Research:Grounding NPOV pillar in post-censored information ecology
This page documents a research project in progress.
Information may be incomplete and change as the project progresses.
Please contact the project lead before formally citing or reusing results from this page.
Grounding NPOV pillar in post-censored information ecology is looking at what are the constrains and limitations new Wikipedia contributor have in understanding and adhering to the the neutrality principle on Wikipedia, one of the core principles of this endeavor. In the past years more than 50 librarians have been editing and improving articles in Wikipedia in Romanian language but without fully adhering to the neutrality point of view (NPOV) principle. This research project looks for causes of this situation & ways to provide better training for future Wikipedia editors about NPOV.
 | Since the project has just started, this page is still incomplete. All sections will be filled soon. |
ContextEdit
MethodsEdit
This is a qualitative study that will collect and analyze data from the Wikipedia editors in Romanian. We are collecting original data from Romanian Wikipedia articles that have been NPOV challenged in order to:
- Identify experienced editors in the community that have been active in NPOV discussions
- Identify topics of dissent or agreement in relation to NPOV
- Understand the induction/learning process for new editors in relation to NPOV (lead page for NPOV, courses, trainings on NPOV)
We will host a focus group with the most active editors involved in NPOV who would agree to participate in such online event (no more than 7 people) We will also conduct semi-structured interviews with experienced Wikipedia editors. The selection of editors will be made based on:
- Experience of editing
- Identified NPOV interest
- Information professional background (at least 50% of participants)
- Availability
The plan is to have at least 10 interviews with editors with extensive experience (successful users, with over 500 edits, automatic patrol). Interviews will be conducted in Romanian, recorded and transcribed. All texts collected in the project will be organized and analyzed using a qualitative analysis tool. The analysis will create and use categories in English.
TimelineEdit
September- October 2022 - Creating the design of research November 2022 - February 2023 - Applying the research design and documenting the results: Doing interviews with experienced editors, with editors who are librarians, organizing a focus group with identified contributors who adhere to NPOV in their practice and then analyzing the interviews and looking for common patterns & practices. This phase includes writing and publishing a paper on the lessons learned. December 2022 - March 2023 - Creating and deploying updated training materials related to the NPOV December 2022 - January 2023 Collecting source materials from NPOV pages and coding the collected texts in HyperResearch January - April 2023 - Producing and disseminating a policy brief addressed to GLAM institutions, schools and universities
Project updates:Edit
We have selected and collected the NPOV marked wiki pages that will be analyzed using HyperResearch. These include all of the pages found at the Romanian Wikipedia version of the NPOV Disputes Category. For the purposes of this study we have decided to focus on our attention (and code) only the content available on the talk pages of these articles and not the actual articles.
Policy, Ethics and Human Subjects ResearchEdit
Interviewees will be presented with an informed consent presenting the research project and the implications of participating in this research. The right to privacy will be respected according to the consent form signed by participants.
ResultsEdit
Initial phase of the results including literature review and first analysis of the dynamic in Romanian community of editors that cover NPOV topics were presented at the International Conference on Virtual Learning(ICVL), Bucharest.
