Wikimedia Deutschland/Editor Survey 2016/questions

Questionnaire Survey Editor "Welcoming New Editors" 2016

Introduction

Thank you for taking the time for our short survey!

To attract and retain new contributors for Wikipedia and its sister projects is one major goal of Wikimedia Deutschland for 2016. With regard to the transition from first-time editing to becoming an active editor, the welcoming culture and the information provided for new editors appear to be significant factors.

By this survey, we want to collect the experience and opinion of the existing active Wikipedia editors in order to develop better measures for attracting and retaining new editors. Your feedback helps us to understand the needs of the community and to assist you in the further development of a welcoming culture in the Wikimedia projects.

Answering the questions will take fifteen to twenty minutes, depending on how much you want to tell us.

We do not ask you for any personal information that permits identifying your person. Your participation is completely voluntary. By participating in the survey you allow us to store and process the answers for the purpose of analysis.

Please do not enter any personal information into text fields, unless you agree to a publishing of it (eg as a quotation). We will publish the results only in an anonymous, aggregated form.

Q1 How long have you been active on Wikipedia or its sister projects?

less than 1 year [1]

1 2 years [2]

3 - 4 years [3]

5 - 6 years [4]

7 - 8 Years [5]

9 years or longer [6]

Q2 How often - on average - do you contribute to Wikipedia or another Wikimedia project approximately?

Herewith we mean all the activities related to the content, quality or technical editing of Wikimedia projects.

almost every day [1]

several times a week [2]

several times a month [3]

less frequently [4]

Q3 Which of the following Wikipedia activities have you been involved with in the last six months (online and / or offline?)

[multiple answers possible]

Writing or editing of articles [1]

Adding images to articles [2]

Fighting vandalism [3]

Maintenance (spelling corrections, etc.) [4]

Software Development [5]

Administrative tasks [6]

Project discussions (polls, deletion candidates, relevance criteria or similar .) [7]

Meeting with other Wikipedians [8]

Organizing projects for Free Knowledge (conferences, competitions, workshops etc.) [9]

Other, namely: [text field] [10]

Q4 To what extent do you agree with the following statements about new editors in Wikipedia?

New editors are well welcomed and supported adequately by the community. [1]

When I started editing Wikipedia, I was well received and got sufficient support. [2]

New editors often give up quickly. [3]

Most new editors have good intentions. [4]

There should be more new editors.[5]

Most new editors do not want that best for Wikipedia. [6]

It is important that there is a constant influx of new editors. [7]

scale: agree [1] - rather agree [2] - rather not agree [3] - not agree [4] - do not know [5]

Q5 What do you think, what would be the impact of a larger number of newly added editors on the following aspects:

the range of subjects covered [1]

the quality of the content [2]

the working atmosphere in Wikipedia [3]

the workload for experienced authors [4]

[text field] [5]

Scale: only positive effects [1] - rather positive effects [2] - rather negative effects [3] - only negative effects [4] - do not know [5]

Q6 What do you think are the main reasons why some new editors are not becoming permanent contributors?

[Please select the three major reasons from your point of view]

Conflicts between contributors in Wikipedia. [1]

Lack of confidence of new editors regarding the quality of their own contributions. [2]

Editing is too time-consuming and difficult to learn [3]

Deletion of their own contributions by other editors. [4]

New contributors are less influential compared to more established users.[5]

Not enough time for lengthy discussions on talk pages [6]

The feeling not to be able to contribute anything because ‘it's all already there’ [7]

Not knowing how you can contribute [8]

Other reasons (please enter): [text field] [9]

Q7 Would you like to commit yourself to supporting new editors in 2016?

Yes [1]

No [0

Do not know [3]

Q8 [Filter: only when Q7= "Yes") How do you want to support new editors?

[multiple answers possible]

Welcoming new users [1]

Individual support (eg mentoring program) [2]

Responding to emerging issues and questions [3]

Create information for new editors (eg editor portal, tutorials etc.) [4]

Other, namely: [text field] [5 ]

Q9 [Filter: Only when Q7 = "no" or "do not know")

What does possibly sustain you from becoming active in supporting new editors?

