Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Asinotherdiscussions,thedistinctionbetween“virtualTom”and“real-life
Tom”mayseemobvioustosome,yetitcanbemorecomplicatedthanitinitially
appears. To take a simple example, let's say a researcher is studying family
dynamicsandchoosestodosothroughtheuseoffocusgroupsorinterviews.
Lookingforacollectionofdiverseparticipants,shegoesintoSecondLifeand
setsupshop.She,herself,isnowrepresentedbya“virtualresearcher”persona.
Thispersonarecruitsandasksquestionsof“virtualTom.”Sheasksbasicques-
tions related to roles and responsibilities in the household. She finishes, and
“virtualTom”isthenmetby“virtualJane,”hisSecondLifewife.Inthismoment,
theresearcherrealizesthatitisentirelypossiblethathisresponseswereabout
hisvirtualwifeandnothisreal-lifewife.It'spossiblethatshewasinterestedin
virtualliferelationships.It'spossiblethatshemightbeabletoresearchboth.It's
possiblethatshemightwanttodesignastudytocompareandcontrastrelation-
shipsinthevirtualworldwithterrestrialrelationshipsbyrecruitingparticipants
thatinhabitbothworlds.Thepointisthatitisn'tclearwhatandwho“virtual
Tom” represents. Therefore, researchers will need to continue to explore the
challenges posed by virtual personae as they expand their research endeavors
intothevirtualspacesinhabitedbyvirtualbeings.
Electronic research and minors
Theonlineenvironmenthasbecomeahang-out,ofsorts,foryouth.Students
go online to do research, teenagers blog about teen issues, and many young
peoplegoonlinetomeetnewpeople,exploretheirbuddingsenseofself,and
engage in interactive games. The point is that when researching online, a
researcherisjustaslikelytoencounterateenagerasanadult.Whenteensare
study participants, there are additional research concerns to consider. As
Susannah Stern (2004) notes, the primary issues involve not only getting
parentalconsent,andbutalsotheresponsibilityofaresearcherwhoencoun-
tersadistressingdisclosurebyayoungperson.
Insomeinstancesparentalconsentmaybeconsiderednecessary,andwould
beinanofflineresearchexperience.However,theonlineenvironmentandthe
teensthemselvesmayconstrainaccesstoparents.Thewayaresearchermight
decidewhetherornotparentalconsentiswarrantedcoulddependonwhether
ornotthespaceusedbyaparticularyoungpersonisconsideredprivateorpub-
lic.AsSternnotes,however,youngpeopleoftenhaveadifferentperspectiveon
whatisandisn'tprivate,makingthisdistinctiondifficult.Ateen,forexample,
mightassumethatanythingnotmeantforanyoneotherthanfriendsisprivate,
eventhoughitispostedontheinternetinapublicmanner(Stern,2004).Thus,
the understanding of whether or not a space is considered “private” could
impactaresearcher'sdecisionofwhetherornottopursueparentalconsent.
MannandStewart(2000:53)notethatthechallengesandethicaldifficultyof
researchingchildren “whose maturity, personality, and possible vulnerabilities
