Suggest a question for the 2013 Stack Overflow User Survey

Question

It's that time of year again! We'll post the survey soon and ask for feedback, but right now we're looking for suggestions for new questions we should ask. So, use the answers to suggest a question you'd like to see answered by SO users.

1. Take a look at last year's questions & results here. Basically all those questions will already be on there, slightly amended.
2. Suggest a question in multiple-choice format as an answer. This can either be choose one or choose many, but it must be multiple choice. Include what some of the options should be (and feel free to suggest other ideas in the comments).

Other useful links: the blog post results, and the Meta feedback from last year.

Answer 1

How often do you find solutions to your programing problems on Stack Overflow without asking a new question?

• Always
• Almost Always
• Often
• Occasionally
• Never

Answer 2

To what extent do badges affect your behavior on Stack Overflow?

• Not at all
• To some extent
• To a significant degree

Answer 3

How does your company rate on the Joel Test?

• Do you use source control?
• Can you make a build in one step?
• Do you make daily builds?
• Do you have a bug database?
• Do you fix bugs before writing new code?
• Do you have an up-to-date schedule?
• Do you have a spec?
• Do programmers have quiet working conditions?
• Do you use the best tools money can buy?
• Do you have testers?
• Do new candidates write code during their interview?
• Do you do hallway usability testing?

Answer 4

Do you suffer from Impostor syndrome at work?

• Always!
• Often
• Sometimes
• Never!

Answer 5

1. Do you work remotely?
   • Yes, every day (5 days a week)
   • Yes, most days (3-4 days a week)
   • Yes, some days (1-2 days a week)
   • No. My employer doesn't allow it, but I'd like to!
   • No. My employer does allow it, but I'm not interested.
   • Not Applicable (Unemployed, student, other)
2. (If answered "Yes" to #1) Do you enjoy working remotely?
   • I love it.
   • I like it, though I like visiting the office occasionally.
   • I'm neutral about it.
   • It's not my preference. I'd prefer to be in an office.
   • I hate it.
3. (If answered "Yes" to #1) Where do you work remotely most of the time?
   • A home office.
   • A co-working space
   • My couch
   • A coffee shop
   • Other

Answer 6

If you have a Careers 2.0 profile, how often have you been contacted in the last year?

• Not at all
• 1-5 times
• 6-10 times

• 10 times

If you have been contacted, would you describe your fit to the contact(s):

• Strong fit
• Could fit
• Unlikely fit
• Completely inappropriate

Answer 7

Does the company you work for allows using SO while at work and when researching work-related problems:

1. Yes, it's encouraged.
2. Yes but there's no specific policy or rules about it.
3. No, using SO is not allowed/it is blocked.

If you're allowed to use SO for work, are there any restrictions:

1. No
2. Yes, I cannot post work related code.
3. I need to obfuscate the code before posting.

Answer 8

What kind of programming do you do (choose any that apply)?

• IT support / automation / monitoring
• LOB applications to support core business
• primary product sold or supplied to customers (web, desktop, mobile)
• supporting product sold or supplied to customers (web, desktop, mobile)
• embedded software (i.e., included with or part of another product)
• software-as-a-service / web service
• hobby
• professional open source
• academic (all levels)
• research

Answer 9

"My company trusts my opinion and judgement in technical matters"

Do you agree with the above statement?

• Strongly agree
• Somewhat agree
• Somewhat disagree
• Strongly disagree

---

I am interested because I have a hunch that developers tend to struggle to gain trust in many companies. I think it's an important variable to measure.

Answer 10

I feel that the Stack Overflow community as a whole is: (Select 1)

• Welcoming of new people and almost always helpful as they learn to use the site
• Mostly tolerant of new people and often helpful as they learn to use the site
• The two tendencies are equally balanced
• Mostly intolerant of new people and not often helpful as they learn to use the site
• Unwelcoming to new people and almost always unhelpful as they learn to use the site

(I welcome modifications of the multiple choice items, you can generally see what I'm trying to gauge)

Answer 11

Regarding the code base you worked on most of the time this year

1. The age of the code base was
   • less than a year
   • 1–2 years old
   • 3–5 years old
   • 5–10 years old
   • more than 10 years old
      
2. I found the code base
   • Easy to understand
   • Hard to understand
      
3. The test coverage of the code base was
   • good or adequate
   • poor or non existent
      
4. If you found a good or adequate test coverage, the test suites included
   • unit tests
   • integration tests
   • system tests
   • other kinds of tests (specify)
      
5. If you found a good or adequate test coverage, in relation to preventing bugs from reaching production, the test suite was
   • effective
   • ineffective
      
6. Overall, our testing strategy has made us deliver
   • faster
   • slower

---

I am very interested in this because it would give us real data about people's experience of testing, and in particular test these hypotheses:

• code bases with extensive tests are harder (or easier) to read (2.)
• tests save time overall or are more costly (6.)
• tests are useful (or ineffective) in catching bugs before release (5.)

