For Science!

[twigged.livejournal.com]

<a href="http://fanficsurvey.appspot.com" target="_blank">
<img src="http://fanficsurvey.appspot.com/images/Banner.jpg"
alt="Fan Fiction Survey" height="256px" width="487px"/></a>


I think this is only crack_van's 2nd off-topic post in the past six years, and so a word of explanation: Last month the neuroscientists who developed this survey got in touch with me through the comm with the idea of distributing a survey to fandom at large. They wanted to share the final data with fandom and other researchers in a fandom-controlled space, and asked if they could do so here. This research will be groundbreaking in their field, and in all of our many discussions over the past month+ they have been unfailingly respectful of fandom's traditions and concerns, and so I was happy to agree.

There's a FAQ explaining their project HERE, and feedback and discussion is invited over on ogi_ogas's journal.

Please repost far and wide!


ETA: Please feel free to continue to comment here as desired. I've posted some additional info and my own thoughts here.

ETA 2: I WAS WRONG.

Comments

[garryowen.livejournal.com]

Initially, I was excited by the survey because I have been in fandom for a long time, and I like to help people out if they are doing an article or something like that. I find it so interesting to see where my readers are from, or where authors are from, and what their backgrounds are.

I took the survey with many hesitations, and afterwards regretted it. My only consolation is that a) they made changes to the questions after getting feedback, which automatically renders their data unscientific and b) internet surveys are horribly inaccurate and susceptible to abuse. That is why politicians don't use them if they want reliable data. Frankly, any publisher that would accept data with so many holes is not to be taken seriously.

My main issue is not necessarily one of academics wanting to write about fandom, but in the sheer idiocy of some of the questions. They were limiting and contained many, many assumptions.

Just my two cents.