Gender in Organizations
This survey focused on how to measure internal organizational shifts surrounding gender equality. This project was conducted by a collective of 16 researchers from a variety of social science backgrounds and consisted of two surveys. The first was a randomized national sample conducted by Qualtrics (n = 525), and the second was a convenience sample carried out online (n= 61,006). The randomized survey allowed us to compare the 2015 data to 2011 Pew data (link). The convenience sample allowed for a cross comparison with the randomized survey to assess the skew created by an online survey. We employed a Hawthorne network methodology to calculate the sampling frame and weighting.
The results of both surveys did not indicate a significant change regarding opinions about gender in the LDS Church. The graph above is a comparison of the responses about the ordination of women. The convenience sample significantly increased the percentage of respondents who chose ‘other’ to this question, perhaps suggesting that the informal conversations on the internet make female ordination less black and white.
Organizational Sub-groups
This research compares a large organization to small online sub-groups formed in relation to that organization. Because individuals often belong to a variety of larger organizations and institutions, we decided to compare online Mormon groups to data collected about the LDS Church. To provide a clear comparison we used the same religiosity questions from Pew’s 2011 national study of members of the LDS Church. The survey was conducted in the summer of 2013 and was heavily publicized on LDS focused Facebook groups, blogs, and podcasts across the political spectrum. The survey closed with over 6000 complete responses.
The image above displays some of our findings. The gray portion of the graph is the data extracted from the Pew survey, and the red overlay indicates the responses of the smaller groups. While a number of the groups closely paralleled the national data, a large percentage deviated from national trends. Given a large number of groups who differed from the Pew data, it was our hypothesis that the internet allowed individuals who did not fit into general organizational to find belonging, and that the participation in online groups that allowed them to retain part of their identity.
Copyright
This project was a collection of three surveys that were used in a Federal copyright infringement case. We were hired by the defendant to create compelling evidence that the use of the word “Mormon” on the internet did not imply, to members of the LDS Church, that the site was officially sanctioned. The budget and timeframe for this research were extremely limited. All three surveys were created, implemented, and analyzed in less than a week. The first survey was a randomized national sample conducted by Qualtrics; the second was an online convenience sample that focused on members of LDS Church. The third survey, conducted on Mechanical Turk, was intended to create a baseline from the general population.
The findings clearly indicated that LDS church members were not confused about the use of Mormon or assumed that it was used online in an official capacity. After the data had been presented, the LDS church dropped the case against our client.
Online Social Movement
This research project is a collection of 12 surveys that examined how the internet shapes organizational activism. The longitudinal scope of this project allowed us to track participation over three years. Because internal organizational activism carries social costs, the communities are often anonymous. Due to the hidden nature of the community, traditional polling techniques were not available. The first survey, conducted in the summer of 2013 created a baseline and allowed us to gauge the size of the community. The resulting academic papers created trust within the community and allowed us to resample the population. Our main findings have centered around the evolving cyclical nature of this online community. While these groups have served as the center point for activist movements, they also are educational hotbeds for other social justice issues such as race and gender.