The other three questions are in place to separate likely confounding factors, such as the age of the code base (1.) and the kind of testing strategy (3., 4.).

Answer 12

Are you aware that all your content (questions, answers, …) is licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA (3.0)?

• Yes.
• Yes, but I have no idea what that means.
• No, I was not aware.
• What are you talking about?

Answer 13

Friend of yours is struggling with a programming problem. Will you recommend him/her to post on Stack Overflow?

1. Yes of course
2. Yes, but only after carefully explaining how to properly ask a question
3. No, I won't recommend (please explain why)

Answer 14

Over the past year, which of these reasons contributed the most towards your code being refactored or rewritten?

1. Dependencies were updated which deprecated the code
2. To get more performance from the code
3. Code needed to be more extendable
4. Code needed to manage resources more efficiently
5. Code had a logical error
6. Software rot
7. Technical debt
8. Other

Answer 15

In reference to So You Don't Want to be a Programmer After All:

If you work in programming: in the foreseeable future, are you thinking about changing careers entirely, away from programming?

• Not planning such a change

• Have been weighing other options

• Yes, but want to stay in IT (say management with an IT focus, consulting, auditing)

• Yes, strongly want to change completely, or have already done so

Answer 16

How do you feel about the level of community moderation on Stack Overflow (defined as moderation by members over 3,000 reputation):

• Not enough level of moderation (questions stay open that should be closed, questions don't get downvotes that should)

• Just the right amount of moderation (on the whole, questions that should be closed are, questions that should get downvotes do)

• Too much moderation (questions that are closed shouldn't be, and this happens consistently)

How do you feel about the level of elected moderator activity on Stack Overflow (moderation done by users who were elected moderators):

• Not enough (I flag things for moderator attention, and they never get handled, or I never see moderator activity in my travels and I feel like I should)
• Just the right amount (they step in when needed, and don't step in when they shouldn't, on the whole)
• Too much moderation (they're always getting involved when they should just leave it to the community moderators)

And a non Stack Overflow question:

• Which of the following types of office layouts best describe yours:

  • open floor plans
  • cubicles
  • private offices
  • small room (4 or less people per enclosed space)

  Rate your office space in terms of how it contributes to your job satisfaction and productivity (5 meaning you're really productive and you love your layout, 1 being it makes you unproductive and it actively detracts from your job satisfaction):

  • open floor plan (1-5)
  • cubicle
  • private office
  • small room

(note: I would say that the rating question should be dependent on which you chose above it).

Answer 17

Which technology products do you own? (You can choose more than one)

1. Smart phones
   • iPhone
   • Android
   • Windows Phone
   • Blackberry Phone
   • Other smartphone (please specify)
      
2. Full size tablets
   • iPad
   • Android
   • Kindle Fire HD
   • Windows RT
   • Other 10" tablet (please specify)
      
3. Mini tablets
   • iPad mini
   • Android
   • Kindle Fire
   • Other 7-8" tablet (please specify)
      
4. eBook readers
   • Kindle
   • Nook
   • Other eBook Reader (please specify)
      
5. Next gen consoles
   • PS4
   • Xbox One
   • Wii U
   • Other console (please specify)
      
6. New tech/wearable
   • Google Glass
   • Pebble/smart watch
   • Other (please specify)

---

This was already present in 2012 with older choices. They should be updated.

Answer 18

Which of these is/was closest to your academic field of study? (i.e. subject/major mentioned on your academic record)

• Computer Science
• Software Engineering
• Mathematics
• Physics
• Electronics
• ...
• Other

This question could be preceded by:

Which of these best represents your academic qualification?

• Doctorate
• Graduate or Masters'
• Undergraduate
• Senior Secondary School or Junior College or Pre-University (Other suggestions welcome)
• High School or Secondary school
• Do not have formal education
• Other

Answer 19

In response to the debate inflamed by this post, it would be helpful to have some actual feedback from invested users as to the impact of the size of the CV queue. There is some disagreement about the psychological impact, and hard evidence would be helpful.

---

Are you aware of community moderation through the review queues at Stack Overflow?

• I regularly participate in moderation through review queues.
• I have heard about them and used them, but do not regularly participate.
• I have heard about them, but I have not participated.
• I have not heard about them.

If you have used the Close Vote review queue, do you feel demotivated by and/or have slowed reviewing close votes due to the Close Vote review queue size?

• The size does not demotivate me from reviewing close votes.
• Yes, I am demotivated, but have not slowed reviewing.
• Yes, I am demotivated, and have slowed reviewing.
• I have slowed reviewing, but not because I am demotivated by the size.
• I do not have 3000 reputation or am otherwise unable to properly use the queue.
• I don't know what it means to review close votes.

