Study of this site

[MI_Marcus]

Hello everyone,

My name is Marc Erbisch and I'm a student at Michigan State University. I am currently undertaking a research project that aims to study the way in which the free sharing of information on websites like this one is changing and/or affecting member's experiences outdoors.

I worked in Alaska for the past two summers in Denali National Park with a friend of mine. We used this website this past summer to get tips and techniques for fishing and it really improved our weekend trips. The whole experience made me really curious about how this site has affected everyone else. All of my findings and results will be made available to everyone on this site in December at the conclusion of this project.

I'm attaching a survey to this post. This survey is completely voluntary and all participants will be anonymous. Any question can be skipped for any reason and the survey can be stopped at any time. You are not required to return this. If you have any questions about this survey please contact me. Please do not discuss any illegal activities within this survey. If you're interested in helping me out please do so. Fill out the survey and e-mail it back to me.

If anyone has any further questions please don't hesitate to ask. Thank you for your time.

[Marcus]

The survey. . .

Is there perhaps a way to post your survey here on the forum? Opening attachments makes me nervous.

[BrownBear]

Another good project from the folks at Michigan State! I've worked in the past with several grad students in the general natural resources arena, and I've got to say that I'm impressed- both with the students and the college.

Good luck on the survey. Your post is very professional and well written.

[skydiver]

Yea, what Marcus said.

[Bill S.]

Opening a .zip attachment has been one of the surest ways to get your computer infected with a virus. So what Marcus said!

[Snyd]

I just opened the zip file on my Apple and it contains a word doc. Here's what is says:


This survey is completely voluntary and all participants will be anonymous. Any question can be skipped for any reason and the survey can be stopped at any time. You are not required to return this. If you have any questions about this survey please contact me. Please do not discuss any illegal activities within this survey. Thank you very much for your time.

By filling out this survey I agree to voluntarily and anonymously participate in research being conducted on this website.


1. What is your age?


2. Where do you live?


3. How long have you been a member of the Alaska Outdoor Forum (AOF)?


4. How did you learn about/find the AOF?


5. What kind of information do you use AOF to find? List all topics and discuss as necessary.


6. How has the information you’ve obtained from AOF impacted your fishing/outdoor experiences?


7. Have you observed fishing sites being effected by AOF? If yes, in what ways?


8. Are you willing to share information about fishing spots, such as locations, with other members?


a. If yes, why?


b. What was the information you shared?


c. Has sharing information effected the location?


d. Was it a “secret spot”?


e. If no, why not?


9. Have you met anyone in person that you’ve met through AOF?


a. If yes, what were the circumstances of the meeting?


b. If no, why not?


10. What do you like about AOF?


11. What do you dislike about AOF?


12. What would you change about AOF?

[Webmaster]

MI Marcus and I discussed this before he posted, and I agreed to the posting, with the caveat that he provide the forum with his results.

I opened the file and it is clean; however, Snyd has reproduced the entire content here in this thread, so it is not necessary to open the file.

David

[MI_Marcus]

Hello Everyone,

I'm just posting this to encourage anyone still planning on filling out my survey to do so. I've had a few filled out and sent to me, but I'd like more. The more people that respond the better my results will be. It's a fairly short survey and I hope it's not taking too long to fill out. And again, please don't hesitate to send me suggestions, questions or complaints I'll be happy to answer any and all.

Marc

[MI_Marcus]

One more thing, my e-mail address is erbischm@msu.edu. I somehow neglected to write that in to either of the previous messages. That should make sending surveys to me a little easier.

Marc

[AlaskaHippie]

Plan on sending it to ya later today...

[Alaska Gray]

Will send you it tomorrow.