Help with my Master's Thesis

[genedipaula1]

My name is Gene DiPaula and I am a graduate student in the Department
of Mass Communication and Communication Studies at Towson University.
As part of the research for my master's thesis, I am conducting a
survey to determine how people feel about their favorite professional
athletes. If you choose to participate in my project, you will be
asked to complete a short survey. It is not necessary to answer every
question, and you may discontinue your participation in the project
at
any time. The survey can be found at http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2265ZG8BJQG.

If you choose to participate in the study, your participation will be
completely confidential. Neither anyone reading the results of the
survey nor I will be able to identify you. Please do not put your
name
on the survey form. As an incentive to participate, you will be
eligible to win a $100 gift card to your choice of ****'s Sporting
Goods, The Sports Authority or espn.com. One winner will be chosen at
random. In order to be eligible, you must provide an e-mail address
at
the end of the survey. We assure you that the e-mail address will
only
be used to notify you in the case that you are the winner of the gift
card. It will not be attached to your answers in the survey, or
otherwise be used to identify you. Your e-mail address will not be
sold or given to anyone and will be immediately deleted from our
database once the winner of the gift card has been determined.

If you have any questions about the project, you may contact me at
(410) 402-2063, my faculty advisor, Dr. Sean Baker at (410) 704-5856,
or the Chairperson of Towson University's Institutional Review Board
for the Protection of Human Participants, Dr. Patricia M. Alt, at
(410) 704-2236. A copy of the results of the survey, reported in
aggregate form, will be available to you upon completion of my
project, if you would like to see it.
Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Gene DiPaula
Graduate Student, Towson University, www.towson.edu

 

[ilan]

On Mar 21, 2:00 am, "genedipaula1" <[email protected]> wrote:
> My name is Gene DiPaula and I am a graduate student in the Department
> of Mass Communication and Communication Studies at Towson University.
> As part of the research for my master's thesis, I am conducting a
> survey to determine how people feel about their favorite professional
> athletes. If you choose to participate in my project, you will be
> asked to complete a short survey. It is not necessary to answer every
> question, and you may discontinue your participation in the project
> at
> any time. The survey can be found athttp://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2265ZG8BJQG.
>
> If you choose to participate in the study, your participation will be
> completely confidential. Neither anyone reading the results of the
> survey nor I will be able to identify you. Please do not put your
> name
> on the survey form. As an incentive to participate, you will be
> eligible to win a $100 gift card to your choice of ****'s Sporting
> Goods, The Sports Authority or espn.com. One winner will be chosen at
> random. In order to be eligible, you must provide an e-mail address
> at
> the end of the survey. We assure you that the e-mail address will
> only
> be used to notify you in the case that you are the winner of the gift
> card. It will not be attached to your answers in the survey, or
> otherwise be used to identify you. Your e-mail address will not be
> sold or given to anyone and will be immediately deleted from our
> database once the winner of the gift card has been determined.
>
> If you have any questions about the project, you may contact me at(410) 402-2063, my faculty advisor, Dr. Sean Baker at(410) 704-5856,
> or the Chairperson of Towson University's Institutional Review Board
> for the Protection of Human Participants, Dr. Patricia M. Alt, at(410) 704-2236. A copy of the results of the survey, reported in
> aggregate form, will be available to you upon completion of my
> project, if you would like to see it.
> Thank you for your time.
>
> Sincerely,
> Gene DiPaula
> Graduate Student, Towson University,www.towson.edu

Is it a fattie masters' thesis?

-ilan

 

[Tom Kunich]

"John Forrest Tomlinson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 20 Mar 2007 18:00:03 -0700, "genedipaula1"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>My name is Gene DiPaula and I am a graduate student in the Department
>>of Mass Communication and Communication Studies at Towson University.
>>As part of the research for my master's thesis, I am conducting a
>>survey to determine how people feel about their favorite professional
>>athletes. If you choose to participate in my project, you will be
>>asked to complete a short survey. It is not necessary to answer every
>>question, and you may discontinue your participation in the project
>>at
>>any time. The survey can be found at
>>http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2265ZG8BJQG.
>
> The survey is set up wrong -- it should not be possible to give more
> than one response to the questions.

Did you get the idea that this was really a company fishing for email
addresses?

 

[John Forrest Tomlinson]

On 20 Mar 2007 18:00:03 -0700, "genedipaula1"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>My name is Gene DiPaula and I am a graduate student in the Department
>of Mass Communication and Communication Studies at Towson University.
>As part of the research for my master's thesis, I am conducting a
>survey to determine how people feel about their favorite professional
>athletes. If you choose to participate in my project, you will be
>asked to complete a short survey. It is not necessary to answer every
>question, and you may discontinue your participation in the project
>at
>any time. The survey can be found at http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2265ZG8BJQG.

