Editing Incubator escapee wiki:WikiProject Wikidemia (section)

==Methodology==
* Many different methodologies would be possible and useful.
* Some questions can be examined by direct analysis of existing '''field data.'''
* Running '''[[Field experiments|randomized evaluations]]''' will facilitate drawing causal inferences about results.  A standard way to pre-test possible large-scale innovations in a neutral way is to identify a class of visitors, editors, or pages; select a randomized subset of that class; and introduce a variation to the randomized subset.  Then metrics can be evaluated for both the subset and the entire class, and inferences drawn about what effects the variation had.  '''Stratification''' can increase the statistical power of the evaluation.
* A '''[[Wikipedia:User survey|user survey]]''' to which one could add important questions, would help inform background assumptions.  Users who do not choose to be wholly anonymous in responding to such a survey could even partake in specialized control groups for some studies.
* '''Pilot studies''' - running small, short initial studies to provide an example of how to run and evaluate a study; and to iron out implementation details specific to Wikipedia and its community.