User:Reswik

Doug This user is interested in sociology. This user is a member of the Wikipedia 1.0 Editorial Team.

Hi, my name is Doug. Currently, I am finishing a graduate degree in Sociology. I've been reading, and turning people onto, Wikipedia for several years.

My dissertation research project is a study of authority and democratic processes in editing featured articles in the English Wikipedia. Prior to April 30, 2006, I had participated as an editor in Wikipedia, but not in editing featured articles or in the featured article candidate project.

This research includes a participant observation component, which means I'll be editing articles and contributing to some Wikipedia projects. I will also be asking some editors for interviews and doing discourse analysis of some previously approved featured articles. Any personal information that I record will be kept confidential, unless the person is a high profile public personality (like Jimmy Wales) or unless the editor gives me written permissions to refer to their identity.

This research was approved by my university's Institutional Review Board in October 2006. From October 2006 through January 2007, I mostly studied article discussion archives and policy pages. In February 2007, I began to participate again as a Wikipedia editor.

I will post more info about my Wikipedia research project as it unfolds.