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CLASS FORUM SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
RESULTS
Of the 440 classmates/widows receiving the survey notification by e-mail on the class notification list <58usma>, 236 responded—more than half. Of the 166 mail-outs, seven responded for a total of 243 responses. Due to the nature of the questions in Parts 2 and 3 and the fact that some respondents answering Part 1 also answered Parts 2 and 3, accurate percentages were unattainable. The numbers shown below are actual numbers of those responding to each question and not percentages. Part 1 was to be answered only by those not currently subscribed to the Forum (126 respondents) 1-1. Forum Participation
a) I have been a Forum member in the past
(103)
b) I have never been a Forum member (23) 1-2. My reasons for leaving (or not joining) the Forum are:
a) I was overwhelmed by the volume of
traffic on the Forum (70)
b) I do not like that certain classmates dominate the Forum (56) c) I do not like the rude or arrogant postings of certain members of the Forum (51} d) I do not like the political posts on the Forum (32) e) I am too busy with other priorities in my life (6) f) I am not interested in the subject matter (4) g) I do not use a computer (3) h) I do not like the internet (3) i) I was unaware of the Forum (1) j) I did not want to be provoked into offending those I like in a different context (1) 1-3. The following actions would help motivate me to join and use the Forum:
a) If guidelines of decorum were
established to help users police themselves (42)
b) If political discussions would be banned on the Forum or moved to another net (33) c) If rules of decorum were established and enforced by the list moderator (28) d) Nothing can be done to motivate me to use the Forum (21) e) If I only had more time… (priorities) (10) f) If limits were placed on the volume of traffic by individuals (9) g) If limits were placed on the topics or subjects permitted (4) Part 2, objective response, was to be answered by those respondents currently on the Forum (119), however, a significant number of former Forum subscribers (40-65) also responded to some questions. It’s still data! 2-1. I monitor Forum Traffic (161 total responses to a mutually exclusive question):
a) Every day as much as I can (98)
b) Frequently (once a week or more) (38) c) Seldom (less than once every month) (22) d) Occasionally (several times a month) (3) 2-2. I participate in Forum discussions (175 total responses to a mutually exclusive question):
a) Seldom (less than once a month) (95)
b) Never (45) c) Occasionally (several times per month) (30) d) Frequently (once a week or more) (5) 2-3. If I seldom use the Forum, my reasons are:
a) A small minority dominate the forum
(85)
b) I find the rude or arrogant posts of some users to be offensive (55) c) I am too busy with other interests or priorities in my life (54) d) Most of the subjects discussed are of little interest to me (29) e) Other (explain in Part 3, subjective portion) (16) 2-4. My reasons for using the forum are:
a. It keeps me informed about my
classmates and helps maintain the bond I have with them (116)
b. I use it to receive quality, timely content important to me, such as information about health, retirement, science, education, West Point, reunions, class events, Army sports and/or world affairs (101) c. I enjoy learning about the divergent views of classmates on various issues (71) d. I enjoy reading posts more than posting (67) e. I enjoy the humor it provokes (57) f. I enjoy learning about the divergent political viewpoints of my classmates (55) g. I enjoy reading my classmates' verbal bantering (29) h. I enjoy both posting and reading posts (26) i. Other (explain in Part 3, subjective portion) (14) 2-5. I believe the Forum would be improved if:
a) Guidelines were established which
would be self-enforced by the users (57)
b) No rules or restrictions should be established; leave it as it is (56) c) Users were restricted to three posts per day with exceptions allowed only by permission of the moderator (48) d) Rules were established by the moderator to ensure that rude posters were warned by the moderator and, if offensive behavior continued, that they would be banned for a period of time (44) e) Political discussions were banned or allowed only on a separate political forum to be established (42) f) Certain flagrantly rude users should be banned either for a time or permanently (42) 2-6. The things I enjoy most about the Forum are:
a) Information about individual
classmates, their lives, health, families, activities, etc. (124)
b) Information and discussion about West Point and the Corps (121) c) Reminiscences of our cadet days (108) d) The opportunity it provides for continued bonding with classmates (98) e) Information and discussion about world affairs (85) f) Career "war stories (73) g) It provides a free forum for free speech and discussion of many wide-ranging issues (72) h) Information about Army sports (68) i) Divergent viewpoints of our eclectic classmates (58) j) Heated discussions on various controversial issues (31) 2-7. The things I like least about the Forum are:
a) The Forum being dominated by a small
number of posters (107)
b) Rude, disrespectful behavior of certain posters (93) c) The frequent attacks on the personhood of the messenger instead of the content of the message (92) d) Rude comments by certain members who are intolerant of others and of divergent views on various issues (91) e) The volume of traffic on the Forum (48) f) Political discussions (41) g) Does not apply as I like the Forum the way it is (16) h) Attempts by class leadership to control the freedom of expression on the Forum (10) 2-8. The Class of ’58 Forum should be:
a) Continued and improved upon (128)
b) Continued as is (44) c) Removed from WP-ORG and placed on a server not associated with West Point in any way (7) d) Shut down (1) Part 3, the subjective part, was to be answered by those respondents currently on the Forum (119), however, a significant number of former Forum subscribers (40-65) also participated in some questions. More data! 3-1. I believe the primary purpose for having a class forum is:
a) Sharing of information and opinions
(95) on:
i. Class, classmates and West Point (32)
ii. Non-specific (25) iii. Observations, solutions to problems, and matters of general interest (14) iv. Objectively; not rude or demeaning statements (11) v. On any subject; no control (9) vi. Miscellaneous (4)
b) Facilitate the bonding of classmates
(34)
c) Promote class cohesiveness (5) d) Take advantage of wide range of experience and knowledge in class (4) e) Miscellaneous (4) 3-2. In my opinion, the biggest problems with the Forum are:
a) Classmates who post too many
messages/verbosity (34)
b) Rudeness/lack of civility/personal attacks (25) c) Too much politics (22) d) Classmates who attack, bicker or argue with each other (12) e) Dominated by a select few (12) f) Too much ranting, raving or irrational comments (11) g) Dialogues carried out on the Forum that should be kept to individuals concerned (8) h) Classmates who think it is their duty to change our beliefs with their wisdom ( 6) i) No ability to post photos/attachments (5) j) Same posters everyday (5) 3-3. My suggestions for improving the Forum are: 3-4. My suggestions for encouraging more classmates to subscribe to the Forum are: 3-5. Please enter the number of classmates whose Forum postings you routinely delete without reading. If you wish to also enter their names, that is optional. Your answer will be kept confidential.
a) Number responding (123)
b) Number who do not routinely delete posts without reading (22) c) Number who delete one or more without reading (121) d) Number who delete “many” or “most” (8) e) Number citing a specific number (87) f) Average number of deletions of those citing a specific number (4.4) g) Range of number of deletions cited (1 to 20) h) Number citing specific names (29) i) Number of specific names cited (17) j) Those named having more than five cites:
3-6. Please enter the number of classmates whose Forum postings are blocked and automatically sent to your "Trash" folder. If you wish to also enter their names, that is optional. Your answer will be kept confidential.
a) Number responding (100)
b) Number who do not routinely block posts without reading (69) c) Number who block one or more without reading (20) d) Average number of blocks of those citing a specific number (3.7) e) Range of number of blocks cited (1 to 12) f) Number citing specific names (10) g) Number of specific names cited (15) h) Those named having more than five cites:
(SurveySummary-Draft-02aug09.htm) |