X-Git-Url: https://projects.mako.cc/source/bmh-research_statement/blobdiff_plain/6aadc59a0047ce66353c0de0b07d49e57af844c6..3a65748c964a4dfc9b087b7f50705cc0dc6ac0a5:/research_statement.tex

diff --git a/research_statement.tex b/research_statement.tex
index 11797f5..5890358 100644
--- a/research_statement.tex
+++ b/research_statement.tex
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 \usepackage{textcomp}
 \usepackage[garamond]{mathdesign}
 
-\usepackage[letterpaper,left=1.2in,right=1.2in,top=1.2in,bottom=1.2in]{geometry}
+\usepackage[letterpaper,left=1.2in,right=1.2in,top=1.15in,bottom=1.1in]{geometry}
 
 % packages i use in essentially every document
 \usepackage{graphicx}
@@ -136,13 +136,14 @@ of superficial collaboration leads to negative reactions and community
 displeasure \cite{hill_responses_2010}.
 
 \begin{wrapfigure}{l}{2.6in}
+ \vspace{-1em}
  \begin{centering}
  \includegraphics[width=2.6in]{figures/frontpage_modified-topremix.png}
   \caption{The front page of the Scratch online community where users
     can share and collaborate on projects.}
  \label{fig:scratchfrontpage}
  \end{centering}
- \vspace{-2em}
+ \vspace{-1.5em}
 \end{wrapfigure}
 
 This year, I am conducting a population-level analysis in a new
@@ -155,8 +156,11 @@ volunteer labor as a fixed and finite resource. Instead, I show that
 contributions to different wikis on the same topic or theme are driven
 primarily by environment-level changes in interest and that projects
 can even benefit from complimentarities and synergies
-\cite{hill_is_2012}.
-
+\cite{hill_is_2012}.  By looking at failures, these studies provide
+tests of several of the most influential theories of the conditions
+for collective action, suggest important practical and theoretical
+limitations to existing models, and point to previously untheorized
+mechanisms.
 \section{Reputation and Status}
 
 Although empirical research comparing successful and unsuccessful peer
@@ -181,8 +185,8 @@ In a study of status-based awards in Wikipedia called ``barnstars''
 (see Figure \ref{fig:barnstar}) -- a collaboration with Aaron Shaw and
 Yochai Benkler -- I provide an empirical test of an influential
 status-based theory of collective action from sociology. Although the
-study finds support for the widely hypothesized ``virtuous cycle'' of
-status rewards both causing and being caused by contributions, it also
+study finds support for a widely hypothesized ``virtuous cycle'' in which
+status rewards both cause and are caused by contributions, it also
 finds that this effect is limited to a sub-population of Wikipedia
 contributors -- ``signalers'' who show off their awards
 \cite{hill_status_2012}. This result has broad implications for both
@@ -195,7 +199,10 @@ Research and nominated for best paper at the CHI 2011 conference
 analysis of a design change and in-depth interviews of users to
 demonstrate how credit-giving is ineffective when it stems from an
 automated system because systems fail to reinforce status-ordering
-with credible human expressions of social deference and gratitude.
+with credible human expressions of social deference and
+gratitude. These studies suggest important limits to previous
+theoretical work on status as a motivator for collective action, and
+put forward a more nuanced theoretical model.
 
 %\newpage
 \section{Design-Driven Natural Experiments}
@@ -204,9 +211,7 @@ Although nearly all of my work has important implications for the
 design of socio-technical systems, I have structured much of my work
 around the evaluation of technological design changes. In several
 papers, I treat design changes as ``natural experiments'' that
-exogenously change the ways that social structure is enacted. By doing
-so, I can both build causal understandings of social phenomena from
-field data, and can tighten the distance between theory and design.
+exogenously change the ways that social structure is enacted.
 
 \begin{wrapfigure}{r}{0.25\textwidth}
  \vspace{-1em}
@@ -239,7 +244,11 @@ women contributors and drastic shifts in the type of projects created
 \cite{buechley_lilypad_2010}. I have also explored how technical
 errors may be able to provide similar opportunities for analysis by
 interrupting normal operation of a system and revealing internal
-processes that are usually hidden \cite{hill_revealing_2010}.
+processes that are usually hidden \cite{hill_revealing_2010}. In
+addition to the important theoretical findings in these studies, this
+type of work represents an important methodological advance in that it
+allows for stronger causal claims while also closing the gap between
+theory and design.
 
 % or changes in socio-technical systems describing responsibility for a piece of software can lead to an important impact in the type and structure of contributions in peer production \cite{michlmayr_quality_2003}
 
@@ -260,7 +269,7 @@ issues of performance, efficiency, and quality. Using my existing
 datasets, I plan to compare the performance of collaborative
 production to individually produced works to understand when
 successful collection action leads to increased performance. For
-example, in an analysis using data from Scratch which currently under
+example, in an analysis using data from Scratch which is currently under
 review -- done in collaboration with Monroy-HernÃ¡ndez -- I show
 important limitations of collaboration through remixing in regards to
 project quality, particularly for more artistic or media-intensive
@@ -279,7 +288,7 @@ possible through personal relationships I have with a series of
 organizations with large, active, online communities (e.g., the MIT
 Media Lab and the Wikimedia Foundation). These organizations, like
 many others, make design changes to the software that supports their
-communities to encourage contributions and improve users'
+communities to encourage contributions and improve their users'
 experiences. Most of the time, these organizations have very little
 idea if these changes are effective. I plan to seek funding for, and
 to create, a technical framework and a network of academic and
