Research:How much do Wikipedians value editing Wikipedia?/Survey
Introduction Screen
editWelcome!
The purpose of this research study is to investigate the value Wikipedians derive from editing Wikipedia. Answering this survey will take about 10-15 minutes of your time.
Please note that you have to be located in the US in order to participate in this study.
The study is being conducted by Avi Gannamaneni (MIT) and Jana Gallus (UCLA) in collaboration with Aaron Halfaker (Wikimedia Foundation). For any questions, please contact Avi at: avinashg@mit.edu.
Participation in this study is voluntary and you can quit at any time. You can only participate once. Apart from information about how valuable you find editing Wikipedia, we will ask for your demographic information (e.g., age, gender) and your email address and Wikipedia user name (for the allocation of prizes, see below). All the information you provide will be treated confidentially and kept anonymous. After completion of the study, we will permanently delete your email address and user name from the data.
The study has been approved by the MIT Institutional Review Board (IRB) to assure that the highest standards are applied in order to protect the rights and welfare of humans participating in this research. The anonymized results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and made available open access.
As a reward for your participation, we will randomly pick 1 out of every 5 participants and give them $25 worth of goods of their choice from the Wikipedia store (e.g. Wikipedia themed t-shirts). Note that we can only send you the reward if you are located in the US.
If you agree and wish to participate in this study and if you are currently residing in the US, please check the 'I AGREE' box.
☐ I AGREE
☐ I DO NOT AGREE
Contact Details
editIf you want to be considered for the lottery to win $25 worth of goods from the Wikipedia store, please enter your email and Wikipedia user name.
We will only contact you by email if you win the lottery in order to administer the delivery of your prize. After completion of the study, we will permanently delete your email and user name from the data.
In order to verify that the Wikipedia user name you entered is indeed yours, we will ask you to temporarily post a short text on your talk page if you are selected in the lottery and win the reward.
Email ______
Wikipedia ______
Demographics
editHow do you prefer to be described?
o She edits Wikipedia
o He edits Wikipedia
o Other/ Prefer not to answer
How old are you?
o Younger than 18 years
o 18-24 years
o 25-34 years
o 35-44 years
o 45-54 years
o 55-64 years
o 65 or older
In which state do you currently reside?
[Drop down list of US states]
Which of the following best describes the area you live in?
o Urban
o Suburban
o Rural
What is your highest education achieved to date?
o Less than high school graduate
o High school graduate or equivalent
o Some college or associate's degree
o Bachelor's degree
o Master's degree or higher
What is your total annual household income?
o Less than $25,000
o $25,000–$49,999
o $50,000–$99,999
o $100,000–$149,999
o $150,000 and more
o I prefer not to answer
Employment status: Are you currently…?
o Employed for wages
o Self-employed
o Out of work and looking for work
o Out of work but not currently looking for work
o A homemaker
o A student
o Retired
o Unable to work
Wikipedia usage
editHow often do you use the following features of Wikipedia?
| Several times a day | Around once a day | A few times a week | Around once a week | Less than weekly | Never | |
| Editing Wikipedia articles | o | o | o | o | o | o |
| Participating in community discussions | o | o | o | o | o | o |
| Patrolling the site for vandalism | o | o | o | o | o | o |
| Reading articles on Wikipedia | o | o | o | o | o | o |
| Posting/ replying on talk pages | o | o | o | o | o | o |
How much total time (reading and editing) do you spend on Wikipedia per week (on average)?
o Less than 1 hour
o 1 to 2 hours
o 2 to 5 hours
o 5 to 10 hours
o 10 to 15 hours
o 15 to 20 hours
o More than 20 hours
How much time do you spend editing on Wikipedia per week (on average)?
This includes any activities related to contributing to Wikipedia (e.g., background research, engaging in discussions, etc.).
o Less than 1 hour
o 1 to 2 hours
o 2 to 5 hours
o 5 to 10 hours
o 10 to 15 hours
o 15 to 20 hours
o More than 20 hours
Wikipedia editor valuation
editEditing Wikipedia
In each of the following questions, you will make a series of decisions. In each decision, you will choose between keeping access to editing Wikipedia and giving up access to certain or all features of editing Wikipedia for 1 month in exchange for a particular cash amount. Each row represents a decision and the only dimension that varies across the decisions is the cash amount.
We want to reward you for thinking carefully about these questions. Therefore, we will randomly pick 1 out of 50 respondents and fulfill one of their responses. If you are one of the chosen respondents, then we will randomly pick one of the following questions and the decision you made for that question (row). (This is in addition to the Wikipedia store gift certificate that will be raffled off among participants.)
If you choose to give up access to certain features of editing Wikipedia for 1 month in exchange for a particular cash amount, then you will be contacted by email to begin the 1 month period. At the end of the month, we will verify that you have indeed not edited Wikipedia by checking your user profile and Wikipedia IP logs and pay you the cash amount (by check).
Remember that it is in your best interest to think carefully when you make each decision because if selected, you will have a chance to be rewarded – but only if you follow up on your decision.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Will you give up all editing on Wikipedia for 1 month in exchange for $x?
You can neither edit with your user account nor anonymously with an IP address. By "all editing" we mean any type of editing: article edits, posts on talk pages, replies to posts, etc. You can continue to read articles on Wikipedia.
