Another idea on how to put DW to good use?

I hope you don't mind ERaze, but your post about using the "power of DW" to campaign on issues that matter has given me an idea for a solution to a "problem" I have:

I have an idea for a research project relating to dogs. It is in the early stages, but one major stumbling block would be the need for access to 1000's of dog owners from whom information would be gathered before being collated and analysised.

How would DW members feel about participating in this kind of exercise? I am not a student, or a professional researcher - this is something I am interested in doing for its own sake - although when complete, it may be suitable for publication in some form.

What kind of thing would you be researching?


sarah xxxx

Could be interesting

What will/could the info be used for?

What kind of questions would it contain?

I'd guess if it did go ahead DW would retain any publication rights to it.

I'm keen to research "nature vs nurture" in dogs - to gather inforamtion via questionnaire and analyse the results to see if any conclusions can be drawn

However, although I would welcome members of DW participating, I would not be happy to sign over the intellectual copywrite of the research to DW - so I shall have to look for another way to invite dog owners across the globe to participate

Sounds interesting Iwlass tell us more...

Sounds like it could be very interesting

Maybe Dogweb could do it's own, creating an online form and getting our database to collate the info

What kind of questions would go in it?

Iwlass if you wanted to do an independant one you could always create a website and put the link it in your profile? You'd be surprised how many people look at them

Its just a pipe dream at the moment really, but I had thought that if carried out an in-depth survey of dog owners who have had their dogs from pups and gathered information about:
The way in which the litter was planned/conceived (or not)
The type of place a puppy was bought from
The type of homelife it was exposed to
The type of training it received
The temperment of the dog

and enough dog owners participated (to be able to draw any conclusions the sample would need to be in the 1000's), it would provide enough data to carry out an analysis of whether there is a link between temperment and any of the first 4 variables.

The problem is that no matter what the results are, they won't be "useful" to any corporation or professional body - so it unlikely to be work that is sponsored in any way.

A piece of research was done in the US: Scott & Fuller's "Genetics & The Social Behaviour of Dogs" - but it was done under controlled laboratory conditions using 5 breeds of dog that were deliberately bred and cross-bred for the purposes of the study.

Although a statistical analysis of a random sample cannot be considered a comprehensive way of researching this issue: it would be interesting to see if "real life" reflected the results of Scott and Fullers study.....

Thats very interesting Iwlass I am familiar with JP Scots work and the Bar Harbour Project..(I don't think Fuller did much only the documentation )

Scott as many have said was the 'Freud of dog psychology' and his study which took many years to complete has never been replicated, though others have done similar things...