Why are we here?

[sphampe]

Greetings to all ...

Ever wonder what makes people behave as they do on the internet?
I am a graduate student studying the how we use the Internet.

There is a survey prepared, it takes about 20 minutes to finish.
The data from which will be the basis of my doctoral dissertation.

Help a poor graduate student finally finish ...

The survey is posted at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=133242197596

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Mike Dee]

Ever wonder what makes people behave as they do on the internet?

Google mail and G2 users bring just the best people to usenet

 

[krazycarnie]

Being the mice person that I am, I decided that I could help a starving
student so I took the survey. The first question that it asked was the
year I was born in (1953), then went on to ask some questions that are
obviously meant to suppoet some agenda of the researcher.

After completing the survey, I was informed that since I indicated that
I was under 18 I was not eligable to take the survey. I only hope that
whatever discipline the young man is studying (it looks like education,
why am I not surprised?) does not require the use of simple arithmatic.

David

 

[swans4me]

I entered my birthdate (1945) and was told to enter a valid date. Hmm. I
know I am old, but a little validation is nice.

 

[Susan Bugher]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

Being the mice person that I am, I decided that I could help a starving
student so I took the survey. The first question that it asked was the
year I was born in (1953), then went on to ask some questions that are
obviously meant to suppoet some agenda of the researcher.

After completing the survey, I was informed that since I indicated that
I was under 18 I was not eligable to take the survey. I only hope that
whatever discipline the young man is studying (it looks like education,
why am I not surprised?) does not require the use of simple arithmatic.

That's hilarious but. . .

<q>
Some of these questions inquire about sexual practices. However, no
personally identifying information will be collected. Your participation
will be completely anonymous.
</q>

Using Mozilla I had to enable cookies for sites that collect personally
identifiable information without your consent to view the survey page.
The (erroneous) calculation was performed AFTER you took the survey. IOW
they ask children of any age for data on sexual practices.

hmmm. . . Google time. . .

http://www.capella.edu/
Capella University is an accredited online university

http://www.capellauniversity.org/
Crapella University Sucks: Education. Stillborn

I'd say disreputable at best is a reasonable summation. . .

Susan
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[Caesar Romano]

Being the mice person that I am, I decided that I could help a starving
student so I took the survey. The first question that it asked was the
year I was born in (1953), then went on to ask some questions that are
obviously meant to suppoet some agenda of the researcher.

After completing the survey, I was informed that since I indicated that
I was under 18 I was not eligable to take the survey. I only hope that
whatever discipline the young man is studying (it looks like education,
why am I not surprised?) does not require the use of simple arithmatic.

David

Thanks David. You saved me from wasting my time.

 

[Mark Carter]

Greetings to all ...

Ever wonder what makes people behave as they do on the internet?
I am a graduate student studying the how we use the Internet.

There is a survey prepared, it takes about 20 minutes to finish.
The data from which will be the basis of my doctoral dissertation.

I'm contradicted by answers.com, but doctoral candidates write theses,
whilst masters candidates write dissertations. At least that's the
standard terminology in the UK.

Help a poor graduate student finally finish ...

But you'll be getting a biased sample

The survey is posted at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=133242197596

Survey *monkey* makes it sound so ... so ... "academic". Or maybe not.

Also, couldn't Capella University swing you for an email account of your
own?

Sorry for being cynical. He's probably a genuine guy.

 

[FTR]

That's hilarious but. . .

<q>
Some of these questions inquire about sexual practices. However, no
personally identifying information will be collected. Your
participation will be completely anonymous.
</q>

Using Mozilla I had to enable cookies for sites that collect
personally identifiable information without your consent to view the
survey page. The (erroneous) calculation was performed AFTER you took
the survey. IOW they ask children of any age for data on sexual
practices.

hmmm. . . Google time. . .

http://www.capella.edu/
Capella University is an accredited online university

http://www.capellauniversity.org/
Crapella University Sucks: Education. Stillborn

I'd say disreputable at best is a reasonable summation. . .

