Workshop Session A9:
"Lies, Damn Lies, and Web Statistics (Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts)"
This page provides details for the workshop session on
"Lies, Damn Lies, and Web Statistics (Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts)".
- Title:
- Lies, Damn Lies, and Web Statistics (Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts)
- Facilitators:
- Mike Lowndes,
Natural History Musuem and Ranjit Sidhu, Nedstat
- Abstract:
- Web usage analysis by web server log analysis are known to be rough estimations,
and useful in general terms only. There are many sources of error, such as the
activity of search engine robots and spiders, proxy caching, and the dynamic nature
of IP assignation by many ISPs. A newer type of analysis that tracks users in
their browser claims to remove many of these problems, giving us a clearer picture
of 'real user' activity. Such services are also in near-realtime -whereas previously,
most institutions have downloaded logs weekly/monthly for analysis and then spent
considerable resources preparing reports etc.
In this session two different log analysis tools are compared, followed by a
comparison of log analysis and browser-based analysis. As a result of this work,
a consortium of national museums are considering moving to a hosted external service
as a consortium. A consortium of universities have already moved to browser-based
recording. Results from this work and issues raised by its implementation at
several sites, will be presented.
- Learning Outcomes:
- By the end of the session participants will:
- Have gained an understanding of the differences between log analysis and
browser-based usage recording.
- Have explored the sources of error in both types of analysis.
- Have considered a hosted service as an alternative to in-house analysis
(perhaps via a consortium approach).
- Have gained an insight into the issues surrounding the implementation of
browser-based analysis and the advantages it may bring.
- What has been learned? Experiences from implementation and usage of
browser-based tagging system. Overall trends and individual cases.
- What for the future? What are the possible future implications and possibilities
from browser based analysis.
- Room Requirements:
- PC and data projector.
- Venue:
- Conference Room 2 (capacity 30/60).
See venue details.
- Time:
- This session took place from 16:00-17:30 on Wednesday 6 July 2005.
- Contact Details
- Mike Lowndes
Interactive Media
Natural History Museum
Cromwell Road
London
SW7 5SW
Email: mikel AT nhm.ac.uk
Tel: 0207 9425821
