Re: Emacs Survey 2022 - design

[Timothy]

Hi Jonas,

Jonas Bernoulli <jonas@bernoul.li> writes:

>> I’m pushing for a 2022 Emacs survey.
>
> Always fun.  Thanks!

I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes :)

>> ** How do you manage third-party packages?
>
> Please include borg (https://github.com/emacscollective/borg).  It may
> not have many users but then again, it may.  Only one way to find out.

The "other" boxes are actually text fields in the survey, so people can
actually just type "borg" in should they use it :)

>> - [ ] Frequently
>> - [ ] Rarely
>> - [ ] Never
>
> That's like those scientific studies that only offer four levels of X to
> choose from, except here it's only three choices here.  What about "All
> the time", to get at least to the level of detail, that that Covid study
> I took part in, had?  Maybe also add "Occasionally" in the middle; the
> neutral option that is so often missing?
>
> [Is anyone aware of a study about whether leaving out a neural option
> leads to more polarized results? I.e., is mildly-pro+mildly-contra ~=
> mildly-pro+neutral+mildly-contra, or are respondents encouraged to
> pick the extremes (e.g., because both mild variants are seen as neutral
> in the absence of a fully neutral choice)?]

This is a very good point, thanks for raising it! How about:
Frequently, Often, Sometimes, Rarely, Never ?

>> ** Do you have any general feedback on the survey?
>
> That's it?  That wasn't many questions.

I'm inclined to be conservative to maximise value/respondent time, but I
think there's plenty of room for good suggestions. There's good reason
why I called this a draft :)

> They would need some work, but here are some I would be interested in:
>
> - How do you learn about new packages?
> - Do you try out new interesting packages immediately, or wait for them
>   to mature?
> - Do you sometimes discover old package and use them instead of newer
>   alternatives?
> - Do you research established alternatives when a new shiny package
>   comes along?
> - Do you install the packages that you maintain yourself using package.el?
>   (As opposed to manually adding the appropriate directory to the load-path.)
> - Do you publish your own packages on an *ELPA as soon as they are
>   usable, or do let them mature a bit first?  (Why the former?)
> - How often do you contribute new features to the packages you use?
> - How often do you contribute bugfixes to the packages you use?
> - How often do you ask the maintainers of the packages you use for help?
> - Where do you request help with packages that are part of GNU Emacs?
> - Where do you request help with packages that are not part of GNU Emacs?
> - If you use a starter-kit, who do you usually ask for help first; the
>   starter-kit maintainers, the package maintainers, the wider community?
> - What do you do if your feature request or contribution is rejected?
> - What documentation do you wish package authors would more often
>   provide? [] Comparison with alternatives [] Tutorials [] Design
>   rational [] Info manual [] Screenshots [] Videos [] Concise
>   introduction [] ... [ ] <input field>.

I'll get a second opinion on this list, but I think a bunch of these
questions look like very promising candidates for inclusion.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Timothy.