The survey is set up wrong -- it should not be possible to give more
than one response to the questions.
--
JT
****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************

 

[RicodJour]

John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
> On 20 Mar 2007 18:00:03 -0700, "genedipaula1"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >My name is Gene DiPaula and I am a graduate student in the Department
> >of Mass Communication and Communication Studies at Towson University.
> >As part of the research for my master's thesis, I am conducting a
> >survey to determine how people feel about their favorite professional
> >athletes. If you choose to participate in my project, you will be
> >asked to complete a short survey. It is not necessary to answer every
> >question, and you may discontinue your participation in the project
> >at
> >any time. The survey can be found at http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2265ZG8BJQG.
>
> The survey is set up wrong -- it should not be possible to give more
> than one response to the questions.

You actually went to that site?! The Nigerian lottery scammers must
_love_ you!

Towson doesn't have a "Mass Communication and Communications Studies"
Department.

You'd better stop the risky behavior or you're going to catch
chlamydia or HPV.

R

 

[John Forrest Tomlinson]

On 20 Mar 2007 19:16:01 -0700, "RicodJour" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>You actually went to that site?! The Nigerian lottery scammers must
>_love_ you!

I don't see how I can be scammed by looking at something an answering
a few anonymous questions.
--
JT
****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************

 

[Curtis L. Russell]

On 20 Mar 2007 19:16:01 -0700, "RicodJour" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>You actually went to that site?! The Nigerian lottery scammers must
>_love_ you!
>
>Towson doesn't have a "Mass Communication and Communications Studies"
>Department.
>
>You'd better stop the risky behavior or you're going to catch
>chlamydia or HPV.

Actually, it does, according to several Towson University grads we
have here.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

 

[RicodJour]

Curtis L. Russell wrote:
> On 20 Mar 2007 19:16:01 -0700, "RicodJour" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >You actually went to that site?! The Nigerian lottery scammers must
> >_love_ you!
> >
> >Towson doesn't have a "Mass Communication and Communications Studies"
> >Department.
> >
> >You'd better stop the risky behavior or you're going to catch
> >chlamydia or HPV.
>
> Actually, it does, according to several Towson University grads we
> have here.

I stand corrected. I ignored the original post, but JFT's reply had
me wondering. I did a quick Google of {Towson "Mass Communication and
Communications Studies"}, figuring the OP would know their
department's name, and came up with a grand total of five hits.
Seemed mighty low for a university department.

My comment to JFT was intended to convey that those "I'm conducting a
survey" posts are rarely what they seem, particularly when they're
offering some sort of reward. Sometimes the surveyor is benefiting -
and you don't know how - and the web site is always benefiting.
Tracking cookies, email harvesting, etc.

Comments such as "I am conducting a survey to determine how people
feel about their favorite professional athletes." is inane. Let's see
- my favorite athletes, hmmm - I feel _good_ about them! This from a
student in a masters program...?

It's also bizarre that the poster is using a .com instead of an .edu,
and posting three names and phone numbers.

If the poster is for real, it's an odd set of circumstances. I can't
apologize for advising caution with surveys - even if this one may be
legitimate.

R

 

[RicodJour]

On Mar 21, 8:45 am, John Forrest Tomlinson <[email protected]>
wrote:
> On 20 Mar 2007 19:16:01 -0700, "RicodJour" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >You actually went to that site?! The Nigerian lottery scammers must
> >_love_ you!
>
> I don't see how I can be scammed by looking at something an answering
> a few anonymous questions.

Most of those surveys are simply a way of generating click-through
dollars.

You remember how your mother would tell you to put on a sweater when
it was 60 degrees out? Think of my concern for your welfare like
that. It may be annoying, but it's well intentioned.

R

 

[Charles]

>
> Did you get the idea that this was really a company fishing for email
> addresses?
>
>
Towson does have a Masters in that area. In fact his references are correct.
He just posted the request in the wrong group. Only a bunch of knee jerk
ADHD juveniles would respond they way that many of you did. Shame on you
Thomas.

 

[Charles]

> _love_ you!
>
> Towson doesn't have a "Mass Communication and Communications Studies"
> Department.
>
> You'd better stop the risky behavior or you're going to catch
> chlamydia or HPV.
>
> R
>
Yes it does have a Masters program with that emphasis. Google it.

