Risks of Quantitative Studies (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

Risks of Quantitative Studies (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox) - So Jakob Nielsen gets on his soap-box and tells everyone to go do ethnography. Thank you very much, this is wonderful... so you are saying that studies that report correlations may be faulty? no really? and significance testing might actually get you to wrong conclusions? really? wow... I guess Jakob Nielsen assumes (unfortunately rightly) that most readers haven't had a basic class in statistics. Unfortunately, many qualitative researchers have skipped that same class as well and harbor many of the misconceptions that Nielsen elaborated in his soap-box statement. Quantitative studies are not just numbers!

Quantiative data collection is steeped in theory, based on theoretical predictions, where outcomes must "make sense" in order to be believed. Just like qualitative observations (which may be woefully wrong and completely misleading if observers use bad qualitative techniques and lack theoretical background, which is often the case in usability studies unfortunately) must be interpreted with care and an eye towards unobserved phenomena that may have driven observed phenomena, quantitative analyses must be approached with caution and deep considerations of causal direction and possible mediators and moderators.

Nielsen insists that its easier, cheaper and better to do qualitative studies but I am not convinced. Nowhere does he point out that badly done qualitative studies can be just as false, biased, misleading and overly narrow as quantitative studies and for similar reasons - lack of knowledge in theory, background, technique application. The argument between quantitative and qualitative researchers has been an ongoing disagreement. Taking one side over the other is a myopic acceptance of one side of an old argument. I believe that a good, proficient amalgam of the two approaches is the most efficient method of research. Unfortunately, we are far from this stance being accepted in research and academia. Statements like the latest one from Jakob Nielsen don't help, they spread more disagreement and misconception than provide understanding and caution. Its unfortunate and it keeps reducing my respect for Nielsen with such sophomoric statements.

The Atlantic | March 2004 | Word Fugitives | Wallraff

Word Fugitives this is a really neat article. via danah

Taking Spin Out of Report That Made Bad Into Good Health

Taking Spin Out of Report That Made Bad Into Good Health - a NYT article talking about misrepresentation of statistics by the administration report. This really illustrates the point that numbers can be misleading and their value is in correct interpretation that is so difficult to acheive. The concept of "massaging" the data into giving "expected" results is not new. The "Bell Curve" has illustrated misues of statistics in a thousand page opus. Unfortunately, once the first interpretation is made, it is very difficult to change the audience's mind even if the problems are explained soon after... first impressions are a hell of a force.

Japan's Wireless Internet Use Model for US

Japan's Wireless Internet Use Model for US
The cell phone is a way of life in Japan, and its not just used to make phone calls anymore. Cell phone users in Japan are using their phone for everything -- as alarm clocks, maps, for e-mail, music and more. The United States has thus far lagged behind. Around 55 percent of Japan's population use the wireless Internet, a number that tripled since 2000. Users turn to their phones before their computers to surf the net. Some, especially the younger crowd, see cell phones as an extension of their identity, choosing icons and wallpaper that fits their personality. Students are using e-mail through their phones in class to send questions to professors. Marketers are having a field day as they send ads or coupons to drive sales when business is slow. Though the United States is lagging, many hope it will adopt the wireless Internet as Japan has already done. (Source: Washington Post)

>> And they can keep hoping. While cell phone adoption is underway in the US, some of the data and extension services have lagged miserably behind. Why is that? Well, one of the answers may be the difference in physical space and modes of traversing that space. In the US, metropolitan centers with well developed public transport and good network coverage plus good cell phone data services offerings, can be counted on one hand... well two if you squint a little. A mobile device like a cell phone requires a lot of attention if it is to be used for more than just talking (even txting requires attention). However, users in the US do not have much downtime in attention as they drive their cars from one place to another. I wonder how the adoption games will be played out here... I am certain, however, this country will not mirror japan any time soon.

TRUSTe standards

Industry Enterprise Team to Develop Wireless Privacy Standards
TRUSTe unveiled a new wireless privacy standards program aimed at providing wireless telecom vendors with actionable and practical guidelines for protecting consumer privacy. TRUSTe teamed with a number of major corporations, including AT&T Wireless, MMA and Microsoft, to form the Wireless Advisory Committee responsible for implementing the new standards. Dubbed the Wireless Privacy Principles and Implementation Guidelines, the program will work with companies in the industry to ensure that specific standards regarding consumer notice and consumer consent are achieved. Some of the key areas on which the guidelines focus are privacy statements, third party sharing and the use of location-based information.

