I had a thought today while trudging through the well-trampled snow on my way back to where I’m staying in Toronto. I was thinking of the number of responses I have received to my Toronto Transit Camp participant survey. I’m over 10%, so I’m by no means dissatisfied with the number of responses; but I do notice that they have been skewed towards some demographics, as I had expected would be the case, and was wondering how I might be able to convince the outliers to fill it out, and I started thinking about my own survey-taking behaviour. It strikes me that part of what I don’t really like about them is that I wonder if researchers have ever actually done it themselves, and I find it unfair that I, as the respondent, don’t get to know anything about the survey authors outside of what work they’re doing. It feels like a power disparity. The sense of reciprocity, which I blogged about a long, long time ago, is completely missing and it seems like I’m somehow detached from the work. To use a body analogy, I’m all eyes and no mouth, like Hello Kitty except you know nothing about me that would indicate that I am at all cute, except maybe my study information document and the informed consent form.
Are you one of my survey respondents feeling like that? To help with that, I’ve taken my own survey (since I too participated in Transit Camp, which means I am eligible for the survey), and I’ve posted the results below the cut on this post. I won’t include it in my data, of course, It also means you get to see what’s on the survey before you take it; I hope you find it valuable, and that perhaps you feel like sharing your own responses to these questions with me.
(As an aside, filling this out and putting this here resembles filling out an online quiz in Livejournal or what have you. It’s kind of funny that way.)
Transit Camp Participant Survey
To confirm your eligibility for this survey, did you attend Toronto Transit Camp at the Gladstone Hotel on February 4th, 2007 (for at least 3 hours of the entire day)? *
Yes
Please specify your gender.
Female
Please specify your age.
23
Which sector…
- do you work in, or
- is the primary focus of your work?
Academic
What is your job title or occupation? Please describe briefly your position, role, and primary tasks.
Student researcher and research assistant. I conduct interviews, crunch data, synthesize research, and document resources, on topics relating to: broadband Internet, social capital, social networking software.
Please indicate your highest completed level of education.
3 – 4 Year Undergraduate Degree
How long have you lived in Toronto?
1 year
Please indicate if the time you’ve spent in Toronto has been…
Non-continuous – I have lived in other places. The number above represents the total time overall that I have been in Toronto.
Internet & Media Use
Do you have access to, and use, the Internet at your primary place of work?
Yes
Do you have access to the Internet at home?
Yes
Please indicate if, in addition to the previously mentioned locations, you access the Internet through… (check all that apply)
Publicly available wireless Internet hotspots
How many hours to do you spend with access to the Internet per day on average?
12
Rank in order of preference your sources of daily news, with the first being most preferred and the last being least or not preferred: *
1. Blogs (group, filter or individual)
2. Internet news sites (including the online versions of the above methods)
3. Social Networking sites, or Collaborative Sharing sites (examples: Facebook, del.icio.us, or Digg/Slashdot)
4. Newspaper
5. Radio
6. Television
7. Other
Do you follow transit-related news? (i.e. seek out transit-related stories in any of the methods you prefer to follow daily news) *
Yes
Please indicate if you use blogs for any of the following activities (check all that apply): *
- Read regularly (i.e. on at least a weekly basis)
- Comment regularly (i.e. on at least a monthly basis)
- Write professionally as part of your work
- Write personally / socially
If you maintain a blog, would you be willing to provide me with the URL? This will allow me to get a sense of what you write about. I will be in further touch with you if I am interested in including anything from the blog in my research report.
You’re here! 
Imagine that you woke up tomorrow to the find that the computer/Internet had vanished. Using the 10-point scale where 1 means you wouldn’t miss it at all because your daily life would proceed as normal and 10 means you would miss it an extreme amount, how much would you miss being able to use your computer/go online? *
8
The next section asks questions about community participation. This term can refer to a number of activities; some examples include…
- taking on roles in formal organizations, or participating in their activities (such as attending meetings)
- to doing organized or ad-hoc advocacy of behalf of groups
- participating in regular or one-off activities with other community members
- professional associations
- informal gatherings for hobbies and interests
- political parties
Have you currently or previously participated in community organizations or done any volunteer activity? Please provide a brief overview of the length and extent of your involvement. If you have described this previously in published form that’s available on the Internet, feel free to include a URL and add or elaborate on it as you like.
(Enter ‘None’ if this question does not apply for you.)
I helped organize Toronto Transit Camp, have volunteered on a short-term basis with various organizations (SFU Communication Student Union, Out on Screen, Schema Magazine) doing website technical work or marketing/outreach, and attend events in the the BarCamp technology communities in Vancouver and Toronto.
Have you currently or previously attended transit-related events, or participated in transit-related groups or organizations? Mark the statement that describes your activities best. *
3 – I occasionally attend transit-related events and spend a little time keeping up-to-date with groups and organizations.
How much did you know about Toronto Camp community, open space method, BarCamp or the BarCamp rules prior to attending Transit Camp?
A lot (participated in at least one TorCamp event, knew people in the community, familiar with the methods and rules)
Would you like to clarify the meaning of, or further describe, any of your answers to the questions on this page about community participation? If yes, please do so here:
n/a
I must admit a doubt or two ran through my mind for posting this, but I’m confident that the potential benefits far outweigh any risks. I will ask that if you have any questions about the survey, the questions, or are feeling inspired to do something similar, drop me a line (quinn AT countablyinfinite DOT ca) because I’d love to hear about it! And if you’ve stumbled upon this survey because you have an assignment due in the next little while and have to hatch some methodology…let’s just say that this is my first self-directed research project, that I got no one to look at it before I launched it, and it is of questionable quality in and of itself. Caveat emptor!
