[Air-L] Online research ethics - SL

[Lois Ann Scheidt]

Do avatars really "want," Radhika?

Actually this is a very important discussion...the layers that must be 
sorted through ethically.  So many social utility sites now have ToS' 
that preclude much or all research...individuals in the site may tag 
themselves as not wishing to be researched...and participants may 
refuse to be research subjects if asked.  How do we sort out what is in 
and what is out of the research we do...gotta love complexity to be an 
internet researcher because heaven knows we are surrounded by 
complexity.

Lois Ann Scheidt

Doctoral Student - School of Library and Information Science, Indiana
University, Bloomington IN USA

Adjunct Instructor - School of Informatics, IUPUI, Indianapolis IN USA and
IUPUC, Columbus IN USA

Webpage:  http://www.loisscheidt.com
Blog:  http://www.professional-lurker.com


Quoting Radhika Gajjala <radhika at cyberdiva.org>:

> another can of worms Sj
> since in SL you have the additional reality of in-world avatars not
> wanting to be named in outside contexts
> there are layers of confidentiality issues here.
> r
>
>> This connects to an interesting discussion I've had in another
>> context, which has to do with whether, when one is doing research in
>> Second Life, observations of, or interactions with, avatars are
>> observations of or interactions with human subjects. I'm curious to
>> know what others think.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Sj
>>
>
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