Research Project on Sex in MMOGs

I'm not sure if this belongs in the Off-Topic or the General Discussion section. If this is the wrong section, I'd be happy to post this thread elsewhere.

Hello,

My name is Nick and I’m an undergraduate at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. I’m currently enrolled in a class about virtual worlds. As part of an ongoing research project, I would like to talk to players about their sexual experiences within virtual environments such as Everquest II, Second Life and Sociolotron. I plan on conducting these interviews via e-mail, online forums, instant messages and in-game interactions.

I realize that this is a sensitive subject. I have no ulterior motives to this study except to learn about people and their in-game sexual practices. If you decide to participate, your anonymity and confidentiality will be assured. The study will only mention the subjects’ genders and ages.

You must be at least 18 to participate. If you are willing to be interviewed, please contact me at:

[email]sexinmmogs@gmail.com[/email]

I have also created an online forum for the study. If you would like to establish a dialogue via a password-protected forum thread, please set up an account by going to the forum and clicking on the “register” button. Setting up an account requires e-mail verification. The address is:

http://sexinmmogs.proboards98.com

I understand that the gaming community is bombarded with survey requests that never lead anywhere. This request is different. Our class is committed to sharing its research findings. At the end of the semester, all student papers and presentations will be linked to the course web site and made available to anyone with an Internet connection.

For more details about our course and the research project, visit:

http://www.trinity.edu/adelwich/worlds/faq.html

Thank you for your time.

Nick

Intriguing project. My only concern is that:



Is your research guided by or will your results be influenced by the views of the Presbyterian Church? (To be honest, I don't know much about officially held Presbyterian values on sexuality. OK, make that, I don't know anything about them).

Has this been cleared with LL? The TOS/CS requires it.

How so?

He wants people who volunteer to email him to participate in research that will almost entirely be done off-site, as I understand it. The only thing actually being done in SL is this post, or possibly in-world communication, if both parties agree. But maybe I misunderstood? I did give the TOS and CS a quick read, but I couldn't come up with a violation.

(edited to add in-world comment)

The guidelines regarding research in-world can be found here:

http://secondlife.com/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=Research+Ethics+in+Second+Life

I think this sentence merits consideration:

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.

From LL maybe not exactly the TOS/CS but a requirement none the less:

"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."

Here is the link:

http://secondlife.com/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=Research+Ethics+in+Second+Life

How many people wanna bet that the only folks interested in doing this are exhibitionists? lol

The trouble with sex research is that it is very very difficult to get those folks who aren't "performing" to take part. This will naturally skew the result. I have only seen one instance in which someone versed in methodology accounted for this in a sex study (well two, actually) and that was Shere Hite.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize that I had to contact Linden Labs about my research project. Moderaters may feel free to lock or remove this thread until I get approval.

As for the Presbyterian affiliation, I understand the concern. For all practical purposes, the affiliation is by name only. My research is in no way guided or influenced by the school or any religious affiliation it may claim. Trinity University is a private, liberal arts college, and is very open-minded regarding people and their religious affiliations. I myself am not a Presbyterian (and to be honest Lorelei, I probably know just as much about them as you do) and none have tried to convert me since I've enrolled in the school.

I just shot LL an e-mail about the project. Hopefully they will approve it.

For the record, the project does sound interesting. I wish you luck and when you get approval I would happily participate.

Jake, you perv. (haha, no just kidding.) I'm tempted to participate too, but then, I'm one of those people I worry about skewing your study!

Good luck to the OP

Thank you for understanding, Newton.

When you do have LL approval, either a Linden or a Moderator will be happy to unlock this thread. If LL (a Linden) does not unlock it for you, just shoot me a Private Message (PM), and I will unlock it for you. You can send a PM by clicking on my name (or the names of just about any forum participant) and choosing "send private message."

Welcome to Second Life and good luck with your research.

I am happy to report that this study has been approved by Linden Lab.

Good luck with your work, Newton.

Thanks for reopening the thread Euterpe. I've gotten some responses but I'd like to see some more. If any of you have any questions about the project please don't hesitate to ask them.

Again, if anyone has any questions about the research and/or would like to participate, feel free to contact me via e-mail, my posted forum, or by continuing posting on this thread. Thank you.

As I said, Newton. I am interested. I might be a perve but I do not think so. But IM in world or better, here on the forums. YOu can always just ask me in Ask jake anything.
lol

Ok cool. I'll get back to you later about when to interview you. Thanks again for volunteering.

If you want non-exhibitionists to participate, offer some $Lindens. Of course, then instead of exhibitionists like Persephone you'll get greedy biatches like me

I don't have a lot of L$, but I may have enough.

I finished my research and my professor, Dr. Delwiche, has posted my paper online. You can view it here (in .pdf format):

Aesthetics and gratification: Sexual practices in virtual environments
Nick Nobel, Trinity University, 2006

All the other papers, along with links to our respective weblogs, can be find on the class’ student section.

If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at [email]sexinmmogs@gmail.com[/email] or [email]nnobel@gmail.com[/email]. Thank you to everyone who participated or offered to help. I really appreciate it.

Sweet. Interesting read. Hope it was received well!