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Project Title: Ethnography of Myst and Uru Online Communities

Investigators: Celia Pearce, Ph.D., Nicholas Watson
Georgia Institute of Technology

Protocol Title: H10281 Ethnography of Myst and Uru Online Communities (2010/09/27 v.3)

You are being asked to be a volunteer in a research study.

Please read this page carefully, as it explains the research procedures and your rights as a participant.

Purpose:

This is an ethnographic study of the online community of Myst/Uru players.
The study includes current and past Uru players in virtual worlds such as Myst Online: Uru Live Again, Second Life and Twinity, and on web forums.
The purpose of this study is to learn more about the community of "Uruvians," their culture and their activities.

Exclusion/Inclusion Criteria:

You should be at least 18 years old, and a member of the Myst/Uru community, in order to participate in this study.

Procedures:

We will be conducting participant-observation of your activities in virtual worlds or on web forums. Participant observation means that the researcher will observe and take notes, but will also take part in some of the activities.
The researcher will interact with you and others in-world as an avatar. (There will be no realworld research activities in this study.)
We are interested in normal cultural customs, activities and behaviors in virtual worlds. Therefore, when being observed, you should continue doing what you would normally do.
There are no minimum or maximum time requirements for participation. You should log in or log out as you normally would. You do not need to participate in research for the entire time you are logged in.
Most of the time, you will be observed in group settings with others.
Participant observation may occur on many occasions over the course of a few months, up to 31 October 2011.
Your participation does not require any special action, except that you allow us to observe and collect data about you.
If you decide to be in this study, the researcher might ask if you are also willing to give a longer, formal interview. The interview would be 1-2 hours in length. You can still participate without giving the interview.

Risks or Discomforts:

The risks involved with participation are minimal.
There is a chance that you may become uncomfortable or upset during the study. This is due to situations that may arise such as sensitive topics or the behavior of others.
Remember, you can stop participating at any time. You can also request that any data remain confidential or off-the-record.
Information about you will be kept anonymous in any published results from the study.

Benefits:

You are not likely to benefit from participating. We hope, however, that you will value the
opportunity to share your views, opinions and insights. This study will contribute to a
greater understanding about Myst, computer game fan communities, social online games
and virtual worlds.

Compensation to You:

There is no compensation for participation.

Confidentiality:

Your privacy will be protected to the extent allowed by law.
Data, including recordings, transcripts, screenshots and chat logs, will be kept on a secure server owned by the Georgia Institute of Technology. They will only be accessible to the researchers. They will not be shared or made accessible to anyone else. These files will not be stored on public computers.
To protect your identity, your data will be kept under a pseudonym. No data will be published that could be used to identify you, directly or indirectly, without your explicit consent.
To make sure that this research is being carried out in the proper way, the Georgia Institute of Technology Institutional Review Board (IRB) may review study records. The Office of Human Research Protections may also look over study records during required reviews.
You should be aware that the experiment is not being run from a secure https server of the kind typically used to handle credit card transactions, so there is a small possibility that responses could be viewed by unauthorized third parties such as computer hackers. In general, the web page software will log as header lines the IP address of the machine you use to access this page, e.g.,102.403.506.807, but otherwise no other information will be stored unless you explicitly enter it.

Costs to You:

There are no costs to you, other than your time, for being in this study.

In Case of Injury/Harm:

If you are injured or harmed as a result of being in this study, please contact Celia Pearce,Ph.D., at telephone (310) 866-8014. Neither the Principal Investigator nor Georgia Institute of Technology has made provision for payment of costs associated with any injury resulting from participation in this study.

Participant Rights:

Your participation in this study is voluntary. You do not have to be in this study if you don't want to be.
You have the right to change your mind and leave the study at any time, for any reason.
You have the right to decide that you want certain data about you to remain "off-the-record."
We will not keep, use or publish off-the-record data.
Any new information that may make you change your mind about being in this study will be given to you.
You will be given a copy of this consent form to keep.
You do not waive any of your legal rights by consenting to be in this study.

Questions about the Study:

If you have any questions about the study, you may contact Dr. Celia Pearce at telephone (310) 866-8014 or celia.pearce [[at]] lcc [[dot]] gatech [[dot]] edu.

Questions about Your Rights as a Research Participant:

If you have any questions about your rights as a research participant, you may contact Ms. Kelly Winn, Georgia Institute of Technology Office of Research Compliance, at (404) 385-2175.

CONSENT

If you consent to volunteer for this research, it means that you have read the information given in this consent form, and you would like to be a volunteer in this study.

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Date: 04/27/2024

Confirmed consent questions:

Other Info

Protocol Title: H10281 Ethnography of Myst and Uru Online Communities (2010/09/27 v.3)
Consent Form Approved by Georgia Tech IRB for the period October 11, 2010 - October 10, 2011

You may download a PDF copy of this document bearing the Georgia Tech IRB approval stamp, here:
http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/~nwatson7/myst/irbH10281_uru_consent_stamped.pdf

Other links:

Georgia Tech Office of Research Compliance http://www.compliance.gatech.edu/
U.S. Federal Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/

Researcher Contact: nicwatson [[at]] gatech [[dot]] edu

Consent Form for Participants in Myst/Uru Online Communities Research