Source: PR Newswire

I am really curious to see the actual guidelines that TRUSTe will provide to the industry. Considering that some of the major players in this organization are notorious for privacy oversights (i.e. MS passport problems for example) it is an interesting alliance. I am curious to see how many loopholes they will create and whether the guidelines will take consumer privacy as a concept, seriously. It is an unfortunate turn of events, that considerations of consumer privacy in this country is so immediately associated with revenue losses. I believe that despite DoubleClick's pronouncements in the NYTimes a few days ago that consumers are "relaxing" about privacy, privacy concerns, coupled with continued corporate and government privacy violations, may create a paranoid sort of consumer. Unfortunately, human lazyness is on the side of the culprits :). If they make maintaining privacy as difficult, technically complex, and tedious, they may win :). Its the argument towards considering questions of privacy at the outset of system building, not as an add-on patch towards the end, just because privacy is a tough concept and, you, we are gonna just build first and then see if it works... Band-aids have a nasty feature of falling off eventually, even if they leave some black stains.

apophenia: the pictures in iChat weird me out

the pictures in iChat weird me out - a little post from danah on how sometimes technology designers miss the social implications of their creations made think about my own experiences with technologists and designers. Even at a minor pre-production design level.

I work with designers and technologists from time to time on small projects and it amazes me constantly how much of a devil's advocate I get to play. This incredible desire to use sensors, pictures, feeds, what have you, to detect emotional states, to communicate them to others automatically - is an incredibly powerful drive. Sometimes at the cost of privacy concerncs, understanding of a multifaceted presentation of self, deliberatly limiting the "interesting" parts of the text-based communication.

There is this strange drive to make interaction with technology and the functions it tries to mimik more like the "physical" "real world". I can never understand, WHY? Yes there are lots of incredibly intersting interactions people have with their environments and other people in them every waking minute. A regular alarm clock could probably never mimic the way my cat wakes me up in the mornings. I just don't understand why it should. Hiroshi Ishii in his tangible interafaces paper and a lot of subsequent work, inspired by that paper, explored some exciting ideas. Yet later on, Ben Anderson, a researcher from Britain, was wondering - the physical interaction is "rich" and "interesting" but I don't want to make a series of physical movements if I just want to delete a file!

The Internet and much of our current technology provides a space that may preclude some physical richness, but it I wonder why there is a persistent focus on this limitation. Why its often seen as a limitation? There are limitations in the physical space too! The two mediums offer their own sets of affordances, their own spaces for interactions. It may be more productive to focus on the advantages of these affordances, rather than trying to "fix the differences" with crutches. But then there is ubicomp world on the fringe or intersection of the two... and then things get really screwy... sigh

In a Mental Institute, the Call of the Outside

In a Mental Institute, the Call of the Outside is probably one of the most fascinating articles I've read in a while. The discussion centers around a specific ward in a mental institution that struggles with issues of allowing patients keep the digital tenet of connectiveness - their cell phones and computers. One interesting point in the article (of many) was that allowing cell phones freely in the ward reduced patient participation in group activities and even their focus and presence in required therapy sessions. Such behavior essentially disappeared once cell phones were once again banned on the ward. This makes an interesting argument for such communication technology allowing people to lock themselves inside the comfortable confines of their own network and not having to deal with the unpleasant unknown of strangers, even if familiar strangers.

E - Mail Virus Points to Human Flaws

In a lovely article from AP, Bob Jorgensen from Boeing was quoted saying People that are bent on doing these **writing viruses** things continue to display a high degree of intelligence. How appaling! How dare they be in any way intelligent! These pesky virus writers! I also really liked the line that indicated that the virus, although attacking exclusively computers that run Microsoft Windows wasn't exploiting any MSOS security flaw... and uhh... folks, what would you call the fact that this thing is spreading like wildfire? Ohhh right, hold on, I forgot, its because people use computers and people can be tricked to open their email and thus infect a computer with a virus that can do a number of intelligent nasty little things... hmmm.... great.

VZWireless customer service...

I had an intersting experience today. My phone rang around 5pm and a nice, pretty female voice told me that this was my wireless company calling. I was somewhat taken aback while she explained to me that the call was free of charge (I sure hope so!). Well, I'd just finished something and was in-between things so I figured I could take the call.

side note: I had been very happy with Verizon Wireless service yet this phone call made me wonder whether I should switch. If there is one thing I do not want - its unsolicited calls on my cellular phone, even if they are free of charge. Especially from my cellular phone company! On the other hand... this was an opportunity for entertainment on an otherwise long work day.

