[Bigbang-dev] Trying to figure out what IETF progress report is good for

[Corinne Cath]

Hi folks,

Please see below for the ongoing conversation I've been having with Robert
Sparks about https://www.ietf.org/status-report/ietf-progress-report.html

If you have any questions you would like me to share do let me know!

Kind regards,

Corinne


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Robert Sparks <rjsparks at nostrum.com>
Date: Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 4:57 PM
Subject: Re: IETF progress report
To: Corinne Cath <corinnecath at gmail.com>



On 8/26/20 4:03 AM, Corinne Cath wrote:

Hi Robert,

I am trying to figure out how these IMR reports are generated. I assume the
underlying mechanism for collecting this data is consistent, regardless
which group or month I am looking at no?  Or maybe I am misunderstanding
why you need to know which specific pages I am looking at?

I believe (I do not yet know - these reports not something the tools team
maintains) that the code that makes the .txt files is not the same code
that makes the .csv files and what they are tryin g to produce may be
different things. I'd like to know whether you're looking at the .txt files
or the .csv files so I know who to go ask and what to ask for.

The list usage report in the txt files, for instance is attempting to count
messages sent to that list during that month, not the number of subscribers
at the end of the month. If you are looking at the .txt file, that's likely
the explanation for the "lot of fluxuations" question below.

The first csv file (labelled Lists) appears also be be counting messages,
not subscribers.

The third csv file (labelled Subcount) appears to be counting subscribers.

In these first three columns, it is almost certain that these stats are
calculated by making a mailman query (for subscriber count) or by counting
messages in an mbox file (for messages in a month).

There are issues with using the subscriber count as anything more than a
rough metric. I have heard of  companies who have many people reading
through a single subscription, and I know of people who do not subscribe to
the lists using mailman, but rather read the lists using the imap interface.

RjS



Kind regards,

Corinne



On Fri, Aug 21, 2020 at 3:45 PM Robert Sparks <rjsparks at nostrum.com> wrote:

>
> On 8/21/20 5:07 AM, Corinne Cath wrote:
>
> Thank you for your reply. i was looking at lists for the hrpc research
> group.
>
> Yes, but where? There are several places in the report that talk about the
> hrpc research group.
>
> Are you looking at pages like
> https://www.ietf.org/status-report/imr/2016-12-report.txt, or are you
> looking into one of the .csv documents for that month, and if so, which one?
>
> RjS
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 4:17 PM Robert Sparks <rjsparks at nostrum.com>
> wrote:
>
>>
>> On 8/20/20 4:42 AM, Corinne Cath wrote:
>>
>> Dear Robert,
>>
>> I trust you are well. I am a PhD student studying the IETF.
>>
>> I recently came across this:
>> https://www.ietf.org/status-report/ietf-progress-report.html
>>
>> I was wondering how the reports are compiled? For instance, when I look
>> at the numbers for HRPC between 2014 and 2017 there are a lot of
>> fluctuations per month.
>>
>> Is that the total number of people subscribed, or the ones that were
>> added that month?
>>
>> Hi Corinne -
>>
>> Specifically which report (and which column in the report) are you
>> looking at?
>>
>> RjS
>>
>>
>> Would be very grateful for any information you might be able to share
>> with me.
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>> --
>> Corinne Cath - Speth
>> Ph.D. Candidate, Oxford Internet Institute & Alan Turing Institute
>>
>> Web: www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/corinne-cath
>> Email: ccath at turing.ac.uk & corinnecath at gmail.com
>> Twitter: @C_CS
>>
>>
>
> --
> Corinne Cath - Speth
> Ph.D. Candidate, Oxford Internet Institute & Alan Turing Institute
>
> Web: www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/corinne-cath
> Email: ccath at turing.ac.uk & corinnecath at gmail.com
> Twitter: @C_CS
>
>

-- 
Corinne Cath - Speth
Ph.D. Candidate, Oxford Internet Institute & Alan Turing Institute

Web: www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/corinne-cath
Email: ccath at turing.ac.uk & corinnecath at gmail.com
Twitter: @C_CS



-- 
Corinne Cath - Speth
Ph.D. Candidate, Oxford Internet Institute & Alan Turing Institute

Web: www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/corinne-cath
Email: ccath at turing.ac.uk & corinnecath at gmail.com
Twitter: @C_CS
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