Teledemocracy by Ytterstad, Akselsen, Svendsen, and Watson

Data Collection / Data Archive	In this section, the different methods and sources for collecting data are described. We have also included some of the data collected from the questionnaire and pulse metering registration.
The interviews	In an early phase of the project (April 1993), a number of interviews were carried out in order to get initial requirements of an information system for the local government sector. Five politicians (all members of the board) and two members of the administration were questioned on the following subjects: Description of the political decision process from the respondent's point of view. Who does what in this process? How is a new issue brought to life and pushed through the system? Details on practical arrangements like scheduling of meetings, distribution of documents, and other procedures. Who communicates with whom -- why, how and when? In what contexts is political work carried out and at what hours? What are the most time consuming activities and what are the most difficult? What and how much material is read by politicians and how much written material is produced by the politicians? To what extent do politicians need access to documentation of old issues? The administration as the politician's service institution. The respondent's previous computer experience. The respondent's understanding and expectations of the project. The interviews were performed by three members of the POT project group at Salangen city hall. Interviews each took approximately 1.5 hours. In order to synchronize the approach, the first interview was attended by all three project members.
The questionnaire	The questionnaire was distributed to all elected members of the political bodies. A total of 23 forms out of 33 were returned, a 70 percent response rate. The questionnaire is available in its original form (Norwegian) and in English. The "quantitative" part of the collected data is available as an MS Excel spreadsheet.
Pulse metering data	Prior to the field trial, we wanted to find out whether politicians' use of the telephone differed from the general usage pattern in the local community. Pulse metering data for the politicians were collected and compared to corresponding data for the community as a whole. The pulse metering data are available in the same MS Excel spreadsheet as the questionnaire data. The exact number of pulses have been multiplied with an unknown constant due to company confidentiality concerns.
The log system	The POT system incorporates functionality for logging of events. Data are accumulated in a log file, which is automatically forwarded by e-mail to the system administrator when it reaches a predefined size. This provides for centralized supervision of user interactions, frequency of use, and user problems. In the field trial, a total of 70,000 user events were collected. The following events are logged by the system, each event preceded by a user id and a time stamp: Phone call from the menu, from the phone icon, or by drag'n'drop operation; Phone conference from the menu, from the phone icon, or by drag'n'drop operation; E-mail from the menu or by drag'n'drop operation; E-mail forwarded by explicit action or by timer expiry; Opening of an e-mail inbox; Selection of a communication partner by the use of drag'n'drop from the graphical directory or from a list; Attachment of documents to outgoing e-mail; Filing of documents attached to incoming e-mail; A number of error codes.