Note: If you are among the 1 in 50 selected respondents, and this question is randomly selected, then we will randomly choose one of the following rows and fulfill your response if you comply with the agreement.
| No, I will keep access to editing on Wikipedia. (1) | Yes, I will give up all editing on Wikipedia for 1 month in exchange for $x. (2) | |
| x = $5 (1) | o | o |
| x = $10 (2) | o | o |
| x = $15 (3) | o | o |
| x = $20 (4) | o | o |
| x = $25 (5) | o | o |
| x = $30 (6) | o | o |
| x = $35 (7) | o | o |
| x = $40 (8) | o | o |
| x = $45 (9) | o | o |
| x = $50 (10) | o | o |
| x = $55 (11) | o | o |
| x = $60 (12) | o | o |
| x = $65 (13) | o | o |
| x = $70 (14) | o | o |
| x = $75 (15) | o | o |
| x = $80 (16) | o | o |
| x = $85 (17) | o | o |
| x = $90 (18) | o | o |
| x = $95 (19) | o | o |
| x = $100 (20) | o | o |
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Will you give up all editing with your user account on Wikipedia for 1 month in exchange for $x?
You cannot edit with your user account, but you can continue to edit anonymously with an IP address. By "all editing" we mean any type of editing: article edits, posts on talk pages, replies to posts, etc. You can continue to read articles on Wikipedia.
Note: If you are among the 1 in 50 selected respondents, and this question is randomly selected, then we will randomly choose one of the following rows and fulfill your response if you comply with the agreement.
| No, I will keep access to editing with my user account. (1) | Yes, I will give up editing with my user account on Wikipedia for 1 month in exchange for $x. (2) | |
| x = $5 (1) | o | o |
| x = $10 (2) | o | o |
| x = $15 (3) | o | o |
| x = $20 (4) | o | o |
| x = $25 (5) | o | o |
| x = $30 (6) | o | o |
| x = $35 (7) | o | o |
| x = $40 (8) | o | o |
| x = $45 (9) | o | o |
| x = $50 (10) | o | o |
| x = $55 (11) | o | o |
| x = $60 (12) | o | o |
| x = $65 (13) | o | o |
| x = $70 (14) | o | o |
| x = $75 (15) | o | o |
| x = $80 (16) | o | o |
| x = $85 (17) | o | o |
| x = $90 (18) | o | o |
| x = $95 (19) | o | o |
| x = $100 (20) | o | o |
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Will you give up posting on talk pages on Wikipedia for 1 month in exchange for $x?
You cannot post or reply to posts on your talk page or on any other user or Wikipedia talk page. You can continue to edit and read articles on Wikipedia.
Note: If you are among the 1 in 50 selected respondents, and this question is randomly selected, then we will randomly choose one of the following rows and fulfill your response if you comply with the agreement.
| No, I will keep access to posting on talk pages. (1) | Yes, I will give up posting on all talk pages on Wikipedia for 1 month in exchange for $x. (2) | |
| x = $5 (1) | o | o |
| x = $10 (2) | o | o |
| x = $15 (3) | o | o |
| x = $20 (4) | o | o |
| x = $25 (5) | o | o |
| x = $30 (6) | o | o |
| x = $35 (7) | o | o |
| x = $40 (8) | o | o |
| x = $45 (9) | o | o |
| x = $50 (10) | o | o |
| x = $55 (11) | o | o |
| x = $60 (12) | o | o |
| x = $65 (13) | o | o |
| x = $70 (14) | o | o |
| x = $75 (15) | o | o |
| x = $80 (16) | o | o |
| x = $85 (17) | o | o |
| x = $90 (18) | o | o |
| x = $95 (19) | o | o |
| x = $100 (20) | o | o |
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Will you permanently delete your current Wikipedia user profile in exchange for $x?
You will have to change your user name and request to delete your current user page as noted here. Your future contributions to Wikipedia will be recorded under your new user name. If selected to get the cash amount, you agree that you will not refer to your previous user name in your new user page. Note that this is a permanent change and not just for 1 month.
Note: If you are among the 1 in 50 selected respondents, and this question is randomly selected, then we will randomly choose one of the following rows and fulfill your response if you comply with the agreement.
| No, I will not permanently delete my current user account. (1) | Yes, I will permanently delete my current Wikipedia user profile in exchange for $x. (2) | |
| x = $5 (1) | o | o |
| x = $10 (2) | o | o |
| x = $15 (3) | o | o |
| x = $20 (4) | o | o |
| x = $25 (5) | o | o |
| x = $30 (6) | o | o |
| x = $35 (7) | o | o |
| x = $40 (8) | o | o |
| x = $45 (9) | o | o |
| x = $50 (10) | o | o |
| x = $55 (11) | o | o |
| x = $60 (12) | o | o |
| x = $65 (13) | o | o |
| x = $70 (14) | o | o |
| x = $75 (15) | o | o |
| x = $80 (16) | o | o |
| x = $85 (17) | o | o |
| x = $90 (18) | o | o |
| x = $95 (19) | o | o |
| x = $100 (20) | o | o |
[If selects not to permanently delete even for $100]
For how much money would you permanently delete your current Wikipedia user profile?
$ ______
Editor motivations
editI edit Wikipedia because:
| Strongly Disagree (1) | Somewhat Disagree (2) | Neutral (3) | Somewhat Agree (4) | Strongly Agree (5) | |
| I want to promote my work and professional profile (1) | o | o | o | o | o |
| I want to learn something new (2) | o | o | o | o | o |
| I enjoy fixing small errors and gaps on Wikipedia (3) | o | o | o | o | o |
| I want to share my knowledge of some particular topics with others (4) | o | o | o | o | o |
| I want to influence how society views the issues I care about (5) | o | o | o | o | o |
| I want to help other people benefit from an improved Wikipedia (6) | o | o | o | o | o |
| I want to give back because I benefit from reading Wikipedia (7) | o | o | o | o | o |
End message
editThank you for completing this survey. This survey helps us understand better how valuable you find editing Wikipedia.
We will contact you by email if you are selected to win $25 worth of goods from the Wikipedia store and/or if you were one of the 1 in 50 respondents selected for actually implementing your choice.
For further questions please contact, Avi, one of the study authors, at avinashg@mit.edu.