From: pprior@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Paul A Prior)
Subject: SURVEY RESULTS hot off the presses
Summary: Survey resultsa
Keywords: survey
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 01:48:27 GMT

Ok, folks.
 
If anybody was really interested and waiting on the edge of their
seats for this information I apologize for my delay in getting it
tabulated.  In addition to my lack of ability to run my life
effeciently I recently suffered an account problem brought on by
people who will remain nameless that caused me to loose all my mail.
This included all the survey replies.  I had manually tabulated them
as they came in, but I was going to post some of the more interesting
comments.... Oh, well.
 
Thanks to everyone who answered.  I enjoyed hearing from all of you
and I apologize for not answering most of them, but I've just not had
time lately to do a whole lot.
 
A couple of things I'd like to point out;  the largest tank mentioned
by any of the respondents was a 1000 gallon reef tank.  I don't know
who the owner was, since my mail got nuked, but I would love to hear
more about it.  Several people suggested some additional questions
regarding how many tanks people kept and how many gallons, etc.  I
would love to participate in such an additional survey, but I don't
have time to run it.
 
I did have a list of those few people who claimed the title of "fishy
genius."  There were only 4 people who were so bold ;)  I had decided
not to publish their names anyway, for fear of either swamping them
with mail about "my guppy has this white stuff" or making them feel
uncomfortable.
 
I noted that most of us read this group very frequently.  Also there
were very few that were new to this group.  There were probably about
10 people who have been reading this group since its beginning.
 
There were many comments regarding the fact that the *.aquaria
newsgroups are probably among the most cordial and highest
signal:noise ratio groups on the net.  Only one person felt (or at
least commented) the opposite.  Several people did note that they were
rather timid in speaking out because they were afraid they would be
wrong and ridiculed on the net by the "experts among us.  I think the
history here would indicate that that is not the case, so I would like
to ask EVERYONE to participate - I don't know of one person who
participates in this group regularly that is nasty or rude.  Thanks to
everyone for keeping that way!
 
Well, enough of my rambling on, here are the questions and results
(the final number of replies was 142):
 
 
1) How long have you been reading this newsgroup:
 
   <1%    a. This is the first time
    4%    b. Less than a month
    23%   c. Between a month and 6 months
    23%   d. Between 6 months and a year
    50%   e. More than a year (Please supply how long!)
 
2) How often do you read this group?
 
    52%   a. At least once a day
    41%   b. Several times a week
     5%   c. Once a week or so
     2%   d. Rarely
 
3) What posting groups do you read?
 
    59%   a. All of them
    30%   b. Only Freshwater
    11%   c. Only saltwater
 
4) Would you classify yourself as:
 
     6%   a. A beginner aquariast
    38%   b. Have had some success with basic fishkeeping
    53%   c. A hobbiest with a good long term record
     3%   d. A true fishy genius
 
5) What kind of tanks do you keep?
 
    61%   a. Freshwater
    18%   b. Saltwater/Reef
    21%   c. Both
 
6) I usually:
 
    47%   a. Lurk without posting much
    43%   b. Post when I have a question
    10%   c. Post regularly
 
7) I help answer other people's questions (If I know about the question):
 
    10%   a. Never
    51%   b. Occasionally
    33%   c. Usually
     5%   d. Always
 
 

-- 
--------pprior@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu----(614) 621-8240----------------
Paul A. Prior    Ban anchors, not reef tanks    Nuke Gay Whales for Jesus  
3rd year medical student 		        
The Ohio State U. College of Medicine   Tobacco Kills- Please don't smoke!