 

[[email protected]]

On Mar 21, 7:17 am, "RicodJour" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I stand corrected. I ignored the original post, but JFT's reply had
> me wondering. I did a quick Google of {Towson "Mass Communication and
> Communications Studies"}, figuring the OP would know their
> department's name, and came up with a grand total of five hits.
> Seemed mighty low for a university department.

But if you click on the link, it goes to the
actual department's website. Probably people
don't use the full name most of the time, because
it's too long.

> It's also bizarre that the poster is using a .com instead of an .edu,
> and posting three names and phone numbers.

zoomerang.com is a site that lets people construct
online surveys. It is likely the OP used it rather
than deal with the overhead of attempting to install
questionnaire software on a department website.
Including reference names and contact numbers to
establish bona fides might have been a requirement
of the OP's research on human subjects advisory board
(these advisory boards are now overseeing almost any
kind of research, including the social sciences, not
just medical experimentation on human subjects).

> If the poster is for real, it's an odd set of circumstances. I can't
> apologize for advising caution with surveys - even if this one may be
> legitimate.

That's reasonable, but I don't think any of the
circumstances are actually out of line.

Ben

 

[RicodJour]

On Mar 22, 1:48 am, "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
wrote:
> On Mar 21, 7:17 am, "RicodJour" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > I stand corrected. I ignored the original post, but JFT's reply had
> > me wondering. I did a quick Google of {Towson "Mass Communication and
> > Communications Studies"}, figuring the OP would know their
> > department's name, and came up with a grand total of five hits.
> > Seemed mighty low for a university department.
>
> But if you click on the link, it goes to the
> actual department's website. Probably people
> don't use the full name most of the time, because
> it's too long.

Funnily enough, I don't click on every link people I _know_ send me.

> > It's also bizarre that the poster is using a .com instead of an .edu,
> > and posting three names and phone numbers.
>
> zoomerang.com is a site that lets people construct
> online surveys. It is likely the OP used it rather
> than deal with the overhead of attempting to install
> questionnaire software on a department website.
> Including reference names and contact numbers to
> establish bona fides might have been a requirement
> of the OP's research on human subjects advisory board
> (these advisory boards are now overseeing almost any
> kind of research, including the social sciences, not
> just medical experimentation on human subjects).

That brings up an interesting question.
Does the school dictate which survey site to use and does that
generate click-through income for them?

I thought the whole idea of conducting surveys was that they were
supposed to be representative of a certain segment of the population
and not created in a way that builds in the bias. The wording the OP
chose, the commercial zoomerang site as portal, non-toll free numbers
for "verification" (I'm cheap as well as suspicious), etc., all create
significant bias from the get go. Does that seem like an acceptable
manner to attract survey participants to you?

> > If the poster is for real, it's an odd set of circumstances. I can't
> > apologize for advising caution with surveys - even if this one may be
> > legitimate.
>
> That's reasonable, but I don't think any of the
> circumstances are actually out of line.

There is a difference between out of line and suspicious. I don't
think the OP could have possibly crafted a post with more spam/scam
earmarks. Since you're saying his survey is for real - I'll take your
word for it - it seems to be shooting himself in the foot.

So...how do _you_ feel about your favorite professional atheletes?

R

 

[RicodJour]

On Mar 22, 1:17 am, "Charles" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Yes it does have a Masters program with that emphasis. Google it.

I did before I posted.

http://www.google.com/search?num=10...ss+Communication+and+Communications+Studies"&


I'm curious, Chuck. I was teasing JFT, and cautioning him. You're
defending the OP and casting aspersions. You seem quite sensitive and
quite abusive at the same time. Why is that?

R

 

[Sticky Wicket]

On 22/3/07 7:28 AM, in article
[email protected], "RicodJour"
<[email protected]> wrote:

[deleted section]

> That brings up an interesting question.
> Does the school dictate which survey site to use and does that
> generate click-through income for them?
>
> I thought the whole idea of conducting surveys was that they were
> supposed to be representative of a certain segment of the population
> and not created in a way that builds in the bias. The wording the OP
> chose, the commercial zoomerang site as portal, non-toll free numbers
> for "verification" (I'm cheap as well as suspicious), etc., all create
> significant bias from the get go. Does that seem like an acceptable
> manner to attract survey participants to you?

One of the ideas conducting surveys is that they are representative of a
certain segment of the population, but that is often impossible. It is also
usually expensive (note that they guy is Master's student, he almost
certainly does not have the funds to pay for a random telephone survey,
especially on this topic). The major source of bias here would be that he
asked for replies from usenet groups (especially so for other sports). Do
the readers of rec.sport.basketball.pro represent professional basketball
fans? Certainly not. The other sources of bias you mention would be
insignificant relative to the usenet source of bias.

