[Air-L] avatar research ethics

[Jeremy Hunsinger]

I think in this case we have to deal with the part of the IRB  
guidelines that specify the term 'interaction' to include  
interpersonal communication as definitive of intervention.   if you  
attempt to communicate then it is intervention.   Then you either have  
pursue the knowledge as to whether it is communication with a human,  
such as you find with most avatars in sl, or not.

On Mar 8, 2008, at 7:02 AM, Steve Jones wrote:

> The puppet/puppeteer analogy is an interesting one. Indeed, what if
> one were studying a puppet? Would human subjects approval be
> necessary? Where does one draw the line? The study of the puppet,
> inert, we might presume to not be study of a human subject (although
> maybe the puppet is in some way an "artifact" representing its maker
> and one would be required to have human subjects approval?). The study
> of the puppet as a "medium" for interaction with the puppeteer we
> might presume to be study of a human subject (that is, a study of the
> puppeteer via the puppet) but a) to what degree, if at all, does the
> puppet "represent" the puppeteer? and b) what if the puppet had some
> agency of its own? Then there's the study of the puppet engaged in a
> play. Perhaps the play is entirely scripted, perhaps it is entirely
> improvised, or it is somewhere in-between. Is the study in any case
> human subjects research?
>
> Sj
>
> On Mar 8, 2008, at 5:12 AM, Radhika Gajjala wrote:
>
>> A cartoon charater is not "inhabited" by a human being in the way  
>> that
>> a MOO character or avatar is - when you live there for a long time...
>> Think of Avatars on SL and puppets/puppeteers. Would you write  
>> about a
>> puppet separately from the puppeteer?
>>
>> r
>>
>>
>> On Mar 8, 2008, at 2:29 AM, William Bain wrote:
>>
>>> Marjorie Kibby wrote: "Our review board guidelines [....] would see
>>> avatars as human subjects."
>>>
>>> Forgive if this is too simplistic, but where would this leave
>>> someone wanting to study some cartoon character? I mean, obviously
>>> any such study would have to mention the author & author's rights.
>>> But those guidelines strike me as , I don't know, too harsh? Too
>>> strict?
>>>
>>> Best regards, Will
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> William Bain
>>> PhD Student
>>> Comparative Literature
>>> Department of Spanish Philology
>>> Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
>>>
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>
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jeremy hunsinger
Information Ethics Fellow, Center for Information Policy Research,  
School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (www.cipr.uwm.edu 
)

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