[hackerspaces] Safe Space Policies?

[Jamie Schwettmann]

Red, Madelynn didn't say she's "conducting a study" or even the word
"research". She asked for contributions for an article. A qualitative,
story-based article on sexism in Hackerspaces. Not a scientific or
data-driven study to determine *whether* or *how* or *with what frequency*
it occurs, but an article based on personal stories about its occurrence.
There's no scientifically valid way to invalidate the qualitative
experience of an individual, so why bother chasing such a metric in the
first place?

If you're going to get stuffy about science, at least /try/ to present a
logically sound argument about it. =P

- Jamie.

On Jan 26, 2014 9:36 PM, "Red Davies" <noiddicle at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Al,
>
> So on the basis of my gender I'm not allowed to express an opinion on how
data is solicited and collected?  le sigh.
>
> Madelynn,
>
> Collecting qualitative data is valuable certainly and I'd be interested
in reading the results.  My concern was that there is only one way to
present the results of a "yes / no" question and, given the solicitation
you gave I was concerned it wouldn't give an accurate picture.
>
> If we're going to do research I'd rather the methodology be solid before
the data starts coming in.  It makes the study more resilient in the face
of opposition.
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Red
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 27, 2014 at 12:23 AM, Madelynn Martiniere <
mmartiniere at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Al responded perfectly. If there's no stories to tell, there's no
article.
>>
>> If the semantics are truly bothersome to those who would like to share
their stories, I'm happy to change the wording of the question, though it
won't change the results as I'm asking for qualitative data.
>>
>> On 26 Jan 2014, at 09:17 pm, Al Billings <albill at openbuddha.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Yes, please, a man should tell her how she’s doing it wrong.
>>>
>>> She’s collecting stories. If there are no stories to tell, as some of
you claim, she’ll get nothing. “Skewing” isn’t the issue here since she
isn’t asking “how often does this happen” but, instead, “Tell me about
something if it happened to you.”
>>>
>>> Al
>>>
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: Red Davies Red Davies
>>> Reply: Hackerspaces General Discussion List
discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>> Date: January 26, 2014 at 9:15:48 PM
>>> To: Hackerspaces General Discussion List discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>> Subject:  Re: [hackerspaces] Safe Space Policies?
>>>>
>>>> I feel I need to point something out.  Your invitation to that form
says "If any women in hackerspaces have stories of sexism they'd like to
share with me for an article".
>>>>
>>>> One of your questions in your form is: "Have you had any experiences
of sexism, misogyny, harassment, or assault in a hackerspace?"
>>>>
>>>> Given your invitation I would suggest that you've already skewed your
results.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Al Billings
>>> http://makehacklearn.org
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Discuss mailing list
>>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
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