[Winona Online Democracy] It sounds as if Mr. Carlson read the paper whose URL I posted online a week or so ago. That paper is indeed based primarily on what 41 respondents to my survey said. (That survey, by the way was sent to "lurkers," that is, those subscribers who rarely or never post messages. It is the second survey I posted to WOD.)
The study that was published by AEJMC and that was written about in both Winona newspapers, however, is a separate study, larger in scope and drawing on far more than 41 survey responses. The study published by AEJMC emphasizes traffic on WOD during three two-month periods between December of 2000 and April of 2002, looking at 709 WOD messages along with 706 letters to the editor in Winona's two newspapers. The AEJMC paper also examines WOD postings about a school-funding referendum and the local United Way's decision to stop funding the Boy Scouts due to the national Scout organization's prohibition of gay scout leaders. The AEJMC paper includes statistical information about WOD traffic during calendar years 2003 and 2004. It also includes separate sections about WOD traffic after the 9/11 attacks and about WOD's interaction with local print media. People can draw whatever conclusions they see fit about my study or WOD's success, but I wanted to make clear that the recently published AEJMC study is not based on 41 survey responses. Steve Schild On Friday, August 12, 2005 4:51 PM, Phil Carlson wrote: > >Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 16:51:37 -0500 >From: Phil Carlson >To: "Winona Online Democracy" <[email protected]> >Subject: [Winona] RE: WOD, Schild Paper, Participation > >[Winona Online Democracy] > > >At the risk of resuscitating a dead horse, I have thought about the recent >comments about participation in WOD, including the posting by Steve Schild >about his research paper (which generated a lot of comment when it first >came out). Taking up his challenge, I actually read the whole paper. > >I think the paper is well written, clearly organized, and generally neutral >in tone - it was a good piece of research. It poses questions up front with >provocative quotes (by others) about the grand possibilities of E-democracy >and others about how far we have yet to go. But the bulk of the paper is >simply an analysis of the answers that 41 of you folks gave about WOD. We >can't argue with plain reporting, even if the story doesn't conform to our >wishful thinking. Many people said they were hesitant to post for a variety >of reasons and didn't like or trust the views of others. > >It has been pointed out that there are perhaps only 200 WOD participants out >of a population of 27,000 (50,000+ in the County) - about 1/2% to 1% of the >population. But the comparison I found myself making is not how does WOD >stack up to its own goals (not terribly well), but how does it compare to >other forms of democracy and communication? The experience that I can >share is as a city planning consultant, helping cities formulate >comprehensive plans and zoning ordinances. These documents form the broad >framework and the detailed laws that govern all public and private >development activities in a community for years. > >I have not done careful research, but I can share anecdotally that I have >rarely had participation over 1/10% in the planning efforts I have >conducted, and yet when we reach even that number, people are thrilled at >the turnout. And if I were to ask those people if they like or trusted the >process, many would give answers similar to the WOD survey. > >Think of the last time Winona updated its Comprehensive Plan or Zoning >Ordinance - how many of you attended a meeting to discuss it? If I were >doing a plan for a city the size of Winona I would be delighted to see 25 >people show up at community input meetings on the Plan. Fifty would be >astounding (we had 70 in St. Cloud, representing a greater community of >200,000). These plans and ordinances are routinely discussed and debated by >a couple dozen people on a task force, then reviewed by 7 Planning >Commission members and 5 City Council members, at public hearings where >there are maybe 10 or 20 others present. The whole course of the >community's future decided by 50 people, many of whom don't say anything. > >By comparison, the discussions on WOD are quite large. There are certainly >ways we could make WOD a better forum, either technically or culturally, but >I'm not so hard on us with the numbers we have, compared to the work I do. > >Phil Carlson, Mpls > > _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
