A Worldcon Survey

~ Cheryl

Going through the Anticipation LiveJournal in search of material for ConReporter.com’s archive page, I discovered this post about a survey of Worldcon attendees. I have often heard people say that if we are to make Worldcon better we need data, and propose doing surveys of the membership. Generally I pour scorn on this because most people in fandom have no idea how to design a good survey, let alone analyze the results of one.

However, this particular survey was created by a professional: Dr. June M. Madeley of the Information and Communication Studies Program at the University of New Brunswick. Most of the questions seem quite sensible (though there is one glaring error of asking people if they chose which bid to vote for based on the proposed Guests of Honor), and Dr. Madeley ought to know how to analyze the results. I have no idea whether the data will be made available to the Worldcon community, but I do know that the survey will be useless unless lots of Worldcon attendees participate.

So, go ye here and learn about the survey (and shudder at the awful web design) and then fill it in. This could be very useful.

9 thoughts on “A Worldcon Survey”

  1. The one problem with surveying Worldcon attendees is that, because they’re attending, whatever complaints they may have, they must be reasonably satisfied with what they’re getting. The people we really need to survey are those who could be attending Worldcon, but don’t.

    As Worldcon moves around, geography complicates things, because so many of last year’s attendees won’t be there this year for that reason alone. But to take a local con for simplicity’s sake, your most conspicuous non-attendees are those who came last year, but not this year. And for many of them, the reason may be, “I thought I’d enjoy it, but I didn’t, at least not enough to go to the effort of attending again.” Well, what didn’t they like about it? Get answers to that question, and it’ll be worth far more than all the attendee surveys and gripe session reports in the world.

  2. “However, this particular survey was created by a professional”

    I distinctly remember this happening on a couple of occasions at past Worldcons (obviously, before 1989, the last Worldcon I attended, so I’m talking about somewhere between the late Seventies and then), although unsurprisingly I can’t remember the slightest detail as to which professor from which university did them. But I’m pretty sure I remember it happening, specifically as the forms being available at the con, and collected at the end of the con, not very useful as this information may be.

    Of course, the problem with voluntary surveys of all sorts is that those who respond are self-selected, rather than fully representative.

  3. DB:

    You are right, but as this survey is being conducted over multiple years it specifically takes in people who only attend one Worldcon and not others. There are questions of the type you suggest.

    Gary:

    Dead right about the self-selection. I’m assuming (hopefully with justification) that Dr. Madeley is aware of this. Also by getting the word out I can hopefully ensure that respondents are not limited to “the usual suspects”.

  4. “So, go ye here ”

    I did, and you might want to spread the word that the doctor is looking for a lot more than just filling out a survey of people who were in Montreal, but more importantly:

    I’m currently developing a long-term research project on the history, structure and organization of Worldcon (the World Science Fiction Convention*).

    […]

    I’m also hoping to conduct interviews with former organizers and attendees of previous Worldcons. If you have attended or helped to organize a previous Worldcon and would like to help me with this research please contact me.

    […]

    Call for documents & info from past Worldcons- I am currently in the development stages of what will be a long-term research project on science fiction/fantasy fandom and Worldcon. At the moment I’m seeking help from past Worldcon attendees and organizers. I’m trying to locate programmes from all of the Worldcon conventions up to the present. The cons for which I still do not have a copy of a programme are listed HERE I’m also interested in minutes of business meetings, and similar documentation of bid and con committees. One element of Worldcon history that interests me is the geographic origins of participants. I’m looking for previous Progress Reports that indicate how many members are coming from what areas of the world to attend that particular Worldcon. This documentation will be valuable in analyzing the history, structure and organization of Worldcon over time.

    I’ve written her, but she should be put in contact with Timebinders and Smofs, and all the usual suspects.

    By the way, vis a vis past discussion of history of the WSFS Constitution, Jerry Lapidus taped and transcribed a bunch of the Business Meetings of the late Sixties, and the results are here.

  8. Generally I pour scorn on this because most people in fandom have no idea how to design a good survey, let alone analyze the results of one.

    I design and analyze survey data as part of my job, but I’m a media fan, so I’m fairly sure it would never have occurred to anyone at a Worldcon to ask me… and indeed, I didn’t think to mention it in my “skills list” when I volunteered. (None of my “skills” turned out to be required by the Worldcon volunteer team, mind you: I did my volunteer hours on the docks unloading and loading for setup.)

  9. Yonmei:

    Interesting. I may come back to you on the subject of surveys at some point. In the meantime I would be interested to hear your opinions of Dr. Madeley’s survey (and you would be a very useful person to answer it, being far from one of the self-selecting usual suspects).

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