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
--------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http:// aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http:// aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
jeremy hunsinger Information Ethics Fellow, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (www.cipr.uwm.edu ) wiki.tmttlt.com www.tmttlt.com () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments http://www.stswiki.org/ sts wiki http://cfp.learning-inquiry.info/ Learning Inquiry-the journal http://transdisciplinarystudies.tmttlt.com/ Transdisciplinary Studies:the book series