cross-cultural-wikipedia

Possible Projects

-- compelling national need: ??? -- scientific foundation based on theories and research questions: ??? -- computer science research challenges: ???
 * Cross-cultural cross-language analysis of Wikipedia versions:** While there are a growing number of studies of English or other language versions of Wikipedia, it would be helpful to have a cross-cultural cross-language study that compared all versions. Analytic and visualization tools accompanied by interviews, surveys, and focus groups would help develop an understanding of why some versions are more successful than others, how participation varies, how vandalism affects different versions, and many more vital questions. Collaboration and leadership strategies vary greatly across versions, raising the value of a cross-cutting study, which could benefit all versions. The potential for success of other multi-lingual projects could be raised by the results of a multi-year study that also applied interventions and studied their impact. Potential interventions might be to give increased visibility for major contributors, required more serious log-on, or increased monitoring of policies.

Possible Projects