Answer 20

For non-programmers, what brought you to Stack Overflow?

1. Searching for help on a personal project
2. Searching for help on a work project
3. Keeping abreast of the latest technology
4. Another stack exchange network site (please specify)
5. Other (please specify)

For non-programmers, what type of work do you do?

1. Retail/Customer Service
2. Agriculture/Farming
3. Skilled Labor
4. Construction
5. Sales
6. Marketing
7. Student
8. Currently Unemployed
9. Other (please specify)

^{Note: The above list is horrible, and I anticipate there is a categorization method available somewhere}

---

The below is a separate question related to everyone.

Where do you access Stack Overflow from?

1. Work
   • Every day
   • Every week
   • Every month
   • Only when stack overflow pops up in search results
   • Never
2. Home
   • Every day
   • Every week
   • Every month
   • Only when stack overflow pops up in search results
   • Never
3. Mobile
   • Every day
   • Every week
   • Every month
   • Only when stack overflow pops up in search results
   • Never
4. Other (please specify)
   • Every day
   • Every week
   • Every month
   • Only when stack overflow pops up in search results
   • Never

Answer 21

Stack Overflow is receiving an ever-increasing amount of questions of varying amount of quality on a diverse set of languages and technologies. How do you discover questions you can answer?

• I don't. I only come here to ask, and if I don't like the answer I might contribute some of my own.
• I use the homepage and rely on the default sorting and interesting tags.
• I use the unanswered list of questions.
• I use the tag page.
• I use the review queue.

Do you feel each and every question gets the love it deserves?

• No, we don't moderate enough: there are just so many questions
• Yes, each question gets enough eyeballs to get closed, edited and/or answered in a timely manner
• No, we moderate too much: we should be more lax and helpful in our standards

If you feel there are too many questions for the userbase, how should we fix that?

• Increase the userbase through more contests and swag, at the risk of more annoying ads to fund the additional events
• Empower the existing userbase by lowering bar for moderation actions, at the risk of mistakes from inexperienced users
• Add more moderators, at the risk of more heterogeneous moderator action and thus increased drama
• Raise the bar on quality so less crap is posted, at the risk of increasing false positives in the rejection logic

Answer 22

I think for question #18 ("Which technologies are you excited about?"), we need an "Other" option. There's just way too much stuff out there not on the list. We might also want to dump some of the ones that people have shown less interest in. Here's a stab at a revised list:

• Node.js
• C++1x
• MongoDB
• Ruby
• iOS/Objective-C
• Android
• Go
• Google Glass

I suppose there are dozens of things that could go on this list. In any case, at a minimum, we need an "Other" with user input.

Answer 23

Do you answer bounty questions?

• Absolutely
• Sometimes
• Only if I walk by on accident
• Never
• What is bounty?

Do you use bounties to push a question's attention?

• Often
• Sometimes
• Never

Answer 24

Which option best describes your interaction with other SO users:

• Friendly, welcoming, forgiving
• Polite, professional, helpful
• Normal/No opinion
• Blunt, terse, concise
• Rude, unhelpful, abusive

Must admit, do we want to know this? :)

Answer 25

How many work-related projects are you actively working on?

1. 1
2. 2-5
3. 6-10

4. 10

How many personal software projects are you actively working on?

1. 1
2. 2-5
3. 6-10

4. 10

Answer 26

I suggest adding to some questions which already exist.

Please feel free to add to this, or modify the suggestions.

Question: If your company has a native mobile app, what platforms do you support?
Addition: please add Windows Phone 8+ as a platform
Status: done! Thanks Sklivvz!

Question: Including bonus, what is your annual compensation in USD?
Addition: Can we add something that puts this in context? We could:

• Ask for the average salary in their region in USD
• Use the Big Mac index: how many Big Macs would your hourly rate buy?

Answer 27

On which of the following site do you have an account (and use more than roughly once a week)?
(tick all that apply)

• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Some other social networking sites ...
• Perhaps some less social networking sites like GitHub?

(Suggestions welcome)

Disclaimer: I'm not sure why I posted this.

Answer 28

If you're a programmer, what kind of application domain are you working in?

• gaming
• web applications
• web api?
• mobile
• embedded systems
• OS internals
• browser
• compiler / DSL
• library
• scientific computing

Answer 29

How has the increase in the number of SE 2.0 sites about specific technologies affected your participation on SO?

• None
• I still read SO, but I answer fewer questions
• I still read SO, but I ask fewer questions
• I have more programming problems as a result that are a better fit for SO
• What's a diorama?

Answer 30

I think asking about gender(female/male) would be a useful metric that hasn't been mentioned.