Posted by Dr. Bob on January 21, 2003, at 21:51:40
In reply to Re: How do people decide which groups to join?, posted by Mitchell on January 21, 2003, at 8:34:11
> I suspect much of the choice is guided by unconscious motivations. If a person grew up in an environment rich in conflict, a group where conflict exists side by side with caring conversation might be very familiar.
So that would suggest looking at how much conflict and caring there is. Which would be really interesting. But hard to assess?
> If so, then one might see a correlation between the spread of conflict (administrative involvement could be a measure of conflict) and increase in numbers. The more difficult question would be whether increased population led to increased conflict, or whether the conflict attracted and reinforced the commitment of group members.
That's an interesting idea, considering administrative involvement a measure of conflict, but there wouldn't be a consistent standard across groups (let alone within a group over time)...
Also, conflict might attract some people but deter others...
> For me, efficacy is a more interesting question than why people join. I wonder how readability correlates with efficacy. I also wonder how readability correlates with conflict and with administrative policies.
Efficacy is definitely the $24,000 question. And is starting to be looked at. How would you compare administrative policies?
> It might also be worth an investigators time to review tools used for literary analysis. The taxonomy you suggest (questions vs. information vs. opinions vs. suggestions) might be all one could get their pencil around in one effort. But eventually, tools used in language and literature departments might contribute to a deeper understanding of how people use electronic publishing tools. Useful measures might include a count of first, second or third person voice, passive or active voice, and perhaps some regional correlation - some regions have different language patterns that might correspond with readability.
Microsoft Word does tell you the % of sentences that are passive...
Bob
poster:Dr. Bob
thread:8891
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20021128/msgs/8938.html