Note taking in SL

Below is a sample of some research notes I took while in Second Life.

FN - More have finally showed up, though not many. They are situated at the bar, some seated, some dancing near by. Quoting one patron “*holds up lighter*. I moved closer in, to the bar now. Engaging in small talk now with some around me. The bartender offered a trade of my hate for a drink. The DJ is talking with everyone, everyone, ‘workers’ included are talking. Conversations consist of dancing, clothing…comments on one guy “looking younger” tonight. Clothing consists of 80’s hair rock to modern day urban club outfit to leather vest, much of the clothing is all a bit bright and very much as one would expect as party clothing. Almost everyone is dancing or standing by the dance floor.

ON – People (Members)
more people showed up, but it was a very slow increase in the number of people, more people would come and go as the night went on, about 10 people dancing was the average.

MN – People (Members)
It would be a good idea to try and “mingle” with as many people as possible, maybe get an idea of what they talk about more privately?

ON – Conversation
The conversation started off as typical bar conversation and small talk and eventually would get a bit more personal.

ON – Clothing
The clothing consisted a lot of the things you would see in 80’s rock (hair) bands. Bright colors, animal skins, tight pants, long blonde hair, excessive make up.

TN – Clothing + conversation
The clothing seemed to date people as references were made to being a teenager or growing pu in the 80’s, placing a few of the members if not most in the 30’s-40’s range.

ON – Activity
Everyone was dancing excluding me, the DJ, club owners/managers and bartender

MN – Activity
Would be a good idea to blend in more and dance with everyone, this would cause me to stick out less as I did draw some odd attention just sitting at the bar.

-Zero

Setting up a practice interview

I will conduct a practice interview with 1 of 2 people I have received permission from. The first person will be known as Subject-A, she is sort of co-owner/architect of the land I’m researching on, she is responsible for just about everything on the property. Subject-B is the second person I may interview, she is the actual owner of the land. The two of them mix into the crowd and are among, if not the most active members of the area.

What I want to get out of the practice interview is a better idea as to why people “club” in SL. I approach the question from a few different ways.

Below are some of the questions I will ask:

1 What kinds of activities/behaviors do you find typical while people are in the club?

2 What similarities do you see in terms of what people want out of this virtual club environment that are the same or similar to what people want out of a RL club environment?

3 Do you personally attend similar events in RL that you do in SL?
(If yes apply question 2 responses)

4 Clubbing can be seen as a sort of dating/singles scene. Do you find people “hooking up” in the SL club environment often?
(If yes inquire about the seriousness of the relationships)

5 Do a wide variety of people attend your club or is it primarily common acquaintances?

6 If you had to choose, what would be the main reason people come to your club and why is that?

-Zero

Mapping a Virtual Space

I recently was able to obtain access to a land area via a land owner in SL for my studies. My assignment was to map out an area in Second Life and the following image is the result. I took an overhead shot of the land that I have access to and designated (via Adobe Photoshop) the hotspots on the central area of the land which will be significant in my future studies. I've highlighted the essential areas of the property as well as the areas that are commonly frequented/important to the general population based on my observations.

Special thanks to those people that will remain anonymous in allowing me to have access to their land :)




-Zero

Subject Protection

Below is a copy of my subject protection notecard (the card is a virtual notecard that can be given out to other avatars in Second Life) that I will hand out to those that will be researched or potentially researched. In essence this guerentees subject anonymity and gives the subject a better understanding of what I am setting out to do/more information about me.

My name is Matt Williams/Zerodividedby Infinity.
I am an undergraduate student enrolled in an introduction to research methods class (Multimedia 333:Introcution to Field Research In Virtual Worlds) at Bradley University in Peoria Il, USA, that is being conducted in Second Life.

We are learning to do field research/ethnography and will not complete projects this term. But next semester, if we decide to do a project, our projects feature observation of a “community of practice,” that is, a group of people doing similar things in a cultural setting. I am observing this area at this time as I consider what work I might do next term.

My observations are merely descriptive: I’ll take notes about what I see and I may summarize those notes in my paper, in class presentations to my classmates, or on my web-blog about this research. The blog is found at: < http://slane.bradley.edu/com/faculty/lamoureux/website2/333/bloglinks333_07.html >.

I will not record or publish either the SL or RL name of any avatar/person. Any observations about avatars or recording of their talk transcripts would take place only after having obtained the explicit permission of that avatar/person and would only happen after the name of the avatar had been changed via secret coding scheme. I will ask you if I can have your permission to use your talk as an exercise in learning about observing and taking notes. Any pictures taken in SL, that serve as explanatory information and which might include avatars, will be modified so that avatar names and identifying characteristics are blurred/blocked.

We will also learn how to interview informants about the communities of practice that we are studying. In this class, our conversations are informal and preliminary to actual data collection and interviewing. In MM 333 we are learning the process of interviewing rather than collecting interview data. I will only keep track of our conversation in order to hand in an assignment to my teacher; no data will be analyzed or published.

These conversations are, again, voluntary and only with the informed permission of the avatar/person/informant. To avoid linking you personally to your responses with an informed consent your completing the interview (survey) will imply consent. Will may copy out the chat transcript from our conversations/interviews. When we do, we will change/code your name so that there is no recorded connection between you/your avatar and the data. You may choose to withdraw at any time without penalty by simply telling me you wish to stop.

You may follow the progress of all of the class, at: . Information that we describe on our blogs serve as our gift to the communities of practice who share time and knowledge with us; perhaps our perspectives will help residents more fully understand and appreciate their activities.

If you have questions regarding the study, you can contact me, in world or our of world via email at , or my teacher, Professor Beliveau in world or out of world as Ed Lamoureux at ell@bradley.edu, 309-677-2378.

Do you read English clearly enough to understand this form and to respond?
Do you have any questions?
May I observe your behavior in this setting and make notes about it as part of a class exercise (rather than data collection for analysis & publication)?
Thank you for your time and consideration of my requests.


Do you agree? ______

-Zero