5.1.4 Comparison between Wikipedia Entries and Articles from the Alternative Encyclopaedias per Cell i.e. per Language and Academic Discipline
The results of the intra-cell comparisons are presented in Table 5.14. It is difficult to interpret these findings without the raw data – a reporting of which is beyond the scope of this document. However, to summarise the findings, the far right column of the table contains the interpretation of the findings with reference to the database.
To summarise, in nine out of the ten cells, Wikipedia scored significantly higher than the alternative encyclopaedias on references. In one cell (English and Medical Sciences) Wikipedia scored significantly higher than the alternative (Encyclopaedia Britannica) on all dimensions. In another cell (Arabic and Mathematics, Physics and Life Sciences) the alternative scored significantly higher than Wikipedia on references, style and overall judgment.
| Accuracy | References | Style | Overall Judgment | Overall Quality Score | Interpretations Based on Raw Data | |
| English & Humanities | U=12.00 | U=16.00* | U=3.00 | U=12.50 | U=6.00 | Wikipedia scored significantly higher than the alternative for references. |
| P=0.34 | P=0.03 | P=0.20 | P=0.20 | P=0.69 | ||
| English & Social Sciences | U=6.00 | U=16.00* | U=2.00 | U=8.00 | U=5.00 | Wikipedia scored significantly higher than the alternative for references. |
| P=0.69 | P=0.03 | P=0.11 | P=1.00 | P=0.49 | ||
| English & MPLS | U=26.50 | U=35.5* | U=15.00 | U=29.00 | U=19.00 | Wikipedia scored significantly higher than the alternative for references. |
| P=0.18 | P=0.002 | P=0.70 | P=0.09 | P=1.00 | ||
| English & Medical Sciences | U=58.50** | U=59.00** | U=51.00* | U=57.00** | U=52.00* | Wikipedia scored significantly higher than the alternative on all dimensions. |
| P=0.69 | P=0.03 | P=0.11 | P=1.00 | P=0.49 | ||
| Spanish & Social Sciences | U=94.50 | U=112.50* | U=40.00 | U=73.50 | U=52.50 | Wikipedia scored significantly higher than the alternative for references. |
| P=0.20 | P=0.02 | P=0.07 | P=0.40 | P=0.61 | ||
| Spanish & MPLS | U=33.00* | U=36.00** | U=28.00 | U=36.00** | U=33.00* | Wikipedia scored significantly higher on references overall judgment and overall quality score. The alternative scored higher on accuracy. |
| P=0.02 | P=0.002 | P=0.13 | P=0.002 | P=0.02 | ||
| Spanish & Medical Sciences | U=41.00 | U=55.00* | U=20.00 | U=38.00 | U=30.00 | Wikipedia scored significantly higher than the alternative for references. |
| P=0.38 | P=0.02 | P=0.23 | P=0.57 | P=0.88 | ||
| Arabic & Social Sciences | U=12.50 | U=16.00* | U=3.00 | U=15.00 | U=10.00 | Wikipedia scored significantly higher than the alternative for references. |
| P=0.20 | P=0.03 | P=0.20 | P=0.06 | P=0.69 | ||
| Arabic & MPLS | U=7.50 | U=3.00* | U=4.00* | U=4.00* | U=15.00 | The alternative scored significantly higher on references, style and overall judgment. |
| P=0.09 | P=0.02 | P=0.03 | P=0.03 | P=0.70 | ||
| Arabic & Medical Sciences | U=29.00 | U=27.00 | U=16.50 | U=23.00 | U=21.00 | |
| P=0.09 | P=0.18 | P=0.82 | P=0.49 | P=0.70 |
*p<0.05, **p<0.01. U = Mann Whitney U test statistic. MPLS = Mathematics, Physics and Life Sciences.
Table 5.14 Intra-cell comparisons of articles between Wikipedia and alternative encyclopaedias.
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