Wikipedia:WikiProject (xlsc)

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Some Wikipedians have formed a project to better organize information in articles related to statistical analysis of the Wikipedian Community and its Project. This page and its subpages contain their suggestions; it is hoped that this project will help to focus the efforts of other Wikipedians. If you would like to help, please inquire on the talk page and see the to-do list there.


Contents

[edit] Title

WikiProject (xlsc)

[edit] Scope

Rather than a conventional WikiProject that produces article content, this is centered on analysis of Wikipedia itself. Historical trends and detailed breakdown of current state are examined.

All analysis is to be carried out with good academic rigor. All data must be sourced clearly.

Any attempt to characterize any individual user is outside the scope of this project. We consider the Community as an undivided whole which, however, does exhibit differentiation.

[edit] Damned Lies

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. -- attributed by Mark Twain to Benjamin Disraeli.

There is no such thing as a useful, perfectly impartial statistic; and certainly every statistical chart is drawn up to demonstrate a point of view, or at any rate is in search of one. If you have no direction, you can root through data until the end of time, and find nothing of importance or use to anyone. Any dataset can be charted; what makes that chart useful is that it tells.

That said, there is no room here for the old stable of statistical tricks. It is very easy to "prove" almost any thesis, given enough data and lacking sufficient scruples.

It is all right to produce a chart and an analysis to demonstrate a point; but be fair enough to give the reader enough information that he can make his own informed decision. Always cite sources and document methods. Absent these gatekeepers of truth, statistics are mere lies; charts based on them only pretty pictures; and analysis based on them nothing but the patter of a pool-room hustler.

In times past, it took education and practice to compile an attractive, facile, misleading chart -- or for that matter, an honest one. It took many years to gain the skill needed to write an articulate, convincing bit of false analysis, and a mind devious to kick sand over one's tracks. Now, powerful computing engines and spreadsheet applications are everywhere, and scads of data available on the net at the click of a mouse. Thus the potential for great evil, even unintended.

Should you desire to contribute to this project, you are welcome -- and welcome to conform to its standards. If you lack experience with these tools, powerful beyond the most exotic nightmare of Twain and Disraeli, you may still do good work with them -- and you are invited to learn how to do so.

[edit] Parentage

No parent of this WikiProject has been defined. If you can think of a parent, Be Bold.

[edit] Participants

[edit] Structure

All pages within this project belong in Wikipedia namespace. Its associated category is Category:xlsc.

[edit] Hierarchy definition

No classification of this project has been defined.

[edit] Goals

  1. To discover sociological trends within the Wikipedian Community.

[edit] General strategy and discussion forums

  • /General
  • /Strategy

[edit] Templates

  • {{GFDL-xlsc}} -- image copyright tag with references

[edit] Link Farm

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../w/i/k/Wikipedia%7EWikiProject_%28xlsc%29_45f5.html"