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2.8.06

Writing has changed

A really interesting survey by the Pew Project, a non-profit research center studying the social effects of the internet on Americans. The survey is on bloggers. I see some statistical problems and some questions that are misleading in the way they are written, but there are still heaps of interesting and useful facts. It really cements the idea that blogs have changed the way we write, and the way we read. 54% of bloggers had not published their writings anywhere else. And now they have their own mass medium to publish their voice.

2 Comments:

Blogger Thor F. said...

Great find, maybe I'll quote this one in a follow up of my post about commenting other peoples blogs.

You mentioned statistical problems, and I agree. For example; the low number of respondents (N=233) is a major source of error when doing quantitative research. The high margin of error (+/- 7%) should definitely be noted by the reader.

August 02, 2006 3:11 pm  
Blogger mrtn said...

Also note how in some samples the numbers are completely erratic. At one point there were 63 respondents giving an "I don't know" to something everybody else knew. And the wording of some of the questions was weird, like the one about hte news sources that challenge their opinions. That was just bad question writing.

August 02, 2006 3:16 pm  

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