark McIntyre
CLC FAQ <http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html>
CLC readme: <http://www.ungerhu.com/jxh/clc.welcome.txt >

[osmium]

OT:Re: Help with research

"Mark McIntyre" Writes:
[color=blue][color=green]
>>Walter is absolutely right. Without a properly selected and controlled
>>survey group, the results are meaningless.[/color]
>
> Not necessarily - a randomish sample also has meaning, provided you
> understand and document the nature of its randomness. Whats at least as
> important is the questions asked and how they're phrased.[/color]

How about providing an example of a self selected sample where the results
are useful? As opposed to, interesting, say. Of course the questions are
important. Why bring that up??

I think this kind of sampling is done all the time and the results are
certainly readable, but I don't know what anyone can actually *do* with such
results. Perhaps one could refine the questions for a real survey to be
made later. Other than that, AFAIAC, self selected samples are interesting
but useless.

There was a show on PBS earlier this week on Kinsey, he used nonsensical
sampling techniques. And I suppose he made a lot of money out of it. But I
can't think of a single reliable inference one could make based on his
books.

[Mark McIntyre]

Re: Help with research

On 16 Feb 2005 09:00:12 -0800, in comp.lang.c , "Default User"
<defaultuserbr@ yahoo.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>Walter Roberson wrote:[color=green]
>> In article <1108528479.256 484.86950@z14g2 000cwz.googlegr oups.com>,
>> elena <elena@monmouth .com> wrote:
>> :I'm a Java/C++ developer who is also studying psychology.
>>
>> :I would really appreciate it if you would complete a survey that I'm
>> :using for a research project on programmers.
>>
>> That would be "self-selection", and such a proposal would not pass
>> the ethics department at any reasonable university that I have
>> heard of.[/color]
>
>
>Walter is absolutely right. Without a properly selected and controlled
>survey group, the results are meaningless.[/color]

Not necessarily - a randomish sample also has meaning, provided you
understand and document the nature of its randomness. Whats at least as
important is the questions asked and how they're phrased.
--
Mark McIntyre
CLC FAQ <http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html>
CLC readme: <http://www.ungerhu.com/jxh/clc.welcome.txt >

[Dave Vandervies]

Re: OT:Re: Help with research

In article <37he3qF5a4oraU 1@individual.ne t>,
osmium <r124c4u102@com cast.net> wrote:[color=blue]
>"Mark McIntyre" Writes:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Not necessarily - a randomish sample also has meaning, provided you
>> understand and document the nature of its randomness. Whats at least as
>> important is the questions asked and how they're phrased.[/color]
>
>How about providing an example of a self selected sample where the results
>are useful?[/color]

Alumni income surveys?

Unless you mean statistically useful, and not just useful for what you're
trying to accomplish.


dave

--
Dave Vandervies dj3vande@csclub .uwaterloo.ca
In such cases you may need to step outside the C standard after all.
This will reduce its portability and thus often make it less useful,
even while making it more useful. --Chris Torek in comp.lang.c

[elena]

Re: OT:Re: Help with research

To answer as many of these questions as possible:

Yes, I am a software engineer with more than 25 years experience. Not a
spambot. I used my name as a sign-in because my name was very uncommon
in the US up to a few years ago (just a habit). Northcentral is an
accredited university that allows me to earn a PhD (I have Masters in
CS and Psychology) while still making a living (alghough given
off-shoring, this may change). Sampling of this sort is valid when the
population has certain characteristics . Self-selection is a limitation,
but one that I am willing to accept given that I'm only looking at 2
factors. This study concerns only Software Developers. This group
should consist mainly of software developers. For an interesting paper
on web research and the social sciences, see:

http://www.psychologie.unizh.ch/sowi/reips/papers/exppsy/ExPsyReipsReprint.pdf

[Mark McIntyre]

