Project Assignment  (proposal)

(I propose the following as an outline of the project assignment for this course.  I am open to modifying it somewhat based on feedback from the class during the first week of the assignment.)

All students in SSP 150 should choose a project to work on for the quarter that combines hands-on learning  with service to people outside of the class.  The projects described below are those suggested for Spring Quarter 2001-2002.  If a group of 2-4 students would like to work on a topic not on the list, that group should get it approved by me (Todd) before the third class session: April 17.  Each group will receive one grade at the end of the project, which will count for 60% of each group member's individual grade in SSP 150.

The project grade will be based on the final write-up, due in class on June 5 (the final class session), and also on preliminary reports as the quarter progresses and an oral presentation to the class on June 5.   A preliminary survey of project interest will occur at the second class session (April 10), and group assignments should be finalized by April 17.   Groups should set their own meeting schedules thereafter, and work with the contact people suggested for their projects and those whom they are serving.  It is expected that those whom each group is intended to serve will be consulted about the project plan, and at points thereafter as appropriate.  Class time has been set aside on April 24 for the groups to get early feedback from classmates and me about their project plans, and on May 22 for a discussion of issues involved as the project nears completion.

(1) Comparative Analysis of Online Forum Designs

The goal of this project is to produce recommendations regarding the design of an online community forum.  Students will gain familiarity with the design of the online forum facility in the beta version of   EPA.Net : a community web portal in east palo alto that will be launching later this spring.  Randy Saffold, the producer of EPA.Net, has expressed interest in seeing the results of a study that would compare a variety of forum and message board designs in terms of their features.  Featural dimensions that might be assessed include how topics and threads are displayed, whether the design uses frames, what the default response modes are, whether the forum is email- or web-based, whether anonymous posts are allowed, whether login or authentication are required, and so on.

The group must decide how to do the analysis, what design dimensions to look at, and how to assess usability and effectiveness.  Research should identify design principles that have been proposed by others, and the basis for what are considered "best practices".   Randy Saffold (randy@NOSPAMpluggedin.org)  should be consulted in the early stages regarding the goals for EPA.Net and its online forums, and the questions he has specifically about what would be most effective.  It is expected that this discussion will be the basis for evaluating the effectiveness of possible design features or modifications.

(2) Review of Community-Based Web Sites and Networks

Many localities in the united states and abroad now have web sites, i.s.p.'s, and/or computer networks that are based in and serve the local community.   The Community Network project in east palo alto, which encompasses the web portal  EPA.Net as well as Technology Access Points at different locations in the city, is being developed at   Plugged In  with funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce and Hewlett-Packard.  Asher Miller, head of the Community Network project, has expressed interest in seeing a report that would survey other community-based web portals and networks, and compare them with the model that is guiding east palo alto's efforts.  East palo alto is one of three u.s. cities designated for funding by Hewlett-Packard under its  Digital Village program.

Asher Miller (amiller@NOSPAMpluggedin.org) should be consulted at the outset for information about other community-based sites that should be included in the survey, the different models that are being pursued, and the guiding ideas behind the Community Network project.   Research should identify studies of community-based networks that have been performed, as well as what reference works and principles guide those who build community networks.  The group should do a broad search for community-based sites and networks, and assess their current prevalence and diversity on the Internet.

(3) Survey of Public Attitudes Toward Alternative Electoral Systems

This project will involve the collection and analysis of public opinion data, probably in san mateo county.  The goal of the project is to learn what factors influence public support for election systems that differ from those generally used in the United States.  In the last several years, a campaign to change the electoral system has been slowly gaining ground, and has won support in places like san francisco and vermont.

The   Center for Voting and Democracy   has been promoting proportional representation, preference voting, and the "instant runoff" system in these and other localities.  These systemic changes, it is argued, will give greater power to minority parties and women, both of whom are currently underrepresented in U.S. legislatures.  In instant runoff voting (i.r.v.), for instance, voters rank candidates 1, 2, 3, etc., instead of just voting for one.  The rankings are then put through an algorithm that simulates a series of runoff elections, in which the candidate with the least firs-place votes is eliminated, and those voters who ranked that candidate first have their rankings redistributed upward so that their second choices become their first.  This process is repeated until a majority winner emerges.

In referendum elections in which alternative voting systems such as i.r.v. have been put to a public vote, the opposition campaign has generally argued that the new system is too complicated and would alienate voters.  Systematically studying which systems and descriptions thereof have the greatest support among different segments of the electorate therefore seems important for assessing these systems' prospects.  Students from the version of SSP 150 that was taught in Winter 1999-2000 (then called "Computers and Democracy") designed a study for investigating the effect of, among other variables, computer usage on residents' willingness to accept different voting systems.  The study was never carried out, however, and this project would continue where they left off.  I would be the primary contact person, and would want to meet with the group throughout the project.   Research would look at related studies and the fate of attempts to introduce alternative voting systems in the u.s. and elsewhere.

