Heads up: some academic research taking place

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

Some researchers from a UK university are going to be collecting posts from some boards on Mumsnet over the next few weeks. They will be looking only at posts published from this point onwards. Selected posts will be anonymised (ie usernames will not be stored anywhere), and all processes will be GDPR-compliant.

EDITED BY MNHQ: to be clear, NO private or back-end data is being shared with the researchers and they will have NO access to any extra information about users. They will only be analysing published posts, ie things that are already in the public domain.

The researchers will analyse the text of the anonymised posts as part of their study. The full text of these anonymised posts will not be reproduced in the study - no pieces of text that make you or your situation identifiable will be published.

Once the study is complete, the database containing the anonymised posts will be destroyed.

Obviously we'd love to tell you what the study is about - but we can't because it will skew the results. However once the research has been completed we'll share it with you and you can read all about it. The academics running the study are people we've worked with before, and the topic is one we think lots of MN users will agree is interesting and useful.

IMPORTANT BIT: if you DO NOT want your posts to be considered for inclusion in the research, please shout here on this thread or email us on [email protected]

And of course let us know if you have any questions and we'll see if we can answer them.

Thanks

MNHQ

No thanks, please don't use any of my posts. I like the privacy and anonymity of this site and for that reason I am out.

Privacy? What privacy?
Everything you post on here can be seen and copied by the whole world. And you can never delete it from the web, even if MNHQ deletes a thread or your whole account. Someone somewhere will have copied it for their own purposes, and can post it anywhere if they wish.

@AnneOfCleavage you do realise that there's no such thing as privacy on Mumsnet, don't you?

What makes you think they're researching maternal feeling, Boney? So one lot did, but there's no reason to think that any others have. This lot could as easily be researching swearing when posting about toddlers (would be pretty easy to match those 2 variables up). Yes, maybe some people lie about having children, or about being female or about liking golf or about anything at all here, but I suspect most people don't bother much.

The threads which interest you enough to make you post will be different from the threads which interest someone else enough to post. I may have posted on toddler threads in the past, or I may remember a cute story from dd's past which I decide to share on a toddler thread, but it'll be pretty clear that she is no longer a toddler. Even if it isn't clear, the story will be as true as it ever was, and I might - in recalling it - feel like calling her a bloody child, or I might not.

I think there are plenty of threads around this site where those things are self-evident or irrelevant. There'll be loads of people looking at and analysing them. Including, quite possibly, this lot.

Jux

I didn't say that I thought that they were, I was pointing out that even on this site, academics are making assumptions about those that post. The more assumptions made the less accurate the research.

I didn't say that I thought that they were, I was pointing out that even on this site, academics are making assumptions about those that post.

What assumptions are these academics making?
If this is about the current research, where has it said they are assuming anything?

marcopront

I posted the assumptions in the previous post.

Boney, I apologise. I realised in the middle of the night that you might only have been pointing out what assumptions could be made by the researchers in the piece of published researched linked to earlier.

One hopes that whatever research goes on, the design is good enough to counteract, or contain, assumptions and bias.

Jux

Nothing to apologise for, I have enjoyed being on the thread and being able to have a good discussion with so many people.

They are very welcome to use anything I have posted. The Daily Mail just help themselves anyway, anyone can help themselves to our posts.

Why is this such a big deal? It's great women's voices are being heard, it's anonymous, why the reticence? Anyway, that was not where I was going and it side tracked me.... My daughter has been dancing since she was 3. She's good, her teacher has said I should put her forward for the LCB this year, a great honour, and she will perform at Sadler's Wells if she is accepted. She is so delighted, I pay and always have for all her classes, kit and exams, she's 13 now, AIBU to feel really shit, because I have to ask her Dad's consent for her to do the take the audition, AIBU to think - FFS, her agency as a young woman who had worked so hard to get here, and my agency as a mother who has facilitated this is utterly fucked because, as we looked at each other this morning and as I told her the news, we both know her father can say no.... as he did to the school trip and to her choice of school when she was accepted against 100 girls, and to her continuing classes in the first place, not because of religion, or money - he pays 1p a month Child Maintenance, but just because he can..... I feel more disempowered than I have ever felt, because he can say "No" and force me to court again, because that's his male whim, and she knows it, and so do I ... What message am I giving her, telling her that?

Er ... @Highlandheath I think you've posted in the wrong place! You need to head over to AIBU

Thankyou! I spotted that and posted elsewhere earlier.

I haven't read it all but I can't see why any "permission" would be needed, this is a public forum and whether you "consent" or not on this thread, you have already consented for your comments to be available to anyone with an internet connection, to quote or use in any way they choose.

So saying you "opt out" is completely nonsensical. (I think in fact it is highly likely that the responses this thread has received are actually the real subject of the research and it is about people's (delusional) expectations of some sort of privacy on internet forums).

Peoples posts on here make me laugh lol I only joined this forum because every time I put something into google, Mumsnet threads/comments are the first things that come up! Everyone's analysing everyone's posts anyway! I've even taken screenshots and sent them places without asking for anyone's permission! 🙄

Look forward to the study 👍🏼

Please remove me too. You should probably
Badly send this messages to everyone's email so they can opt-in or out. I only saw it by accident

@toomanyhours
It is a sticky in chat and has been for at least a month.
The research has probably finished by now.
As has been said many times, anyone can read and analyse your posts at any time. What will you achieve by opting out?

It's been stickied in chat as well as site stuff since 30 August - how could you not see it! It's also popped up a lot in Active Convos, given how many people have posted on the thread!

Hello

Just because some of you are obviously interested - here's the most recent piece of Mumsnet research we've spotted: a v interesting study of how Mumsnet users talk about and advise each other on the topic of financial conflict within relationships www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2018/10/mumsnet-talking-money-and-men-behaving-badly.aspx. (We didn't know this one was happening!)

Our favourite quote so far from the study: 'The term ‘cocklodger’ interests us because it identifies a type of household arrangement that is not considered in the academic literature, and yet is a frequent point of reference on Mumsnet' ...

Brilliant!

Might I suggest this rider be used for posters who do not wish their views and postings included in any research , especially without knowing who the 3rd party researchers are , if or not they have Legal Training ,

which should have been run by the ICO
please copy and past the legal statement to any postings until such time as I have had time to discuss this with The ICO and Other legal colleagues

Any institutions or individuals using this site or any of its associated sites for studies , projects or research - You DO NOT have permission to use any of my profile or posts in any form or forum both current and future. If you have or do, it will be considered a violation of my privacy and will be subject to legal ramifications

@foxyliz26 but the Mumsnet terms and conditions make it clear that posts aren't private. What legal implications could there be?

If people don't want what they say to be seen, read or analysed by other people, there is a simple solution. Don't post it on a public website.

ICO will have a laugh....

OFFS!

Do you have any idea what a public forum is all about?!

There's absolutely no privacy once you've posted on MN. Your words of wisdom are now owned by MN (along with you) and are there for all the world to see.

If you want privacy, don't use Mumsnet.