Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this study is firstly to explore how the users of Stack Overflow, an\nonline community-based Question and Answer platform, inquire for information\nthrough the formulation of a question, according to the community guidelines.\nSecondly, to observe the information exchange procedure between the question and\nthe comment section. Finally, to investigate, if this volunteered informal learning and\ninformation exchange environment shares any similarities to the Communities of\nPractice.\nTheory: An emphasis was put to analyse situated learning and Communities of Practice as\ndescribed by Wenger (1998) as well as additional research dedicated to this particular\nfield. Additionally, previous researches were analysed to observe the important\ncharacteristics regarding the question formulation and information exchange\n(suggestive solutions).\nMethod: Two different mixed method content analysis were executed. Firstly, to define the\npatterns that entwine questions in the platform and observe the importance of the\ncommunity’s guidelines. Secondly, another mixed content analysis to observe the\ninteraction between the asker and other users in the comment section. The data was\ngathered as part of a research project between the Faculty of Education and the\nFaculty of Applied Information Technology (IT) within the University of Gothenburg.\nResults: The first part of the analysis showed that the community guidelines are the epitome\nfor a successful question in the community. Even though users are willing to aid new\nuser with ill-informed questions, there is a connection between the question’s score\nand asker’s reputation. As thus, users with longer expertise in the platform are\ngenerally able to create successful questions. The users of the platform are utilizing\nthe comment section as a troubleshoot chat; aiding the user not only by providing\nsuggestive solution but by reformulating their question for future use by other users.\nUsers of the platform edit and provide external resources to learning material to aid\naskers that are still learning how to code. It was evident that they do not recognise the\nplatform as a hand-out solution site but as a community willing to aid users that are\nwilling to learn.
Author: Panagiotis Rafailidis
Language: English
Subfield: Information Systems
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3101081803