ALAC:Research

Stub page for development of research into the ICANN-related needs and interests of individual Internet users.

So -- what methods do we want to use, and what questions do we want to ask people? A range of options comes to mind:

• A broad survey (like those done in the U.S. by the Pew Internet & American Life researchers) collecting some people and asking them questions about a range of topics.
• A more focused survey, asking people questions about one or two specific issues
• A deeper, more deliberative investigation, asking people not just for their views, but getting into a conversation about the reasons behind those interests.

We also have to think about scope: We can't possibly get a census or a statistically valid sample of "all Internet users" (at least not with any reasonable budget), and it would also not be very useful (although easiest) to survey only well-connected U.S. users. So what would be some reasonable, interesting slices?

Should we talk with a statistician/grad student early to get a better sense of the kinds of questions we'll be able to get answers to?

On subject matter, the Board is clearly looking for help with IDNs. We might plausibly look at those and new TLDs together.