You can add further reasons in the text field, if you like.

[multiple answers possible]

I consider such support generally as not necessary. [1]

Supporting new editors would distract me from my other activities for Wikipedia. [2]

I had bad experiences with less experienced editors. [3]

I do not exactly know how I can support new editors. [4]

There are too few other Wikipedians that are willing to support new editors together with me. [5]

Other, namely: [text field] [6]

Q10 Below you can find some sites and offers to support new editors.

As how helpful do you rate the respective support offers?

[to specify, you can also add further support offers in the free text field]

Mentoring program [1]

“Fragen von Neulingen” (questions of newcomers) [2]

“Wikipedia: Auskunft” (Wikipedia:Information) [3]

“Fragen zur Wikipedia” (questions about Wikipedia) [4]

Welcome messages on user talk pages [5]

Tearoom (trial version) [6]

Support team (OTRS team) [7]

More: [text field] [8]

scale: helpful [1] - rather helpful [2] - rather not helpful [3] - not helpful [4] - Do not know [5]

Q11 If you delete an article of a new editor or if you recommend his article for deletion or if you revert a major change made by a new editor - for which reason do you usually do it?

[multiple answers possible] Non-compliance with criteria of relevance[1]

Not sufficiently referenced information (sources) [2]

Violations of rules (eg, discriminatory content, advertising, non-neutral positions, etc.) [3]

Fight vandalism [4]

More: [free text field] [5]

⊗ Does not apply to me. [6]

Q12 How would generally describe the dealing with new editors in the German language Wikipedia?

[Multiple answers possible]

(Happy Smiley) open [1] friendly [2] supportive [3]

(Neutral Smiley) indifferent [4] skeptical [5] impatient [6]

(Sad Smiley) negative [7] unfriendly[8] dismissive [9]

Further description [text field] [10]

Q13 In most language versions of Wikipedia there are far fewer women participating than men.

In your opinion, what are the consequences of this lower participation rate for the following aspects of Wikipedia?

The quality of the articles? [1]

The variety of issues about which there are good articles? [2]

The working atmosphere in Wikipedia? [3]

The reputation of Wikipedia as a reliable source of information? [4]

scale: positive [1] - both, positive and negative [2] - negative [3] - I can’t tell [4]

Q14 Higher participation of women could be an important element in the recruiting of more new contributors.

Do you have any suggestions or ideas on how to attract more women to contributing to Wikipedia?

[Large text field]

Q15 To what extent do you communicate with other contributors via...?

“Kurier” (German signpost) [1]

(User) talk pages [2]

IRC / Chat [3]

Mailing lists [4]

Personal Email / Wikimail [5]

Social Networks [6]

Personal contact [7]

Scale: frequently [1] - sometimes [2] - rarely [3] - not at all [4]

Q16 [Filter: only displayed if Q15, “personal contact” is not “not at all”]

How often do you meet other Wikipedians personally at ...?

Project meetings (concerning Wikimedia / Wikipedia) [1]

Edit-a-thons [2]

Workshops [3]

Conferences [4 ]

“Stammtische” (Regulars’ tables) [5]

Private meetings (friends & acquaintances) [6]

Scale: frequently [1] - sometimes [2] - rarely [3] - not at all [4]

Q17 Finally, two short general questions:

How old are you?

20 years or younger [1]

21-30 y.o. [2]

31-40 y.o.[3]

41-50 y.o.[4]

51-60 y.o.[5]

61-70y.o. [6]

70 or older [7]

Q18 Are you ...

Male [0]

Female [1]

Other [3]

Q19 Do you have any other comments or questions regarding the welcoming culture in Wikipedia? Or is there anything else you would like to tell us?

Please use the textbox below for your suggestions or comments.

[Text field]

end

Thank you for your participation in the survey!

The survey will be closed on February, 5th (and then data analysis starts).

The results will be published once the survey data has been processed and a report has been created. A preliminary report version will be presented at the Community Workshop in February. Our goal for the publication of the full results on this page is March, 18th at the latest.