Hi Kevin, I'd be interested in the ethics board's reasoning behind their request. Does it have to do with the content of your research, i.e. that you are interested in individuals' experiences with avatars rather than avatars per se? An excellent chapter on research ethics is Ess, C. (2007). Internet research ethics. In A. N. Joinson, K. Y. A. McKenna, T. Postmes & U.-D. Reips (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of Internet psychology (pp. 487-502). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Best --u At 11:11 Uhr +1200 1.8.2007, Kevin Sherman 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