(4) Design of Web Site for the Coalition for Labor Justice and the Stanford Labor Action Coalition

The Coalition for Labor Justice is a coalition of student groups at Stanford that is working with the United Stanford Workers union (SEIU Local 715) to get Stanford to enact a Code of Conduct for Stanford employees.   The Coalition includes the  Stanford Labor Action Coalition (SLAC) , which has expressed interest in having an informative web site to assist with this campaign.  Such a site could include documentation regarding working conditions, the status of negotiations, video footage of coalition events, and other information to which members of the Stanford community could refer to help them decide whether to support the campaign.  In the absence of such a site, it could be argued that the Coalition is at a disadvantage relative to the Stanford administration in getting its message out, because many community members may be unwilling to trust information that the Coalition sends out by email as readily as what is put out by the university.

This would be a design project, in which students would work as consultants with the Coalition to put up a site that the Coalition is happy with.  It would also be an experiment in the effects of web outreach on support for the workers' campaign among students, faculty, and non-union staff.  Web consulting and software for union organizing is a significant area of activity within the labor movement presently (e.g., many panelists at the recent  LaborTech  conference in san francisco are engaged in similar pursuits).   So this project would give students an opportunity to practice a type of service for which there is an expanding real-world need.  Meghana (chknfatty@NOSPAMyahoo.com) and Orlando Lara (olara@NOSPAMstanford.edu) are contact people with whom the group should get in touch.  Developing the site would most probably involve a good deal of interaction with SLAC and the Coalition for Labor Justice.  Research should look at other labor web sites, especially those directed at communities outside of the union itself, and the body of knowledge around running an effective advocacy campaign.

(5) Design of Decision System for a Stanford Dormitory or House

A student dormitory/house might be a good test location for ideas about online decision making.  The stakes involved are relatively minor compared to societal decisions, but still important to residents, and the group size of a dorm, frequent contact among residents, and shared characteristics of Stanford students make some types of difficulty less likely than would otherwise be the case.  This project is fairly open-ended, and could be adopted as a model by more than one group in SSP 150.  The basic idea is to identify some aspect of dorm decision making that could be put online (e.g. room assignments, the house budget, scheduling events), and design a prototype system for such decisions.

The system might or might not be web-based.  Its design, however, should reflect the desires of the residents, who should be consulted before anything is implemented.  Ideally, the system should be tested through real use by dorm residents, with follow-up surveys to assess its value and usability.  I would encourage students who choose this project to be creative and address real needs, which might be assessed through preliminary surveys.  The group is welcome to approach me for ideas on decision making methods that could be tried.  Techniques we discuss in class or that appear in required or suggested readings might be appropriate (e.g. consensus or alternative voting systems).  Research could look at how the chosen techniques have been used both online and off, as well as studies of decision making in residential communities and dormitories.

(6) Online Forum Participant/Observer Study

In this project, a group of students that includes at least one member of an online forum community would work together to address problems which that online community has in its online communication.  The project does not specify which online community should be studied, but the general outline I will suggest could be applied to many different groups, and this project could be adopted as a model by more than one group in SSP 150.

The group should first look at existing messages in the chosen forum for patterns in the discussion. For example, you might find that participants frequently send messages to the whole forum which are really aimed at a particular person, and that this often produces conflict in the forum.   You should write up your observations and report them to the forum, noting that you are participating in a course at Stanford that is looking at online discussion.   You might then ask the permission of forum participants to try an intervention.  Assuming you get permission (if you don't, you should move on to another forum or project), you could then seek feedback from forum members, and eventually produce a list of suggestions on how the forum might be made to function better.  The changes that would be necessitated might or might not be implementable given the discussion environment, but could still be shared with the class and with forum members.  With further feedback, and everything shared with the group again, the final phase of the project could be, for example, to produce a mock-up design of a discussion environment, or a protocol for discussion, that would address whatever is causing communication problems in the forum.  The mock-up and the reactions to it by forum members would be reported in the final project report and in the presentation.

The idea of this project is to exercise skills of observation, and apply material in the psychology of social decisions to this analysis.  Class feedback and discussion about this project should engage everyone in reflecting on what makes communication break down online, and what could be done to address that.  Research should look at how breakdowns in communication of the kind you observe have been addressed elsewhere.  There is much relevant literature in conflict resolution, for example.
 
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