I'd been thinking of getting a new handset and we started discussing new phone models. I asked about the presence of a 911 feature in the new audiovox model. Sure enough, its there. I asked whether there were any phones without such feature and was assured there certainly weren't because of the federal mandate. While she was incorrect about the availability of such handsets currently from VZ (there are two - an entry level Nokia and Motorola V60), the sentiment comes from the following document - FCC E911 PhaseII mandate - see page 4 for VZ. The mandate states that by 2005 95% of handsets in operation must be gps capable.

I then asked whether the new phone I was interested in, would allow me to turn the feature off. She wasn't sure and directed me to the manufacturer. I suggested that inability to turn the feature off is a forceful invasion of privacy - what if I don't want to be saved? She re-assured me that really, the technology to track cell phones so precisely was too expensive and only government agencies could do it. Really? There have been a few articles in the media about the use of off-the-shelf software that provided the ability (albeit on opt-in bases) to track select cell phones and, by extension, their owners. this page gave some ideas on the directions in which location tracking could develop soon after the FCC mandate.

The service rep was rather interested in the news that the technology for actually tracking gps enabled devices is not so expensive (creation and maintenance of the gps system, however, is. But that's beside the point). She then suggested that since there is no central wireless number directory, the concern that someone at random may monitor a cell phone is not so scary. Well, not so fast.. wireless providers have been trying to establish a wireless directory - white pages and have been deterred by the house of reprsentatives. They have been deliberating amending the Communications Act of 1934 to protect cell phone user privacy. At the moment it is unclear which direction this particular decision will go, however, if the wireless carriers win, they stand to make a pretty sum of money for charging subscribers an "opt out" fee like the landline companies do.

The sales rep was somewhat speechless. She sounded a bit appalled when she told me she'd had no idea these things were happening and thanked me for providing this information. She was sure going to investigate all of this as it sounded just plain wrong! I concluded that pushing this further would be plain evil and conceded to buy the new phone (since mine had been threatening to die for the last month or so).

Conclusion: sales reps have no idea what happens in their industry and the pitch they use to sell their product to customers is often outdated and incorrect. Furthermore, these people really do not understand the workings of the medium they cell, providing little or no support for customers who are often lost and confused somewhere in the three pines of the decision making process... lessee how this new audiovoxi foxi phone will do :) Damn, forgot to ask her what she thought of the new $1.00 additional fee tha PA is going to require all wireless providers charge their customers in order to pay for e-911 implementation... oh well... next time... I am sure I will have reason to call...

Wireless Directory Program Faces Privacy Concerns

Wireless Directory plans are under scrutiny by Capitol Hill lawmakers due to privacy concerns. Carrier efforts to create wireless white pages may face legislation aimed at protecting consumers' privacy. Introduced in the United States House of Representatives and the Senate, the Wireless 411 Consumer Privacy Act would require existing consumers to 'opt in' and new ones to 'opt out.' It also says consumers cannot be charged a fee in order to keep their number private. Landline operators charge a fee for the unlisted service, generating $50 million in revenue per year. Analysts expect the wireless directory assistance business to generate $3 billion per year. Carriers are working under the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) umbrella to nail down details of such a service and address privacy concerns. There is no need for regulation with consumer protections already in place that ban telemarketing to wireless phones and Do-Not-Call options, CTIA said. Carriers will move foward on their own schedules, but a directory is expected some time this year. (Source: New York Times)

The debate about this white pages issues is somewhat worrying and points to a misunderstanding of the social intricacies of cellular phones by wireless carriers. Again this hinges on the distinction between a place and a person and the ability to call a place vs. calling a person. A cell phone number is associated with a specific person almost the same way as their drivers license and their haircut are associated with them. Its is a really personal "feature" if you will. By making this number available to anyone who cares to access the white pages is like hanging out your laundry to dry and inviting everyone to come look at them knickers. While a landline designated a place, the cell phone number designates a person and the person may want to be in charge of who gets to obtain the other end of their electronic leash.

CTIA claims that, since there are already safeguards in place that do not allow telemarketers to call cellular phones, individual privacy is considered and nothing more needs to be done. It is as if they refuse to acknowledge just how different from a regular phone a cell phone can be. The problem here is control over dissemination of personal information, that concerns something extremely personal, sometihng that is so directly tied to an individual. Making cellular phone numbers available through a white pages system would essentially wrench that control away from the owner.

Maybe CTIA though, is just pretending that they do not understand these intricacies. They do, and what they want, is not the white pages system, but the revenue from those that desire their phone number to be private. They openly acknowledge that they expect to make 6 times the amount landline companies make by charging a fee for unlisting a number. This indicates that they realize how many more people would be willing to buy their privacy and control over the other end of the leash this way.

