Research on Open Source - Volunteers needed

Hello,

my name is Igor Steinmacher and I am PhD student from Brazil and a Research
Scholar at University of California, Irvine. I am conducting a research
aiming at finding how to support new contributors during their first steps
in the project.  My final goal is to verify what kind of tooling is
appropriate  to  support  the  newcomers  overcoming  their  difficulties
when  they  are willing to contribute to the project.

The first step of my research is to find out what are the main obstacles
and difficulties faced by these newcomers. My goal is to hear from the
community itself, interviewing new contributors and core members.

By having the information regarding the main problems, I will start
figuring out which mechanisms  can  be  applied  to  provide  the
support.  I  will  keep  the  anonymity  of interviewers and I have the
commitment to publish/return the results of my research to the community.

I need your help answering my interview. We will conduct the interviews via
textual chat, and we can schedule it at the time that fits better for you.
Please send me a private email if you are interested in supporting my
research.

I  also  request  your  help  reaching  out  contributors  so  that  I
can  gather  the  best information. The data will help gain insights about
newcomer issues, and allow us to propose initiatives to alleviate the
problems faced by newcomers, as a tentative to retain them.

To volunteer you must be 18 years or older, be English speaking, and have
experience in software development.

Feel free to contact me in case you have any doubt or question regarding my
research or
the interview process.
--
Igor Fabio Steinmacher
Visiting Scholar in Dept of Informatics at UCI (http://www.informatics.uci
.edu/)
Faculty in Dept. of Computing at Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná