Kefuffle researching fanfic/fandom
A case study of what not to do when trying to research Internet-based phenomena/groups? For those of you not on LiveJournal academics_anon, here's the summary, quoted from the community post: "A researcher affiliated with Boston University named Ogi Ogas decided to do a survey of various LiveJournal fanfiction/fandom groups. Unfortunately: 1. Despite repeatedly mentioning his association with BU, it appears he never got IRB approval. 2. This research wasn't even for a project at BU; it was for a privately published book. (A book titled, incidentally, Rule 34: What Netporn Teaches Us About The Brain. I am not making this up.) 3. Because of the subject, the survey was quite explicit in some parts (and flat-out triggering in others). Yet it was posted to all-ages communities with nothing even resembling a warning. 4. After criticism of a number of the questions (on counts ranging from cisgender and heterosexual privilege to just plain squick), the researcher actually changed the survey while data was still actively being collected. 5. Edited to add: Oh yeah, and some of the questions had to do with illegal drugs and sexual activity, despite there being no privacy statement or anything else of the sort." Summaries of the drama: http://viv.id.au/blog/20090831.6431/ten-steps-to-a-perfect-fanstorm/ http://linkspam.dreamwidth.org/5800.html And the questionnaire itself: http://ljgeoff.livejournal.com/296228.html
Wow! If this is indeed true, I hope this cowboy "researcher" was disciplined by BU. ________________________________ From: Katy E. Pearce <kpearce@umail.ucsb.edu> To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Sent: Wednesday, September 2, 2009 5:38:33 PM Subject: [Air-L] Kefuffle researching fanfic/fandom A case study of what not to do when trying to research Internet-based phenomena/groups? For those of you not on LiveJournal academics_anon, here's the summary, quoted from the community post: "A researcher affiliated with Boston University named Ogi Ogas decided to do a survey of various LiveJournal fanfiction/fandom groups. Unfortunately: 1. Despite repeatedly mentioning his association with BU, it appears he never got IRB approval. 2. This research wasn't even for a project at BU; it was for a privately published book. (A book titled, incidentally, Rule 34: What Netporn Teaches Us About The Brain. I am not making this up.) 3. Because of the subject, the survey was quite explicit in some parts (and flat-out triggering in others). Yet it was posted to all-ages communities with nothing even resembling a warning. 4. After criticism of a number of the questions (on counts ranging from cisgender and heterosexual privilege to just plain squick), the researcher actually changed the survey while data was still actively being collected. 5. Edited to add: Oh yeah, and some of the questions had to do with illegal drugs and sexual activity, despite there being no privacy statement or anything else of the sort." Summaries of the drama: http://viv.id.au/blog/20090831.6431/ten-steps-to-a-perfect-fanstorm/ http://linkspam.dreamwidth.org/5800.html And the questionnaire itself: http://ljgeoff.livejournal.com/296228.html _______________________________________________ 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/
They've washed their hands of him, apparently - told him not to use his BU alumnus email or mention them in relation to the research. His only connection was as a recent graduate. He has also deleted all entries in his LiveJournal, which was set up to manage and discuss the research, and the link to the survey from his page now defaults to Google. It's being referred to as SurveyFail, and that pretty much sums it up. Sarah Merry 2009/9/3 Rhiannon Bury <rcbury@rogers.com>
Wow! If this is indeed true, I hope this cowboy "researcher" was disciplined by BU.
________________________________ From: Katy E. Pearce <kpearce@umail.ucsb.edu> To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Sent: Wednesday, September 2, 2009 5:38:33 PM Subject: [Air-L] Kefuffle researching fanfic/fandom
A case study of what not to do when trying to research Internet-based phenomena/groups?
For those of you not on LiveJournal academics_anon, here's the summary, quoted from the community post:
"A researcher affiliated with Boston University named Ogi Ogas decided to do a survey of various LiveJournal fanfiction/fandom groups. Unfortunately: 1. Despite repeatedly mentioning his association with BU, it appears he never got IRB approval. 2. This research wasn't even for a project at BU; it was for a privately published book. (A book titled, incidentally, Rule 34: What Netporn Teaches Us About The Brain. I am not making this up.) 3. Because of the subject, the survey was quite explicit in some parts (and flat-out triggering in others). Yet it was posted to all-ages communities with nothing even resembling a warning. 4. After criticism of a number of the questions (on counts ranging from cisgender and heterosexual privilege to just plain squick), the researcher actually changed the survey while data was still actively being collected. 5. Edited to add: Oh yeah, and some of the questions had to do with illegal drugs and sexual activity, despite there being no privacy statement or anything else of the sort."
Summaries of the drama: http://viv.id.au/blog/20090831.6431/ten-steps-to-a-perfect-fanstorm/ http://linkspam.dreamwidth.org/5800.html
And the questionnaire itself: http://ljgeoff.livejournal.com/296228.html
_______________________________________________ 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/
2009/9/3 Katy E. Pearce <kpearce@umail.ucsb.edu>: [snip]
2. This research wasn't even for a project at BU; it was for a privately published book. (A book titled, incidentally, Rule 34: What Netporn Teaches Us About The Brain. I am not making this up.)
OK, the research methods suck, but I LOVE the book title! Robin -- "What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?" ~ George Eliot Robin Turner IDMYO Bilkent Üniversitesi Ankara, Turkey http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/~robin http://solri.livejournal.com
participants (4)
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Katy E. Pearce -
Rhiannon Bury -
Robin Turner -
Sarah Merry