Web Journals Get Noticed on the Campaign Trail

Web Journals Get Noticed on the Campaign Trail - TPM gets some publicity in NYT AP. Its an interesting article on political blogging and the biases behind it.

Politics of the Web: Meet, Greet, Segregate, Meet Again

Politics of the Web: Meet, Greet, Segregate, Meet Again While this article concerns itself with political websites and exasperation of being unable to preach to non-converted, there is an interesting idea there. For a while now, the blogging community has considered whether we are preaching to the converted and whether this breadth of offering on the internet is actually narrowing our point of view. People like hearing things that align themselves with their own opinions. With so much information on the Internet it becomes increasingly easy to seek out information that suits each individual interest and to avoid information that present an opposing point of view. AT some point though, these opposing factions will have to meet face to face anyway... so what will happen then? or will we forget how to argue in person by that time and hide behind our laptop screens to blog about the encounter and never really hear each other out?

The Tyranny of Copyright?

The Tyranny of Copyright? an interesting article in the NYT on the debate surrounding intellectual property and digital (re)production of ideas.

Survey Says Americans Hate to Love Mobiles

A recent survey by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston studied a list of consumer inventions that Americans love to hate. The survey found that cell phones topped the list; this despite their ever-growing popularity. The Lemelson-MIT Invention Index found that 30 percent of those surveyed love to hate cell phones but can't live without them. In response to the survey?s results, Lemelson Center Director Merton C. Flemings says, ?The interconnectedness you get from the cell phone is a very positive thing, and I think that's one of the most important things, the bringing together of people. The downside of that is that you sometimes want to be alone. (Source: AP)

In the index, the cell phone actually narrowly beat the alarm clock and the television. Ok... so the hate for the alarm clock I most certainly undestand at 7am when my brain purposefully tries to work the screeching sound into yet another dream and repeatedly fails. I must say that cell phone beating alarm clock is only close in my book because my cell phone IS my alarm clock actually... and many other things. I wonder if that is one of the reasons why its so prevalently hated and loved at the same time?

Seriously though... Merton Fleming's comment is thought fodder. Yes the cell phone is positive because it is bringin poeple together. Actually I think its even more - it creates a sense of belonging, a current indicator of other's interest in yourself. Yet there are many side-effects. The cell phone has associated a phone number with a person, when landlines used to associate a phone number with a place. So when you called a place you weren't necessarily going to find the person there and that was expected. Now when you call the person you certainly expect to hear them, and at the very least to be able to leave them a message, expecting some action in return. This level of expectation may produce quite a bit of pressure to be present and to respond, unlike the earlier landline system. So the sentiment of "sometimes you want to be alone" isn't so far reaching. The pressure to be present is a new one - the pressure to be available, to report one's location when asked (where are you, being the most commonly asked quesiton in a cell phone conversation). A cell phone has become a leash and a location beacon, and my sense of well being generally depends on it... what a frightening world :)

Study used census information for terror profile - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics

Study used census information for terror profile - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics the article talks about NASA using census survey data to mine for terrorist profiles. Many census surveys collect sensitive personal information and people supply this information, I assume, with an understanding that the data will be anonymized. The fact that this data was misused so blatantly is a lot of bad press and an example of bad practices for survey research DESPITE IRB precautions. It is becoming increasingly difficult to conduct quality survey research because of the growing non-response bias. People are simply unwilling to divulge personal information because of the deluge of invasions of privacy from corporate and governmental agents. Yet results from surveys are integral for policy and business decisions. It is inexcusable for NASA to abuse census data so blatantly both from a professional survey researcher and a private individual point of view.

Wi-Fi Liberates Home Office Workers

For those home office workers who are slaves to Internet access that is tied to the wall of a spare bedroom, garage or attic, liberation is just a wireless hub away. More and more people are finding the home installation of Wi-Fi technology is the cure for what some families deem anti-social behavior. Wi-Fi enables Internet access wirelessly, which enables more interaction with family members and a more flexible work environment. There are some drawbacks, however. Wi-Fi can have transmission problems when networking in older homes, and if neighbors are also a part of the Wi-Fi revolution, there could easily be frequency interference. Microwave ovens and some mobile phones also cause service disruptions. Even with some limitations, Wi-Fi is a giant step toward phone-jack liberation. (Source: New York Times - Jan 15th)

The wording that caught my attention in this summary was that some families dem work-at-home in front of computer a type of anti-social behavior. This is in line with research that finds negative impacts of Internet use on family communication. While the Internet might open the barriers to communicating with friends and distant family, making such communication just a mouse-click away, in-home communication may suffer. Internet use is a fundamentally "alone" activity in that it is difficult to make this a social moment unless you are showing off pictures or something like that. Outside of a few activities, interactions with family get shunted to nods and grunts while all attention is on a computer screen. While Wi-Fi may enable the users to move away from a desk in the corner, I am not sure it will let them be that much more social with their family. Although being able to take your laptop in the yard and check your email while watching your kid play is certainly an improvement.

