Assignment 4: Rights of those being observed...

My name is Joshua McCarthy / Ted Fujita.

I am an undergraduate student enrolled in an introduction to research methods class (Multimedia 333:Introdution to Field Research In Virtual Worlds) at Bradley University in Peoria Il, USA,  that is being conducted in Second Life. 

We are learning to do field research/ethnography and will not complete projects this term. But next semester, if we decide to do a project, our projects feature observation of a “community of practice,” that is, a group of people doing similar things in a cultural setting. I am observing this area at this time as I consider what work I might do next term.

My observations are merely descriptive: I’ll take notes about what I see and I may summarize those notes in my paper, in class presentations, or on my web-blog about this research. The blog is found at: . 

I will not record or publish either the SL or RL name of any avatar/person. Any observations about avatars or recording of their talk transcripts would take place only after having obtained the explicit permission (in text chat) of that avatar/person and would only happen after the name of the avatar had been changed via secret coding scheme. I will ask you if I can have your permission to use your talk as an exercise in learning about observing and taking notes. Any pictures taken in SL, that serve as explanatory information and which might include avatars, will be modified so that avatar names and identifying characteristics are blurred/blocked. You may choose to withdraw at any time without penalty by simply me to wish to stop observing you.

We will also learn how to interview informants about the communities of practice that we are studying. In this class, our conversations are informal, preliminary, “practice interviews.” In MM 333 we are learning the process of interviewing rather than collecting interview data. I will only keep track of our conversation in order to hand in an assignment to my teacher; no data will be analyzed or published.

These conversations are, again, voluntary and only with the informed permission of the avatar/person/informant. At the start of our interview, I will ask you, in text chat, if I have your informed consent to continue; you may withdraw or give permission (in text chat). I may copy out parts of the chat transcript from our conversations/interviews. When I do, I will change/code your name so that there is no recorded connection between you/your avatar and the data. You may choose to withdraw at any time without penalty by simply telling me you wish to stop. 

You may follow the progress of all of the class, at: . Information that we describe on our blogs serve as our gift to the communities of practice who share time and knowledge with us; perhaps our perspectives will help residents more fully understand and appreciate their activities.

If you have questions regarding the study, you can contact  me, in world or our of world via email at , or my teacher, Professor Beliveau in world or out of world as Ed Lamoureux at  ell@bradley.edu, 309-677-2378.