Curse

gaming_study · Mar 12, 2011, 08:23 PM // 20:23

Hello all,

Apologies for the off-topic posting.

I am a graduate student at Georgia State University. My Masters thesis is based on online gaming and teamwork. As part of this, I have an online survey up on Survey Monkey. I thought I could post the link here and invite all of you to take the survey. It contains a set of questions about participating in online games, and another set linked with working in teams/groups.

All responses are anonymous, and the survey will not take more than 15-20 minutes to complete.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/OnlineGamingTeamwork is the link.

Thanks for your participation! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Lakshmi

Jenn · Mar 12, 2011, 11:51 PM // 23:51

Completed

.

I wrote a lot - I hope you don't mind

.

**cosyfiep** · Mar 13, 2011, 12:30 AM // 00:30

I also completed it---kinda confused about question 20....on page 2. (I think you left out a word).

edit: mercury, yes I understood the line of questions--the phrasing for that particular question made no sense--a word or so was left out kind of like saying: "I am mall to shop"--something missing in that question.

Mercury Angel · Mar 13, 2011, 02:08 AM // 02:08

How do you plan to account for social desirability biases with the first Leadership/Teamwork scale? As best as I can tell, there are no control questions, and there is no masking.

Edit:

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosyfiep

I also completed it---kinda confused about question 20....on page 2. (I think you left out a word).

My access to online databases is cut off at the moment, but as best as I can tell, the second segment of the survey that begins and ends on page 2 was adapted from the Revised Leadership in Sports Scale.

The original item looks just as bizarre.

Quote:

I fail to explain my actions.

gaming_study · Mar 13, 2011, 07:48 PM // 19:48

Thanks for responding, guys! Yes, it has been adapted from RLSS, and I had to use the original item as is. Which is why, there are a couple of lines that explain upfront that the questions are linked with working in a group/team setting. Sorry if that was confusing.

My adviser didn't mention anything about accounting for Social Desirability Bias. I didn't think about it either. Thanks for bringing it up... I'll check with her.

If you know of any other active gaming forums where I can post the link (and get responses as supportive as these...

), please let me know.

Lakshmi

gaming_study · Mar 13, 2011, 07:50 PM // 19:50

Not minding at all...

Thanks for responding!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jenn

Completed

.

I wrote a lot - I hope you don't mind

.

Mists · Mar 14, 2011, 04:46 AM // 04:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaming_study

Hello all,

Apologies for the off-topic posting.

I am a graduate student at Georgia State University. My Masters thesis is based on online gaming and teamwork. As part of this, I have an online survey up on Survey Monkey. I thought I could post the link here and invite all of you to take the survey. It contains a set of questions about participating in online games, and another set linked with working in teams/groups.

All responses are anonymous, and the survey will not take more than 15-20 minutes to complete.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/OnlineGamingTeamwork is the link.

Thanks for your participation! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Lakshmi

GT FTW

Completed survey, try IGN forums.

Mercury Angel · Mar 14, 2011, 09:46 AM // 09:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaming_study

My adviser didn't mention anything about accounting for Social Desirability Bias. I didn't think about it either. Thanks for bringing it up... I'll check with her.

If you know of any other active gaming forums where I can post the link (and get responses as supportive as these...

), please let me know.

Lakshmi

If the scale has already demonstrated a weak correlation with social desirability scales, it's not necessary. You can cite the original studies in that case. Since you've modified this one ad hoc, you can't afford to take it for granted, even if the original measure is empirically supported.

Mind you, desirability scales don't fix the fundamental problem of self-reporting. There's no easy way to address the difference between how people actually behave, and how they think they behave. All you can do is try to control for as many significant confounding variables as is feasible.

gaming_study · Mar 14, 2011, 07:21 PM // 19:21

Thanks for the input. Will check further.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercury Angel

If the scale has already demonstrated a weak correlation with social desirability scales, it's not necessary. You can cite the original studies in that case. Since you've modified this one ad hoc, you can't afford to take it for granted, even if the original measure is empirically supported.

Mind you, desirability scales don't fix the fundamental problem of self-reporting. There's no easy way to address the difference between how people actually behave, and how they think they behave. All you can do is try to control for as many significant confounding variables as is feasible.

