[OSM-talk] Survey coming

[Allan Mustard]

On 1/10/2021 3:34 PM, Mike Thompson wrote:
> Have we defined the population (sorry if I missed it)?
Please see my reply to John Whelan, relevant excerpt follows:
> We will circulate the URL for the survey via talk lists, which will
> allow anyone with a valid email address to request a single-use token
> that will allow the respondent to participate in the survey once.
In effect that means the population consists of anybody interested in
the OSM project.  Any respondent will be able to request a single-use
token and participate in the survey.  Will there be biases?  Of course
there will be.  That's why we are asking for demographic information, to
help us parse the biases.  Will the survey be perfect?  No survey is
perfect.

With regard to this comment:
> The law of large numbers doesn't correct for selection bias. 
That is why we are seeking not to select respondents, as some have
advocated, but rather to solicit participation from the broader
community by broadcasting through as many communication channels as
possible. Self-selection will almost certainly be subject to the biases
of a) participation in OSM-related communications media, b) access to a
computer and the Internet, and c) time to spare for completing a
survey.  There may also, depending on the sample size and response, be a
bias toward those who care about OSM Foundation affairs versus those who
don't give a rip and would rather spend their time mapping than
answering survey questions.  I don't know what we can do to remediate
those biases, nor do I think they are fatal flaws in the methodology. 
Again, awareness of potential biases underlies the demographic questions
in the survey.

apm
-------
/Allan Mustard, Chairperson/
/Board of Directors/
/OpenStreetMap Foundation/
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