[Air-L] Ethics in online virtual worlds

[henry mainsah]

I am interviewing users of social networking sites on MSN instant
messenger and when I posed the problem to the Norwegian Bureau of
Statistics I got conflicting answers. I was first told that i needed
hard copy signatures to informed consent forms for all interviews
conducted online. Later i was told that emailed replies to me
confirming my informants' acceptance of the conditions of the informed
consent form were sufficient.
At the moment i have hard copies of only a few  consent forms and
electronic copies of the others. I got a few of informants i
interviewed online to send me hard copies of their signed consent
forms which i had sent to them by post together with stamped and
addressed envelopes. Others have refused because they don't want to
reveal their post addresses

On 8/1/07, Heidelberg, Chris <Chris.Heidelberg at ssa.gov> wrote:
> I also used multiple blog, video, audio and social media sites to
> distribute my results online for my committee, professors, researchers
> and colleagues in order to demonstrate open research utilizing
> convergence. I did obtain hard copies and electronic signatures too.
> Initially, I utilized the email responses to my informed consent forms
> to obtain consent. Later, I was able to get my subjects to fax email
> their electronic signatures to me because fax emails are recognized in
> Maryland.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
> [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of mhward
> Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 7:25 PM
> To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
> Subject: Re: [Air-L] Ethics in online virtual worlds
>
> I'm not sure if this is relevant, but my study involved setting up blogs
> for a group of PhD candidates at my own university for me to collect
> data on their PhD process. I was told to email them a copy of the
> information sheet that had been approved by the ethics committee. Their
> emailed replies to me, agreeing to the conditions therein, was
> sufficient consent to allow their participation.
>
> M-H
>
>
> On 1/8/07 9:11 AM, "Kevin Sherman" <kevin.sherman at aut.ac.nz> wrote:
>
> > I will be interviewing and observing avatars within Second Life as
> > research for my phd.  I have been asked by my ethics board to obtain
> > hard copy signature consent from my participants rather than online
> > digital consent.  Can anyone direct me to literature pertaining to the
>
> > practicalities of informed consent in online virtual worlds (mmogs,
> > mmorpgs, second life, etc..) or discuss their own experience with
> this?
> >
> > Thank you,
> > Kevin
> >
>
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