Thanks! What's the link to the IGN forums?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mists

GT FTW

Completed survey, try IGN forums.

Mercury Angel · Mar 15, 2011, 02:13 AM // 02:13

IGN Guild Wars 1 boards are dead

http://boards.ign.com/board/topics/7695/1

But you can look for more populated boards like World of Warcraft:
http://boards.ign.com/board/topics/6673/1

'Online games' is insanely expansive, and you're going to get some heavy sampling biases. The people who build and participate in communities are more socially involved than those who don't. MMO communities are among the most vibrant and active, but their very composition is likely to be very different from, say, gamers who play Diablo, Canasta, or Halo online.
Unfortunately, snowball sampling may only exacerbate this problem.

You might try to break online games down into genres and search for communities to sample from in each genre.
Try to get a variety of games with extrinsic rewards for playing (games with Rated competition, high scores, loot, and so on), games with primarily intrinsic rewards (nonrated competitive and cooperative play) and online roleplayers within roleplaying games.
Look at games with a cost barrier to play, no cost to play with alternative transactions, and free games with third party financial support.

Ask around for more input about the factors that make games play and feel differently to each player, and how they alter the team dynamics. Even if you don't find any empirical support for these factors, the act of addressing them allows you to strengthen the validity of your research.

Red Apple · Mar 15, 2011, 05:26 AM // 05:26

I'm really want to read this paper when it is released.

Mercury Angel · Mar 15, 2011, 09:59 AM // 09:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Apple

I'm really want to read this paper when it is released.

http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/authors.html#J

Check there for Jagad in 6 months to a year, and it will probably be published online. Universities are increasingly making theses and dissertations available online.

As a warning, if you don't already read research directly (and not mainstream media presentations of research), it's rarely that interesting. The nomenclature can be impenetrable without some background in the field, as well as statistics.

gaming_study · Mar 18, 2011, 12:04 AM // 00:04

Interesting. Are you at GSU as well?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercury Angel

http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/authors.html#J

Check there for Jagad in 6 months to a year, and it will probably be published online. Universities are increasingly making theses and dissertations available online.

As a warning, if you don't already read research directly (and not mainstream media presentations of research), it's rarely that interesting. The nomenclature can be impenetrable without some background in the field, as well as statistics.

Mercury Angel · Mar 18, 2011, 06:14 AM // 06:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaming_study

Interesting. Are you at GSU as well?

I'm actually between graduate schools. A transfer fell through from sickness on my end, so now I'm stuck in limbo until the next admissions cycle. The worst part is being cutoff from online databases.
As I said, it's an increasingly common practice. "GSU dissertation archive" pulls the page up as the second Google hit, and of course, your full name is part of the IRB-mandated consent form.

Beyond that, the theory and practice of research in the social sciences are just passions.

gaming_study · Mar 22, 2011, 02:11 PM // 14:11

Good luck! Grad school is fun (I enjoyed ALL my classes) although I wish I could say the same about my thesis... sigh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercury Angel

I'm actually between graduate schools. A transfer fell through from sickness on my end, so now I'm stuck in limbo until the next admissions cycle. The worst part is being cutoff from online databases.
As I said, it's an increasingly common practice. "GSU dissertation archive" pulls the page up as the second Google hit, and of course, your full name is part of the IRB-mandated consent form.

Beyond that, the theory and practice of research in the social sciences are just passions.

gaming_study · Mar 26, 2011, 06:03 PM // 18:03

Hello all,

Thanks to everyone who took the survey on online gaming and teamwork qualities! It is still online, so if anyone wishes to take it, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/OnlineGamingTeamwork is the link.

Please let me know in case of any questions/concerns.

Thanks again! Your survey responses are going to help me graduate sooner than later...

Lakshmi

Our Blood · Mar 26, 2011, 07:33 PM // 19:33

hehe i like the study, i'm surely participating!
send me the results if you find any interesting outcomes ^^

gaming_study · Mar 29, 2011, 02:49 PM // 14:49

Hello all,

Thanks to everyone who took the survey on online gaming and teamwork.

The survey is still online, so if anyone wishes to take it, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/OnlineGamingTeamwork is the link.

Keep those responses coming in...

Thanks again!
LJ