University of Northern Colorado Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC Dissertations Student Research 12-1-2011 Theoretical approach to legitimizing collaboratively constructed knowledge: a content analysis of Wikipedia science articles based on accidental collaboration James Patrick Hutchinson Follow this and additional works at: https://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Hutchinson, James Patrick, "Theoretical approach to legitimizing collaboratively constructed knowledge: a content analysis of Wikipedia science articles based on accidental collaboration" (2011). Dissertations. 169. https://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations/169 This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO Greeley, Colorado The Graduate School A THEORETICAL APPROACH TO LEGITIMIZING COLLABORATIVELY CONSTRUCTED KNOWLEDGE: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF WIKIPEDIA SCIENCE ARTICLES BASED ON ACCIDENTAL COLLABORATION A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy James Patrick Hutchinson College of Education and Behavioral Sciences Department of Educational Technology December 2011 ABSTRACT Hutchinson, James Patrick. A Theoretical Approach To Legitimizing Collaboratively Constructed Knowledge: A Content Analysis of Wikipedia Science Articles Based on Accidental Collaboration . Published Doctor of Philosophy dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2011. This study involved an analysis of 147 Wikipedia science articles using content and social network analysis to explore authorial relationships between articles and test a theoretical approach to using accidental collaboration as a tool to legitimize collaboratively constructed knowledge. Contrary to Wikipedia’s tagline of “anyone can edit,” this study found that articles had a small number of prolific contributors and that these contributors had educational background and edit history suggesting they were knowledgeable about the topics to which they contributed. Results also showed that articles found via accidental collaboration tended to be scientific in nature and often had direct subject matter relationships to their corresponding seed article. Taken together, these results suggest that Wikipedia science articles are at least partially written by knowledgeable individuals. Implications include rethinking how Wikipedia is used by teachers and students; its potential as a tool for developing critical literacy and 21st century skills; and the need for continued research to further explore the issues of legitimacy and reliability of Wikipedia in various subject areas. Due to the limitations of this study, generalizations beyond the science articles studied cannot be made. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the help and assistance of a number of individuals. Most importantly, the support of my entire committee was invaluable and, in particular, my research advisor Dr. James Gall whose guidance, support, insightful comments and editorial feedback was crucial. Dr. Mia Williams’ discussions and suggestions regarding critical literacy added an additional demission to the study that helped extend its practical implications. The data collection and processing that was necessary for this study would not have been possible without the help of a few key individuals who volunteered their time to lend the technical expertise that I lacked. I appreciate the help of the toolserver.org user Betacommand who ran the SQL query which provided the raw Wikipedia data needed. Also, my former student and technological guru, Mr. Caleb Jares, facilitated the writing of the query request and wrote the C# program script that performed the key function of identifying accidental collaborators. Wikipedia itself would not exist if not for the efforts of millions of volunteer contributors around the world and the creative vision of Jimmy Wales. Their efforts make possible research such as this which will hopefully provide feedback that can help to further improve Wikipedia. We can only hope that it will continue to grow and improve and one day become a library of everything containing the sum of human knowledge. iv Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to my family for their continued support and patience over the years as I pursued my own educational dream. May they find the encouragement to pursue their own dreams and the determination to realize them. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................1 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE .........................................................................14 History of the Encyclopedia Wikipedia Structure of Wikipedia Popularity of Wikipedia Research on Wikipedia Social Network Analysis Sociological Studies of the Internet Content Analysis Computer Networks as Social Networks Summary III. METHODOLOGY .........................................................................................54 Purpose of the Study Research Questions Materials Definitions Research Design Content Analysis Procedure Sampling Rationale Recording/Coding Data Extraction MySQL Query Identification of Accidental Collaborators Analysis of Network Data Tables Analysis of Wikipedia Contributors Limitations vi IV. RESULTS .......................................................................................................89 Q1 What is the Profile of Contributions to Select Science Articles in Wikipedia? Q2 What is the Profile of a Prolific Contributor to Select Science Articles in Wikipedia? Q3 Do Prolific Contributors to Select Science Articles in Wikipedia Contribute to Multiple Articles? Q4 What Types of Articles Cluster Around Select Science Articles Based on Accidental Collaboration and What Conclusions can be Drawn? Q5 What do Network Maps of Article Clusters Based on Accidental Collaboration Say About the Legitimacy of the Content? V. DISCUSSION ...............................................................................................119 Major Findings Practical Implications K-12 and Higher Education Research Implications Contributors Accidental Collaboration Computer Networks as Social Networks Retention of Experts Summary Conclusion REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................144 APPENDIX A Complete List of 180 Originally Selected Science Articles ................156 APPENDIX B Transcript of the Original Toolserver.Org Query Request ..................161 APPENDIX C Data Compiled From User Pages For 43 Users Identified With an Apparent Science Background ...............................................166 APPENDIX D Complete Article Categorizations For The 12 Seed Articles Selected ................................................................................................171 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Example of an article network table (Cell Biology) showing examples of accidental collaboration ..........................................................................................83 2. Summary data for the random sub-sample of 15 articles ...........................................93 3. Summary statistics for editors ...................................................................................100 4. Summary statistics for editors after removing low edit count articles ......................103 5. Frequency of article edit counts for all 913 editors (truncated for easy reading). Edits of 6 or more accounted for a cumulative total percentage of 6.37% of articles ...................................................................................................................105 6. Categories identified for the 809 articles showing accidental collaboration ............109 7. Summary of article categories for those identified via the accidental collaboration process ................................................................................................110 8. Summary data for the 12 articles in the random sub-sample ....................................111 9. List of the top 50 articles contributed to by looking at all 913 editors both excluding five or fewer edits and including all edits ................................................113 10. Summary of articles showing percentage matching science, academic and non-academic categories ...........................................................................................117 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Graphical representation of accidental collaboration showing contributors to the Chemistry article also contributing to other articles .........................................11 2. Partial screenshot of Wikipedia main page showing the tag lines free encyclopedia and anyone can edit as well as the total number of articles in English on October 17, 2010 .........................................................................................................20 3. Screenshot of a Wikipedia page ..................................................................................22 4. Screenshot of a Wikipedia edit page for an article .....................................................23 5. Composite