Stickey

 

[RicodJour]

On Mar 22, 2:09 pm, Sticky Wicket <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 22/3/07 7:28 AM, in article
> [email protected], "RicodJour"
>
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> [deleted section]
>
> > That brings up an interesting question.
> > Does the school dictate which survey site to use and does that
> > generate click-through income for them?
>
> > I thought the whole idea of conducting surveys was that they were
> > supposed to be representative of a certain segment of the population
> > and not created in a way that builds in the bias. The wording the OP
> > chose, the commercial zoomerang site as portal, non-toll free numbers
> > for "verification" (I'm cheap as well as suspicious), etc., all create
> > significant bias from the get go. Does that seem like an acceptable
> > manner to attract survey participants to you?
>
> One of the ideas conducting surveys is that they are representative of a
> certain segment of the population, but that is often impossible. It is also
> usually expensive (note that they guy is Master's student, he almost
> certainly does not have the funds to pay for a random telephone survey,
> especially on this topic). The major source of bias here would be that he
> asked for replies from usenet groups (especially so for other sports). Do
> the readers of rec.sport.basketball.pro represent professional basketball
> fans? Certainly not. The other sources of bias you mention would be
> insignificant relative to the usenet source of bias.

Exactly. Maybe the study is on Usenet or on Usenet as a subset of
fans in general. Either way, it's a s(k){cr}ewed up way of getting
representative sampling.

R

 

[Kyle Legate]

RicodJour wrote:
>>
>
> I thought the whole idea of conducting surveys was that they were
> supposed to be representative of a certain segment of the population
> and not created in a way that builds in the bias. The wording the OP
> chose, the commercial zoomerang site as portal, non-toll free numbers
> for "verification" (I'm cheap as well as suspicious), etc., all create
> significant bias from the get go. Does that seem like an acceptable
> manner to attract survey participants to you?
>
The OP should have submitted it to social bookmarking sites and create a
number of dummy accounts to vote it onto the front page. Nobody said a
masters should be easy.

 

[Curtis L. Russell]

On 22 Mar 2007 11:33:35 -0700, "RicodJour" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Exactly. Maybe the study is on Usenet or on Usenet as a subset of
>fans in general. Either way, it's a s(k){cr}ewed up way of getting
>representative sampling.

Or it isn't the primary study. I'm somewhat associated with three
current grad students and not one of the two master or the doctorate
theses are the primary study. I think you really need to know where
they are in the whole panorama of what they are working with to know
whether this is hopelessly skewed. Sometimes you're the grad student
working with the characteristics of the skewed population.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

 

[RicodJour]

On Mar 22, 2:51 pm, Kyle Legate <[email protected]> wrote:
> RicodJour wrote:
>
> > I thought the whole idea of conducting surveys was that they were
> > supposed to be representative of a certain segment of the population
> > and not created in a way that builds in the bias. The wording the OP
> > chose, the commercial zoomerang site as portal, non-toll free numbers
> > for "verification" (I'm cheap as well as suspicious), etc., all create
> > significant bias from the get go. Does that seem like an acceptable
> > manner to attract survey participants to you?
>
> The OP should have submitted it to social bookmarking sites and create a
> number of dummy accounts to vote it onto the front page. Nobody said a
> masters should be easy.

Indeed. Now that I know that Curtis is affiliated I feel much better
about screwing around with the study.

Q: How do you feel about your favorite athletes?
A: Much the same way that Günter Parche felt about Steffi Graf. I'm
willing to kill for them.

Or maybe a riff on Arlo Guthrie and the army psychiatrist...

R

 

[RicodJour]

On Mar 22, 3:51 pm, Curtis L. Russell <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 22 Mar 2007 11:33:35 -0700, "RicodJour" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >Exactly. Maybe the study is on Usenet or on Usenet as a subset of
> >fans in general. Either way, it's a s(k){cr}ewed up way of getting
> >representative sampling.
>
> Or it isn't the primary study. I'm somewhat associated with three
> current grad students and not one of the two master or the doctorate
> theses are the primary study. I think you really need to know where
> they are in the whole panorama of what they are working with to know
> whether this is hopelessly skewed. Sometimes you're the grad student
> working with the characteristics of the skewed population.

I'm not sure if I buy into the "two curves make a straight", but keep
talking - maybe you'll convince me.

R