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Hi Janet, etal, At 02:24 PM 12/18/98 -0500, janet paterson wrote: >i am not a survey expert >but i suspect that your 'results' are skewed >and do not reflect the list as a whole >- only those motivated to answer your call > >50 out of 1600 members = 3% of the total membership >can hardly constitute a basis for anything I am a survey expert. Marketing research is what I've done for a living for the past 25 years. (So LONG already!) You are right. While 3% 'could' be a statistically valid sample of a population, any sample that is self-selected is not valid for exactly the reasons you state...that only people motivated to respond are included. I am personally disappointed that more of our 1600 listmembers did not take the time to participate. However, there is still some gold in these results because some questions received pretty definite response. Even with the wide range of error resulting from a small sample size and the sampling validity problem, the questions for which answers lean strongly in one direction are probably still representative of the "leanings" of the entire list. In other words, they have directionality. Note that 62% agree that the list volume is too high. 60% feel some list members post too many messages. 57% think there is a problem with the appropriateness of the postings to the list and 62% feel that the volume of unrelated postings (to their point of view as to what is related) is too high. However, opinions are pretty evenly split that the list volume discourages people from posting and from posting messages that are on topic. There is NO consensus on doing anything about this. 57% think that the volume is mainly a result of list popularity and nothing should be done about it. 63% feel that the poll was valuable. (Thanks Charlie!) Finally, a follow-up survey to explore solutions is strongly favored (78%) IF enough people feel there is a problem. So here's my take on it. Lots of people have problems managing the volume and they recognize that a small number of list members contribute a large number of postings. When the volume gets high, the frustrations with off-topic posts are greater. But few of us really want the list "policed" because there is such value in the list and a concern that policing will ruin it (I'm beginning to guess a bit now...just going by comments and other postings on this issue). A suggestion: hold onto the replies we already have and open up the survey again for a couple of weeks (past the holidays) to see if more list members will be motivated to contribute. Then re-tally and see where we are. Soliciting and summarizing comments, as fairly as possible, is also quite valuable. Janet's recommendations for additional "open-ended" questions are excellent. I have already offered my assistence to Charlie if he wants it. That's all for now from the research lady. I have to go back to the reality of finding 24hr. care for my falling down father so his Independent Living facility doesn't kick him out. (sigh) Jane Koenig (daughter of Fred, 80/1 1/2)