Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!wuarchive!rex!ukma!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!agate!shelby!msi.umn.edu!cs.umn.edu!sialis!rjg From: rjg@sialis.mn.org (Robert J. Granvin) Newsgroups: comp.sys.3b1 Subject: Re: Dr. [Mike] Shea's net experiment [was: Re: Re:Thad's email address] Keywords: Dr Shea Message-ID: <305@sialis.mn.org> Date: 7 Feb 91 00:38:38 GMT References: <1991Feb5.223437.14710@kodak.kodak.com> <1991Feb6.175014.3949@limbic.ssdl.com> Followup-To: poster Organization: Dr. Ho Laboratory and Daycare Center Lines: 90 In article <1991Feb6.175014.3949@limbic.ssdl.com> gil@limbic.ssdl.com (Gil Kloepfer Jr.) writes: >In article <1991Feb5.223437.14710@kodak.kodak.com> crassi@kodak.kodak.com (Charlie Crassi) writes: >>Dr. Shea was doing what I understand was a psychological profile >>study of the personality types who try to become as someone who >>replied to his article put it so nicely, "Net.Gods", and their >>minions. > [...] >Finally, if this had been an experiment, which I really doubt it > [...] >>Personally I'd rather not spawn such a situation, but I believe when >>his research paper on the project was reviewed, it got a standing >>ovation thanks to those who replied, those you mention in your posting. >>I also believe his paper used direct quotations from the net replies. > [...] >If, indeed, Mike did present a research paper of the calibre you >present, then my congratulations to him on a job well-done. However, > [...] >followups directed to poster. If replies must be directed to the >net, make them to sci.psychology where they belong. I know, I know... I posted a reply... :-) I only want to make one comment. I have been a "full time" user, poster, and reader of Usenet since the days when 1200 baud transfers were the norm, 2400 baud was a luxury, and average daily newsfeeds were noticeably under 1/4 MB.... I remember the hub bub that occurred sometime later when AT&T announced that Unix System III was now out of production and introduced Unix System V. If you get the idea I've been around a while, even though not as long as some of definate reknown, you are correct. In those many years, I have seen _many_ "psychological research activities" take place on Usenet. Nearly all have the stated objective of observing faceless reactions to a hostile environment created by the researcher. I have never _once_ found such a "research" to have ever occurred. Even those who publicly claimed during the "Events" that they were doing so, never could come up with a conclusion or WHY they were doing this "research." All research must have a stated goal and objective. If you don't know what you hope to accomplish, all you will get is a pile of useless numbers. There never were control groups, abstracts, or planned uses of the data. In the end, nearly every one of those "research projects" fell into one of two categories: 1) Someone decided patently to infuriate a lot of people for the sheer amusement of doing it. There were a few accepted terms for that, but I won't indicate them here... :-) 2) Someone thought about their assininity, and realized that if they professed that it was "all an experiment," they could probably "get off the hook" and clear their name without having to lose face by apologizing. #2 was by far the most common in those days. #1 seems to be a lot more common today. Never once have I found any evidence of any research ever having taken place. If Mr. Shea did indeed produce a paper, I would greatly appreciate seeing it. I would like to see evidence that such an activity took place (yes, I'm VERY skeptical), and I would also like to see the basis for the "research" and what it will hope to accomplish. Based on the articles which I had archived and gone through, I would say that the execution of this "research" was extremely poor. I'd be interested in seeing a writeup which explained the proposed approach and justified its manner. If it indeed was a scientifically valid paper, I would then be quite interested in the results. Psychological profiles are a mild interest of mine, and I'm sure this would be of extreme interest to a few personal and business acquaintances who do a large amount of psychological research and profiling (yes, I used to work for a company that did analysis along these lines. They'd love to see it, since it's a type of research they'll never get into.) If the "research" took place, I place a request for a distribution of the journal article and results. I also request a bibliography of the journals where it was published, or which journals are still pending. Documentation of where the paper was presented (and which proceedings it would have, or will, appear in) would be appreciated as well. Otherwise, the whole issue is closed yet once again, as it was before with no changes, since I don't believe such a paper exists. Call it a bet placed on the odds that have been set forth for the past decade. In other words, prove it to me. (Followups to me. I wouldn't want to miss a copy of this paper!) There. 'nuf said. -- Robert J. Granvin \\\\\\\\ rjg@sialis.com : INTERNET University of Minnesota \\\ ...uunet!rosevax!sialis!rjg : UUCP School of Statistics \\\\\\\ rjg%sialis.com@uunet.uu.net : BITNET Cleared by Network Censors