Randomly Selected

Mixed-Up Reasonings has been randomly selected to participate in a real life MIT research study. I'm sure this is a great honor, as they only chose everyone they could possibly find. Regardless, I filled out the survey and thought it was pretty silly. The questions were mostly poorly designed multiple choice questions with limited options and rarely one which was applicable to my situation.

The survey is apparently open to anyone who wants to participate (so much for randomly selected or representative samples) just by going to their survey website and asking for a login code. If you've got a blog of your own (or can convincingly impersonate someone who does) then go check out the lame questions.

I've included the email they sent me (sanitized for my privacy, of course) in case you're interested in the details:

Hi there,

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is conducting an important academic study regarding weblogs. We are investigating the role of weblogs in the lives of their authors. Does your weblog make you more connected to the rest of society? Does it increase your chances of getting a job or finding information that you are looking for? To answer these questions, which are very important to our research, we ask for your help. Your weblog has been randomly selected as part of a small group among millions to represent the entire community of weblog authors.

This is not a commercial marketing survey, but scholarly research to be used in academic publications such as journals, conferences and books. By participating in this study you will be assisting scientific research and contributing to a better understanding of how weblogs are influencing people's lives. We would like you to please fill out our short survey (about 15 minutes or less, on average).

To take the survey, either follow this link:
<http://blogsurvey.media.mit.edu/>

Your help is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me, or consult the link at the end of this email.

Yours Sincerely,
Cameron Marlow
MIT Media Laboratory

http://blogsurvey.media.mit.edu/help