Assignment 12 - Prospectus

I. Cover page

Role Playing in a Virtual World
Railynn Loire/Emily Berger
1/19/08
MM 333 '08

II. Abstract: Paragraph or two that summarizes the prospectus in brief.

My plans for research in Second Life will be specified in this prospectus. Within this prospectus I will give a brief overview of Second Life, including my proposed community of practice. I will also discuss methods I will use, including the qualitative approaches, the human subjects protection protocols, and time management. I will finally look at potential limitations.


III. Introduction: Research Problem

Second Life is a three-dimensional community created by its Residents. This virtual world lets people live another life. Members create an avatar to represent themselves. This new identity can be customized by not only the gender, but also the height, body shape and size, hair, clothes, accessories and even weapons. The Residents communicate with each other through text and voice. There are many different experiences and activities the Residents can do. They can buy property, create objects, join clubs, start businesses, or even attend classes.

My proposed community of practice is set in a Medieval and Fantasy era. Residents' avatars dress in Medieval attire and role play. An interesting aspect is that they don't have to be human, there are many Fantasy creatures that they can choose from, inluding faerie, elven and drow.

There are many different aspects and activities in this community. But I want to focus more on the different races and how they interact with each other and how they interact with those in other races.

Here are a few definitions the reader may not be familiar with:
An Avatar is a virtual identity of a Resident. This avatar can be customized in many different ways. The resident can even choose to make their avatar a furry, which is an animal.
SL is an acronym for Second Life.
RL is an acronym for Real Life.
Role Play is when people adopt and act out the role of characters, or parts.Their characters have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from other characters.


IV. Method

For this study there are a few different Qualitative Approaches I will take. I want to be participant-observer, in which I will participate in the events and dress in Medieval attire. While doing so I will interact with the Residents within the community. But also I will be taking notes while participating. I also am interested in the three standards of Qualitative research, which are observation, appreciation and understanding.

Being anonymous is a huge aspect to the human subjects protection protocol. I will code each name and location that I record during an observation. Also any pictures I take I will edit the names and any features on the avatar that could identify the Resident. For those I observe and interview I will hand them a copy of the Protocol in a note card and receive their permission. I will also have a written consent of the landowner of the community of which I want to observe.

The population I want to study is set in a Medieval and Fantasy era. Guests and members must be dressed to part. There are many races to choose from and many rules of each race to follow. Possibilities are endless, but most populated choices are human, elven, faerie, and drow. There are many activities that take place also. There are jousting, archery and combat tournaments, as well as live concerts and folk tales. A very popular place for people to just "hang out" is the drum circle.

A selective sampling I will do will be focusing on the greeting aspect and how people enter and leave the location. I will also use multiple locations including the drum circle and the grand ballroom. Another good location is the Fortress which is also the shopping center for the avatar's clothing.

The times for events vary. Most scheduled events last 1-3 hours, mostly depending on the participants and what the actual event is. Therefore the events I do go to I would like to go to entirely. Instead of being in for a certain amount of weeks and out for the last amount of weeks, I'd like the SL and RL involvement varied. Be at the event, then take RL data processing.

I will be reviewing literature when I get to the class MM 444. I will do a review on “Field Research: Strategies for a Natural Sociology” by Leonard Schatzman and Anselm L. Strauss which was also our book for the previous class. This book covers qualitative methods and ethnography.


V. Potential limitations

There are many potential limitations to the research. The first one being the reliability of the interviewees and subjects. It is much easier to not show up at a specified time in SL then it is in RL. Also Residents may act differently and portray to you their community in the way that they think you want to see them. Another problem might be getting permissions from the owner of the land.


VI. Discussion

In this research I hope to find out the reasons people role play and how they interact with others. This will show why people keep returning and why this community is a positive and friendly place.

This research will head us toward a better understanding of Second Life and why those continue to be a Resident. Why do people choose Second Life as a medium over other choices, RL and social networking? What new tools and resources can Second Life provide us and offer in the future?