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  1. #11
    Senior Member lvleph's Avatar
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    I personally don't care. I almost didn't post it, but I felt sine Neo left...

  2. #12
    Senior Member Ewker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lvleph View Post
    I personally don't care. I almost didn't post it, but I felt sine Neo left...
    that is it in a nutshell..most don't care (except for a few) if something is off-topic.

    Now if his survey was posted in the thread asking about who is doing a long distance hike with a hammock then it would have probably been ok.

    oh well life goes on

  3. #13
    Just for giggles and clarification, I added a fair amount of questions in the Gear section, and included "hammocks" as a distinct option (like tent, tarp, bivy, etc). There was no mention of hammocks being used in the '89 study, but I'd be willing to bet that I'll pick up a few hangers these days.
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  4. #14
    Senior Member lvleph's Avatar
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    Ha it is on topic now.

  5. #15
    Just up in here kreatin' kontroversy!

    Hang em high,

    -J Swank
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  6. #16
    Senior Member Jazilla's Avatar
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    Wow, this tread went from off topic to on topic about being of topic then on topic... wait off then on then.... Well never mind its all so confusing
    Yosemite Sam: Are you trying to make me look a fool?
    Bugs: You don't need me to make you look like a fool.
    Yosemite Sam: Yer deerrrnnn right I don't!

  7. #17
    24 hours later, and 30 thru-hikers have completed the survey. I can not believe the great response this thing is getting, and as always, and forever humbled at the generosity of hikers to help out when asked. I was hoping for about 200 (or more) when all is said and done, and it looks like that's going to be the case.

    Thank you, thank you, thank you. I might kiss some of you if you didn't smell so **** bad!

    Feel free to forward the link to whom ever. The more the merrier.

    -Johnny Swank, ME-GA 2000
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  8. #18
    Senior Member lvleph's Avatar
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    The problem I see with using this method to obtain data is that it is not quite reliable. There is no control. Sorry I have a degree in Mathematics and was getting one in Statistics. It won't matter if you are not really trying to get any hard statistics and you just want an idea of what someone intension and background is.

  9. #19
    I agree with the ideal of having a control group, but with this sort of population, you have what you have. There's also the matter of non-response bias amongst folks that aren't online or won't get my business card shoved in their packs at Trail Days, but that's another ball of wax. Social science is what it is, and I can't stand when folks at conferences point out how "statisically significant" their findings based on a small population myself.

    I'm as much into learning about the motives, communication patterns, and other qualitative stuff as anything else. I really want to see how the advent of the internet has changed the way folks get their info, as the original study this is sort of based on was done in 1989. All the gear answers have been neat to see as well. Hell, all of it is neat to see for me, and I can't wait to see what sorts of patterns start to appear given more responses.

    This is a snapshot of the folks that chose to fill out an online survey, but given the population of hikers, that's about the best way to get ahold of these folks. I've moved a half-dozen times since my thru-hike, but my email address didn't change until I let it expire.

    Thanks for the comment.
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  10. #20
    Senior Member blackbishop351's Avatar
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    Thanks to a fascinating course a couple years ago (that was actually listed in the Philosophy department), I'll point out that data can be "statistically significant" even though they're drawn from a small sample size. Lack of a realistic control group can even be accounted for.

    On the other hand, it seems to me that statistical significance must be a term that was invented specifically for what I call pseudo-science - sociology, psychology, marketing, whatever. It accounts for a lot of subjective meaning as well - for example, studies have found that smoking increases the user's chance of contracting lung cancer by 0.2%, which is then called "significant" simply because of the subjective gravity of the disease.

    Anyway. Enough of the rant. I personally try not to believe ANY reported statistics whenever possible...at least without a LOT of corroboration.
    "Physics is the only true science. All else is stamp collecting." - J. J. Thompson

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