Re: Help with research

On 16 Feb 2005 09:00:12 -0800, in comp.lang.c , "Default User"
<defaultuserbr@ yahoo.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>Walter Roberson wrote:[color=green]
>> In article <1108528479.256 484.86950@z14g2 000cwz.googlegr oups.com>,
>> elena <elena@monmouth .com> wrote:
>> :I'm a Java/C++ developer who is also studying psychology.
>>
>> :I would really appreciate it if you would complete a survey that I'm
>> :using for a research project on programmers.
>>
>> That would be "self-selection", and such a proposal would not pass
>> the ethics department at any reasonable university that I have
>> heard of.[/color]
>
>
>Walter is absolutely right. Without a properly selected and controlled
>survey group, the results are meaningless.[/color]

Not necessarily - a randomish sample also has meaning, provided you
understand and document the nature of its randomness. Whats at least as
important is the questions asked and how they're phrased.
--
Mark McIntyre
CLC FAQ <http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html>
CLC readme: <http://www.ungerhu.com/jxh/clc.welcome.txt >

[Alan Balmer]

Re: OT:Re: Help with research

On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 09:27:21 -0800, "osmium" <r124c4u102@com cast.net>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>"Mark McIntyre" Writes:
>[color=green][color=darkred]
>>>Walter is absolutely right. Without a properly selected and controlled
>>>survey group, the results are meaningless.[/color]
>>
>> Not necessarily - a randomish sample also has meaning, provided you
>> understand and document the nature of its randomness. Whats at least as
>> important is the questions asked and how they're phrased.[/color]
>
>How about providing an example of a self selected sample where the results
>are useful?[/color]

There may not be any ;-) However, I think *all* survey samples are
self-selected, in that people usually make the choice as to whether to
participate or not. Forced participation, I suspect, would result in
even more skewed results. The professional survey people claim that
they compensate for this effect, though I'm not convinced.
[color=blue]
> As opposed to, interesting, say. Of course the questions are
>important. Why bring that up??[/color]

Probably because the questions are the weakest part of any survey, and
can easily swamp any bias caused by poor sampling.[color=blue]
>
>I think this kind of sampling is done all the time and the results are
>certainly readable, but I don't know what anyone can actually *do* with such
>results. Perhaps one could refine the questions for a real survey to be
>made later.[/color]

Define "real survey." Not being sarcastic, I just don't know what
constitutes a useful survey, or how you prove it.
[color=blue]
> Other than that, AFAIAC, self selected samples are interesting
>but useless.
>
>There was a show on PBS earlier this week on Kinsey, he used nonsensical
>sampling techniques. And I suppose he made a lot of money out of it. But I
>can't think of a single reliable inference one could make based on his
>books.
>[/color]
You can infer that he made a bunch of money ;-)

--
Al Balmer
Balmer Consulting
removebalmercon sultingthis@att .net

[Alan Balmer]

Re: OT:Re: Help with research

On 16 Feb 2005 09:43:08 -0800, "elena" <elena@monmouth .com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>To answer as many of these questions as possible:
>
>Yes, I am a software engineer with more than 25 years experience. Not a
>spambot. I used my name as a sign-in because my name was very uncommon
>in the US up to a few years ago (just a habit). Northcentral is an
>accredited university that allows me to earn a PhD (I have Masters in
>CS and Psychology) while still making a living (alghough given
>off-shoring, this may change). Sampling of this sort is valid when the
>population has certain characteristics . Self-selection is a limitation,
>but one that I am willing to accept given that I'm only looking at 2
>factors. This study concerns only Software Developers. This group
>should consist mainly of software developers. For an interesting paper
>on web research and the social sciences, see:
>
>http://www.psychologie.unizh.ch/sowi...ipsReprint.pdf[/color]

A comment on the questions - The choices given are true, false, and
uncertain. Uncertain is not a good choice, and I answered as if it
meant "sometimes. "

Incidentally, you contribute to the self-selection problem by
selecting those who are (1) willing to give you an email address or
(2) willing to give you a false email address.

--
Al Balmer
Balmer Consulting
removebalmercon sultingthis@att .net