Susan

As a survey specialist I'd say: a student who does not know better. I
real spammer who wants to harvest addresses would know better
- ft

 

[HVS]

On 30 Jul 2006, wrote

Greetings to all ...

Ever wonder what makes people behave as they do on the
internet? I am a graduate student studying the how we use the
Internet.

There is a survey prepared, it takes about 20 minutes to
finish. The data from which will be the basis of my doctoral
dissertation.

Help a poor graduate student finally finish ...

The survey is posted at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=133242197596

Thanks,
Steve

This questionnaire was vetted???

How come it figures that someone with a 1952 birthdate is under 18?

And why the hell doesn't the "no under 18s" block kick in at the
start of the questionnaire, instead of wasting the person's time
before saying "go away"?

Either this whole thing is a piss-take, or you've seriously screwed
up your questionnaire design.

 

[Mark Carter]

I'd say disreputable at best is a reasonable summation. . .

I had a look at their doctoral programmes. They are disctinctly narrow -
no science-based subjects at all.

Also, they seem to disctinctly course-based, rather than research-based.
I had a look over at the MIT site for comparison, and they seem to
lean towards courses, too. I guess they just do things differently in
the States than in the UK. It's just not my idea of what a "proper" PhD
is about.

 

[John Corliss]

Greetings to all ...

Ever wonder what makes people behave as they do on the internet?
I am a graduate student studying the how we use the Internet.

There is a survey prepared, it takes about 20 minutes to finish.
The data from which will be the basis of my doctoral dissertation.

Help a poor graduate student finally finish ...

The survey is posted at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=133242197596

I see that:

"This survey is currently closed.
Please contact the author of this survey for further assistance."

So look here:

http://tinyurl.com/fkco6

 

[Tim]

Greetings to all ...

Ever wonder what makes people behave as they do on the internet?
I am a graduate student studying the how we use the Internet.

There is a survey prepared, it takes about 20 minutes to finish.
The data from which will be the basis of my doctoral dissertation.

Help a poor graduate student finally finish ...

The survey is posted at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=133242197596

Thanks,
Steve

Is this so that you can learn how useless surveys are when applied to
self selecting, non-random sample groups?

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BBQ=AB?=]

Is this so that you can learn how useless surveys are when applied
to self selecting, non-random sample groups?

My guess is that it's so he can learn whether google or
surveymonkey.com will take any action against spammers.

<http://groups.google.com/groups?q=author:[email protected]&start=0&scoring=d&num=100&filter=0>

or <http://tinyurl.com/f67sl>

 

[Susan Bugher]

Also, they seem to disctinctly course-based, rather than research-based.
I had a look over at the MIT site for comparison, and they seem to lean
towards courses, too. I guess they just do things differently in the
States than in the UK. It's just not my idea of what a "proper" PhD is
about.

Is the above proper research? ISTM you've leapt to a conclusion with
virtually no knowledge of your subject matter.

Susan
--
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[Mark Carter]

Is this so that you can learn how useless surveys are when applied to
self selecting, non-random sample groups?

Yes, amazingly, the so-called researchers have fallen into one of the
most basic trap in statistics - a biased sample is useless for drawing
inferences about a population.

Still, they're in humanities, which probably explains their complete
cluelessness. Statistics is a loaded gun, and even what would otherwise
be regarded as proper scientists manage to shoot themselves in the foot
often enough.

 

[Mark Carter]

Is the above proper research? ISTM you've leapt to a conclusion with
virtually no knowledge of your subject matter.

It's true - never having been to a US university, I don't know how they
operate. But looking at the Capella University PhDs on offer, they list
a lot of courses, but offer no clue as to the area of research interests
of potential supervisors. The following is taken from:
http://www.capella.edu/schools_programs/degrees/phd.aspx

"In Capella University's online PhD and PsyD programs, you will acquire
advanced theoretical and practical knowledge and leadership skills that
will position you as an expert in your field. After graduating, you may
choose to pursue teaching, consulting, counseling, or leadership from an
informed, strategic viewpoint.