British Study Indicates Cell Phones Are Not a Health Risk

An independent advisory group of scientists at the British National Radiological Protection Board reviewed research on the health effects of exposure to radio frequency waves and concluded that mobile phones appear to be safe and do not cause cancer. While the group called for more research into the long-term potential health risks of exposure to radio frequency waves, it said in the report that 'The...evidence does not suggest cancer causation, in particular from mobile phone use...' (Source: Reuters)

yesterday, in a research meeting, this point was brought up and I was reminded of a sort of urban legend again. People still believe that cell phones are dangerous and a risk - you never know what the hell those radio waves are doing to your brain! It seems our reserach group is not the only one having conerns. Time and again we see studies saying there are no health risks (or at least cancer risks). Yet experience with tobacco and some medical research forces me to wonder who financed this research project. And if the risk IS found... how would that affect cell phone adoption? probably not much. Yet who knows...

BT Trials Wireless to Landline SMS

Through a trial service, British Telecom customers can send text messages from cell phones to landline phones using newly implemented text-to-speech conversion technology. Through synthetic speech conversion on SMS-enabled phones, the users will be able to send messages to mobile phones using the same system and receive them as text. Users with voice mail systems will have messages delivered directly to their voice mailbox. Recipients without voice mail will receive the text through a phone call where an automated voice will deliver the message. (Source: CommsDesign.com, BWCS)

Wow this is really cool. The idea is to enable text messaging for landline phones. I am wondering what the pricing structure would be and whether that would really have an impact i.e. increase the already popular service. Imagine the fright your granny gets when she picks up the phone and an automated voice says - 'ello gran, b there soon, running a bit l8t. Grandson.

I am curious how text to voice and voice to text will deal with the 112 character limit and the sms-specific text-style that is largely alpha-numeric and uses a series of acronyms and word-crumbs.

Pennsylvania Cell Customers to Incur New E-911 Charge

The state of Pennsylvania is requiring cell phone companies to charge their subscribers a new monthly surcharge that will be used to buy equipment to enable E-911 services. The new $1 charge will help put in place the necessary equipment and technology to allow 9-1-1 call centers to pinpoint the location of a cell phone caller within 100 feet. The new charge will go in effect in March. (Source: AP) " -

This is great news. So now consumers themselves will have to pay for putting in place technology that, under the usual guise of safety, can be used to track their position for any number of reasons. As a resident of the state of PA, I am sort of miffed. What if I really don't WANT to be saved? I am currently looking into buying a phone and I am tempted to select a phone that is older simply because it DOES NOT include this great 911-feature. The problem with phones equipped with that feature is that you can NOT TURN IT OFF! So an extension is mandated to be added to a device that is so much a part of personal life, that allows third parties to track the user's location! Yes I know this has always been possible since the cell towers have to track your location when you use your phone. The phone then checks in with cell towers constantly. Yet the location estimate from cell towers is inexact whereas the GPS chip in your phone can get it down to a few feet... One of the greatest HCI principles is - always add an off button or a clearly marked exit. Obviously cell phone manufacturers have yet to learn about that one.

Arilines changing cell phone policy

"America West Modifies Cell Phone Policy
America West Airlines joined the growing list of major commercial airlines that are modifying their cell phone use policies. Tempe, Ariz., -based America West announced that, effective immediately, passengers on board its jets may use their cell phones after landing, while the aircraft is taxiing to the gate. Additionally, prior to takeoff, passengers may use their cell phones only when the cabin door is open or with permission from the captain during a departure delay. (Source: Phoenix Business Journal)" Many airlines have been modifying their cell phone policies in response to immense pressure from the public. Despite the previous ban (stil active on most airlines) people were texting or even using their cell phones as soon as the plane landed, for a while now. What I am surprised about is the lack of explanation as to why the use of cell phones was banned in the first place. I understand the reasons were pretty good yet none of the airlines ever offered explicit explanations to their passengers. Cell phone use is interesting - it becomes increasingly tempting when we are stuck in unproductive, largely boring pockets of time. Just look arond the airplane next time yours gets delayed... listen in on a few conversations... you cold read or you could talk... and talking seems so much more attractive. There is something really interesting in the presence of this personal communication device and its ubiquity... the voluntary electronic leash that creates that extra moment of a feeling of belonging...