Self-Governance Through Group Discussion in Wikipedia Measuring Deliberation in Online Groups

Self-Governance Through Group Discussion in Wikipedia Measuring Deliberation in Online Groups - scientific work related to Wikipedia quality published in 2011, written by Laura W. Black, Howard T. Welser, Dan Cosley and Jocelyn M. DeGroot.

Overview

Virtual teams and other online groups can find it challenging to establish norms that allow them to effectively balance task and relational aspects of their discussions. Yet, in reliance on organizational and team theories, small group scholars have overlooked the potential for learning from examples offered by online communities. Theories of deliberation in small groups offer scholars a way to assess such discussion-centered self-governance in online groups. The study operationalizes the conceptual definition of deliberative discussion offered by Gastil and Black (2008) to examine the small group discussions that undergird policy-making processes in a well-established online community, Wikipedia. Content analysis shows that these discussions demonstrated a relatively high level of problem analysis and providing of information, but results were mixed in the group’s demonstration of respect, consideration, and mutual comprehension. Network visualizations reveal structural patterns that can be useful in...