title: Motivation, values, and work design as drivers of participation in the R open source project for statistical computing.
abstract: One of the cornerstones of the R system for statistical computing is the multitude of packages contributed by numerous package authors. This amount of packages makes an extremely broad range of statistical techniques and other quantitative methods freely available. Thus far, no empirical study has investigated psychological factors that drive authors to participate in the R project. This article presents a study of R package authors, collecting data on different types of participation (number of packages, participation in mailing lists, participation in conferences), three psychological scales (types of motivation, psychological values, and work design characteristics), and various socio-demographic factors. The data are analyzed using item response models and subsequent generalized linear models, showing that the most important determinants for participation are a hybrid form of motivation and the social characteristics of the work design. Other factors are found to have less impact or influence only specific aspects of participation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; mair@fas.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mair
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Psychology: Work, Education and Economy, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria;
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.affiliation: Service Marketing and Tourism, Wirtschatsuniversität Wien, 1020 Vienna, Austria;
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gruber
authors.affiliation: Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien Vienna University of Economics and Business, 1020 Vienna, Austria;
authors.forename: Reinhold
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hatzinger
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria;
authors.forename: Achim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zeileis
authors.affiliation: Institute for Statistics and Mathematics, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, 1020 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hornik
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008432:Mathematical Computing; D009042:Motivation; D011594:Psychometrics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014937:Work
keywords: R Project for Statistical Computing; Schwartz values; item response theory; motivation; work design