LF volunteers to help with my research paper

Gealach

edit 1/6/10 - Wow, this thread is still around. It's been about a year since I posted a request for volunteers to complete a survey for my grad school assignment. I completed my research and finished my paper last February and I intended to have it published in a peer-reviewed journal of some sort. Well, between graduating, starting a new job, and hurrying to catch up to my level 80 friends in WoW, I lost all momentum. I realized that if I didn’t self-publish the results I’d never get this information out there.

So, if you’re interested, you can read my graduate research paper here: www.cindygreenan.com/socialcapitalofmmos. There’s also a “TLDR” version if you want to just see a bunch of colorful graphs of the most interesting results.

Thank you to everyone that participated. I received an amazing number of responses and I’m really grateful. I hope you enjoy reading my analysis.

P.S.

Richard_Dastardly wrote: »

This survey left me feeling like an anti-social hermit.

Thank you graduate student. Thank you very much.

I hope this makes you feel better.




Original post:
I've been a member of a couple of different MMOs for several years. My experiences have become the inspiration for a research project that I need to complete for school. Who knew homework could be fun?

As part of my graduate degree in Library and Information Studies, I need to write a research paper, and I've chosen to study the social interactions of groups within MMOs. I am asking for volunteers to complete a survey about their experiences in virtual worlds/MMOs so that I can compare the results to the real world.

If you are 18 years or older and have been a member of an MMO for more than 3 months, please take a moment to complete the survey: http://sites.google.com/site/socialcapitalofmmos/

Thanks for your time.

AtomBomb

Sure. I used to play FFXI and WoW, but I quit 2 years ago or so. Filled it out based on how I was when I was playing.

Trus

Done

Richard_Dastardly

This survey left me feeling like an anti-social hermit.

Thank you graduate student. Thank you very much.

Aegis

Done, done!

tziel

Just finished

Xaiok

Completed it for you as well.

Solandra

done!

Dark Moon

Done. It made me very glad I'm no longer actively playing EVE.

Kate of Lokys

Done.

I used these very boards to write my own paper involving social capital last year! Yay for internet research.

proXimity

Done

lizard eats flies

Done.
One nitpick from an otherwise good survey. One of the questions was something about meeting online friends in real life. This one threw me because there are a lot of people I play with online who I knew in real life before I started playing (college friends, coworkers). The question was sort of ambiguous as to whether or not they should be counted.

Gealach

Thanks for all the responses so far! And sorry for making you feel antisocial Honestly, I was surprised at the national responses to the generalized survey - you may not be as antisocial as you think.

As for the nitpick, I apologize for the ambiguity. I modeled the questions as closely as possible to an existing survey so that it will be easier to compare the results. When I discuss the limitations in my analysis, one of the problems I intend to mention is the fact that I can not be there to clarify any confusion such as yours. That's one of several problems with internet surveys.

RedDawn

lizard eats flies wrote: »

Done.
One nitpick from an otherwise good survey. One of the questions was something about meeting online friends in real life. This one threw me because there are a lot of people I play with online who I knew in real life before I started playing (college friends, coworkers). The question was sort of ambiguous as to whether or not they should be counted.

Same here, over all it was a well done survey.

lizard eats flies

Gealach wrote: »

Thanks for all the responses so far! And sorry for making you feel antisocial Honestly, I was surprised at the national responses to the generalized survey - you may not be as antisocial as you think.

As for the nitpick, I apologize for the ambiguity. I modeled the questions as closely as possible to an existing survey so that it will be easier to compare the results. When I discuss the limitations in my analysis, one of the problems I intend to mention is the fact that I can not be there to clarify any confusion such as yours. That's one of several problems with internet surveys.

An interesting thing I noticed relating to this. There was the one question where you stated the actual question, worded in 'survey language' and then right after you said "what im looking for here is ..."
I actually really liked that because it helped me answer the question honestly to give you the data you were looking for, as opposed to just answering the letter of the question.

Also, can I request that, once you are done with your survey/paper that you post your findings back here?

ceres

Just finished, and I would also like to see the findings when you're done.

Gealach

lizard eats flies wrote: »

An interesting thing I noticed relating to this. There was the one question where you stated the actual question, worded in 'survey language' and then right after you said "what im looking for here is ..."
I actually really liked that because it helped me answer the question honestly to give you the data you were looking for, as opposed to just answering the letter of the question.

I didn't add more of that because that wasn't actually my wording. All of the questions that don't pertain exclusively to virtual worlds were copied word for word from the General Social Survey. You can google it to see how you compare to America at large (but please do so AFTER taking my survey so it doesn't effect your responses. ;-) ) Most of the MMO questions were either slightly modified GSS questions, modeled after Nick Yee's research, or completely made up by me. There are very few of the latter type of question though.

I would have liked to change the wording of some of the questions, but I was concerned about changing the meaning and therefore changing the reliability of the results when compared to the GSS.

Also, to those of you wishing to see the final product, please email the address I listed on that site. I can't guarantee you'll get a response otherwise.

Zyre

Completed.

Liiya

Done, I'd like to see the findings too

Siska

This question will look odd since you asked us to answer all the questions as if we were currently active.

11. Now think about your closest friend in the MMO. How often do you see this person online?

I used to have some close friend in an MMO a decade ago. Peas in a pod. But after I left that MMO we lost touch. So the survey says I have several online friends I NEVER see online.

ApexMirage

Done and done

Gealach

Wow, this thread is still around. It's been about a year since I posted a request for volunteers to complete a survey for my grad school assignment. I completed my research and finished my paper last February and I intended to have it published in a peer-reviewed journal of some sort. Well, between graduating, starting a new job, and hurrying to catch up to my level 80 friends in WoW, I lost all momentum. I realized that if I didn’t self-publish the results I’d never get this information out there.

So, if you’re interested, you can read my graduate research paper here: www.cindygreenan.com/socialcapitalofmmos. There’s also a “TLDR” version if you want to just see a bunch of colorful graphs of the most interesting results.

Thank you to everyone that participated. I received an amazing number of responses and I’m really grateful. I hope you enjoy reading my analysis.

P.S.

Richard_Dastardly wrote: »

This survey left me feeling like an anti-social hermit.

Thank you graduate student. Thank you very much.

I hope this makes you feel better.

Steev

As a fellow MLS holder, let me just say that this was a far more interesting project than anything I ever did in library school. I am pretty sure I participated in the survey. I only just skimmed the TLDR version, though.

Gealach

Yeah, I'm really glad I found this topic because I don't think I could have written a long paper about something that didn't interest me. Thanks for your interest!

ceres

Thanks for coming back to post your data.

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud

Congratulations on writing a fantastic paper. Very interesting, especially the dichotomy of actual altruism/trusting and perception of trust. Neat!

Gealach

There were a few results like that that I found fascinating. I almost want to continue the research and explore topics like that some more... but one paper was enough for me I think.