Research:Process modeling of Wikimedia dispute resolution
This page documents a research project in progress.
Information may be incomplete and change as the project progresses.
Please contact the project lead before formally citing or reusing results from this page.
Modeling of Wikipedia dispute resolution is an ongoing English-Wikipedia research project in the School of Data Science at the University of Virginia.
Key details
[edit]- Research ethics
This project is low risk of harm to anyone and consumes almost no Wikimedia community attention or resources.
- Only uses public data accessible without registration in Wikimedia platform
- Does not edit or interact with Wikimedia projects
- Has not consumed time of Wikimedia community research participants, meaning no user surveys or focus groups
- Is not using any scarce Wikimedia community resource
- Is intended to produce insights beneficial to Wikimedia community
- Description
The purpose of the project is to understand Wikimedia dispute resolution for applications including improvement of the process in the Wikimedia platform, and for adapting and reusing the process in other, off-wiki dispute resolution contexts.
Background
[edit]What is Wikipedia?Wikipedia is a new paradigm in human discourse. It's a place where anyone with a browser can go, pick a subject that interests them, and without even logging in, start an argument. In fact, Wikipedia is the largest and most comprehensive collection of arguments in human history, incorporating spats and vendettas on subjects ranging from Suleiman the Magnificent to Dan the Automator. (links added)
— Lore Sjöberg, "The Wikipedia FAQK", Wired, 2006
Wikipedia is a collaboratively written publication. It is remarkable for reasons including that it has produced high-quality articles; its editorial community is virtual, pseudonymous, and open for anyone to join; it is a new publishing model which was unimaginable before Internet; and that its social process, while transparent and observable, is challenging to comprehend. All of this is much discussed and examined in journalism, research, and online user commentary.
Of particular interest to this project is the dispute resolution and mediation process in Wikipedia. As anyone can edit, differences of opinion and recommendations arise continually.
2026 pilot
[edit]
Graduate students Louis Cocks, Katherine Kelleher, Ryan Healy collected, processed, and interpreted data as a masters-level project in 2026. Their outcomes include the following: