second life human subjects

The lack of informed consent would not pass muster with any University Humans Subjects Review Board. Among other things properly conducted sociological or psychological research almost always requires that subjects be offered the results of the studies.

I have been trying to track down the Instructor involved in this project to see why these standards have not been held to. In a former life as a behavioral ecologist, we had to get voles to sign informed consent notices (okay a little hyperbole there).

I believe that this project is being run out of the University of Pittsburgh, can anyone confirm or deny this in order to aid my search? I don't want to shut this down but I would like it to conform to established research policy. If nothing else, the instructor is doing the students a grave disservice by not teaching them standard policy as this is the sort of career killing move that would happen should these students actively pursue professional research.

The prject out of the University of Pitt..had Pitt as their last name. Standard policy was established with LL. LL informed everyone this would be happening from time to time back when the Pitts first entered the world. Somewhere on the website is a write up on this.

This is also not research in the way you percieve it. They are studying online as part of a communication class I believe....

i just wish we could get informe about this kinda thing up front instead of a couple days later when paranoia is running rampant. just a nice up front Linden post saying "here's what's going to happen, these are the guidelines they'll follow, here's their name". no brainer.

and why since the Pitt University people had the last name "Pitt" didn't the Elon University people get the last name "Elon"? i'm sure there are plenty of Snowcrash fans in sl who would have loved to get the Radiks name but now it's exclusive and out of reach.

that's all i'm really asking. there needs to be accountability for this kind of thing.



the reason human subjects is such a touch issue at universities it that if harm occurs much collateral damage can occur - to the subject, to the researcher, and the university.



i quite agree.

I agree. I personally see no problem with college students in SL. What's the big deal? Are they hurting anyone? No. Eeek! I'm being psychoanalyzed! Oh holy fuck! This is torture!

if someone was doing a thesis i woudl agree. these are not studies. these are term papers and journal reports.

get real!

actually excemption are often granted wrt to attaining informed consent in the case of "public observations". the two criteria are usually:


a few of the thorny places are:
- what constitutes public in sl
- what consititutes anonymity (do avatar names anonymize a person?)
- is there potential harm (do some of those people who come to sl to explore their fantasies want their employers, friends and family, or community to know what goes on in sl in the more salacious areas?)

for the record, any thing produced in the context of a college or university, particularly in the area of learning, training, or expanding the knowledge base, is considered research.

as someone who does university research and has to deal with these considersations regularly, it's not paranoia.

it's good research practice. and it is in the interest of researchers and academics to know that the data they are looking at is valid and ethical. research that is not both valid and ethical have had rather damaging effects on the credibility of many areas of social research.

and even with the best of intentions and the good foresight in planning harm can happen. in such cases it is important to know who to contact.

They are not allowed to include our names, and they are not allowed to post their findings anywhere, the only person that will see them are the university professor



You can find all of the information here http://trumpy.cs.elon.edu/metaverse/

There is also a post in another thread where the instructor openly explains this.

In short, quit freakin out! *laughs*

Jess

journal reports and writing classes are not research.

Each class that is in Second Life is abiding by the following policy. The teachers and all of the students have seen it. There are currently no classes in SL that are doing any research. Anyone who does approach us about formal research is given this policy, and asked to sign an agreement verifying that they will abide by the ethics standards laid out here. This policy is also being added to the website. If you have any suggestions about where it should go to be maximally visible, let me know. I was going to add it to the page footer.

As digital worlds like Second Life become more visible to the public, academics, researchers, and writers have shown an increased interest in studying the online behaviors and interactions of the people involved. The focus of their interest varies, but generally they want to observe, analyze, and often write about their observations. Sometimes we’re aware of these projects, but often these individuals find Second Life on their own without taking the important step of alerting Linden Lab of their intentions.

While most of these individuals follow the ethics guidelines of their professions and obtain informed consent from any individual they interview, that isn’t always the case. Additionally, there have been instances where private individual communications have been published without consent, and without anonymity, in public forums. It’s our fundamental belief that this type of behavior erodes trust and threatens the privacy of Second Life residents.

Second Life exists for its members. While we don’t discourage research or classroom study, it is our policy that no one may use Second Life or its forums for their own purposes without the explicit consent of Linden Lab.

If you are engaged in a classroom or research project, or plan to write about the Second Life community as part of your project you must contact Linden Lab via email at [email]education@lindenlab.com[/email]. Please send a detailed proposal for us to review. If we feel you have a valid project, we will alert the community to your proposal. After we hear from the members, we’ll make a final decision on whether/when you can begin. You will be asked to sign an agreement that you will adhere to our mutually agreed-on conditions of your project.

Members of the press can write generally about Second Life without following this process. However, if you plan to interview any Second Life residents please contact our Marketing Department. Contact information is available at www.lindenlab.com/press_0.php.

The Association of Internet Researchers is in the process of forming a task force to draft international guidelines for researchers who want to conduct research on the Internet. If you'd like to learn more, please visit their website at http://aoir.org/.

Is it just me this sentence confuses?

under most research univserity policies (and probably legally though the case hasn't come up yet) they are.

there is research as most people understanding it, and then there is research as research universities use it.

the university defintions and practices tend to be more stringent and rigorous. this protects the subjects, the researchers, and the university.

breaches of research ethics can affect the subjects less than the researcher, particularly multiple or widespread breaches. the penalities can vary from loss of a grant, to loss of one's graduate position, to a polite request to resign one's tenure, to a loss of reputation. and if the breach is particularly bad, university can end up paying quite a bit in damages.

standard practices and ethics exist to protect the subjects, the researchers, the field, and the institutions. it is why that minor infractions can be (and have been) punished much out of proportion to the actual harm - there is often more at stake than just the local situation.

I see a lot of people are getting awfully worked up over the issue of students in SL, but so long as interaction with the students is voluntary and students are clearly marked as such-who cares? You don't have to talk to them if you don't want to. Frankly, I've never even SEEN one, much less spoken to one. And why all the flaming? They're students taking a class. Would you freak out at a bunch of students on a field trip to the museum just because you happened to be there, too?

Besides, there are much bigger issues to worry about....like the lack of decent male clothing in SL.

have you consulted any (or -even better- all) of the three very prominent universities near ll about universities doing research online, in sl, in public? and what does or does not constitute research? and the legal issues would be for ll, if financial, employment, or repuation harm happens (despite best intentions and good planning)?

The questions that the Radiks are asking do not seem to constitute formal research to me. With the last incident with students doing research, it turned out that they were freshmen doing papers for an intro class of some sort. C'mon folks...nothing to freak out about. I seriously doubt that they are gathering "data" to publish in some fancy schmancy academic journal. If they were, they would need formal consent and then you would have the ethics board involved and what not.

Regarding more on consent, researchers have stopped referring to participants as human subjects to acknowledge the more active involvement of participants--they participate opposed to subject themselves to research. You know those questions that the Radiks post...you don't have to answer them. There is your consent.

i'm sure these undergrads are not worried about grant money or tenure!

suspected example of a class assignment:
"class, play sl and write weekly journals about your observations. remember, in accordance with LL and university policy, do not include interviews or quotes in your writing (or you will all lose your grant money)."

many of the restrictions in social studies research are explicitely focused on identity and on interviews. if the radiks go about sl writing about their observations/reflections on the game society at large they hardly need any of our permissions.

it's not a matter of freaking out, so much as a matter of good practice.

Oh, for fracks sake who cares?

If you dont want to talk to the folks, dont talk to them. Its that simple. Geez.

People can and will complain about everything. I think some people arent happy unless they are bitching about something. Seriously.

-AP

their instructor and possibly instructor's advisor may.



the assignments are posted



an in such cases excemptions are granted. the vetting process for such excemptions is important. assuming you will get exempted is not good practice.

I think what's offending some of the people who have voiced concern in this and other threads is that they are being studied, whether that's formal "research," or "casual observation." I suspect these people don't care what it's called--they just don't like the idea of being watched.

The fact that this study/research/observation work is in the context of an established academic institution might concern people more than, say, a Second Life weblogger making the same sorts of observations.

Based on a recent interaction with a student in the Radiks class, I'm not sure they have the sort of sensitivity being asked of them. This particular student considered all postings here to be public domain, and thought that anyone posting in a public forum shouldn't have a problem with their posting being used anywhere else. This is the sort of attitude I think people are objecting to.

there is a certain amount of people talking past each other.

there isn't any single issue. it is/isn't about opting in/out. it is/isn't about manners. it is/isn't ll's obligations to sl. it is/isn't about academics. it is/isn't about ethics.

it about a constellation of issues that relate to one another.

trying to simplify the issue down to one topic that one can take sides on isn't really going to get people anywhere.

Ok, StoneSelf, consider my last sentence changed from "This is the sort of attitude I think people are objecting to" to "This is one of the attitudes I think people are objecting to."

I of course disagree that simplification is harmful to this discussion. Oversimplification is probably harmful. I am aware that the issue is complex.

David you made me laugh!