Our accomplished faculty strive to create an engaging environment in
which you explore concepts, share ideas, and make discoveries in your
field of interest. Experienced advisors and faculty will mentor and
guide you through the process of choosing and developing a dissertation
topic based on your professional interests."

For starters, when has a PhD ever been about developing "leadership
skills"? And from the way they phrase it, their "experienced advisors"
don't sound like experts in a particular field. It's all a sham, I tell
you. I can only hope hope that this is not typical of American universities.

As a quick comparative exercise - please understand that I've only given
it a quick once-over, I'm not trying to make a meal out of it: over at
MIT, their PhD program:
http://web.mit.edu/orc/www/academics/phd.html
lists a number of courses which students are expected to take.

Compare this with British universities. I looked up Cambridge and Oxford
University, and got bored looking for their research programs. So I
pulled up something from Strathclyde University:
http://www.maths.strath.ac.uk/research/postgrad/mechanics.html
There they list the fields of research that they are interested in (in
this case, it has to do with continuum mechanics), and they mention who
is interested in that field. There's no mention of "courses". THAT'S how
I expect research programmes to operate.

 

[Susan Bugher]

Susan Bugher wrote:

It's true - never having been to a US university, I don't know how they
operate. But looking at the Capella University PhDs on offer, they list
a lot of courses, but offer no clue as to the area of research interests
of potential supervisors. The following is taken from:
http://www.capella.edu/schools_programs/degrees/phd.aspx

<SNIP>

It's all a sham, I tell

you.

I thought I'd told you but apparently you didn't understand the
"disreputable at best" comment or this:
http://www.capellauniversity.org/
Crapella University Sucks: Education. Stillborn

I can only hope hope that this is not typical of American
universities.

The diploma mill problem is not confined to the US. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diploma_mill
The article mentions a number of countries. The UK is one. . .

Susan
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[Mark Carter]

I thought I'd told you but apparently you didn't understand the
"disreputable at best" comment

No need to get nasty. I was essentially agreeing with you, expanding
upon the subject-matter with supporting material. Please understand that
when I said things like "For starters, when has a PhD ever been about
developing 'leadership skills'?", I had not intended it to be
interpreted as an attack on you, but a dissection of their website.

 

[Susan Bugher]

Susan Bugher wrote:

No need to get nasty. I was essentially agreeing with you, expanding
upon the subject-matter with supporting material. Please understand that
when I said things like "For starters, when has a PhD ever been about
developing 'leadership skills'?", I had not intended it to be
interpreted as an attack on you, but a dissection of their website.

Apologies for *inadvertently* displayed my irritation.

As to what irked me. . . your snide/nasty remarks about the entire US
educational system - unwarranted and uninformed remarks that were
totally out of place in a discussion of *one* diploma mill. Other than
that I loved your posts.

Can we put this behind us? Friends?

Susan
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[Mark Carter]

As to what irked me. . . your snide/nasty remarks about the entire US
educational system

Yes, my apologies for an unwarranted attack on the whole of the US
education system - especially as I have never to an institution as
august as MIT - not even close. I'm sure they wouldn't touch me with a
bargepole. Not to open old wounds, but occasionally I hear negative
rumours about the American university system, which tends to accumulate
an impression in ones mind.

The British higher educational system has been sadly going the wrong
way, much of the thanks going to Tony Blair for that one. Many of the
polytechnics have converted to universities (polytechnics tended to
offer more vocational training, whereas universities were more academic).

Also, I question Blair's policy of aiming to get 50% of school-leavers
into universities - a policy that I believe to be deluded nonsense. But
that's for another post, maybe.

Can we put this behind us?

Like it never happened

Friends?

Sure.