Assistance Requested on a University Project

[Jintoki]

Hello, Lemma Soft Forums,

I am working on a study on the program Ren’Py’s collaborative use. I am writing today to ask you to consider participating in this study.

Your involvement in this research project will consist of an interview questionnaire, and your total
time commitment should not exceed 30 minutes during this interview session. You will not be compensated for this interview nor do you have an obligation to participate. The interview will take place entirely through private message. However, if you’d rather reply anonymously, I have prepared a survey for you to fill out: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9TWC8CJ However, if you wish to be interviewed directly, I'd like to ask you not to fill out the survey, please.

I have attached an informed consent document for your review; this document provides more details about the project and the extent of your participation. I would like to speak with you soon to discuss the project in more detail, the informed consent document and process, and to answer any questions you might have about participation.
Please respond to this post if you are interested in participating in this research project. Thank you.

Sincerely,


Tyler Trosper
Department of English
Ball State University

[DaFool]

I think you might also have more data for your research if you go to AGS forums or Gamemaker forums as well.

Generally, most of the completed games made here are short and done usually by one person, with a few collaborations.

[Jintoki]

Hmm...The problem I have is that I have already submitted this research study to the IRB, and I'm not sure if I'm capable of changing it to such an extent. It's my fault for choosing such a niche field, I suppose, but I really enjoy the Ren'Py program, and I'm in awe of some of the work that comes from it. If I can at least get two more interview research subjects and a few more survey volunteers, I think that would help with my project greatly. I appreciate the help people have given me thus far!

[Jintoki]

At this time, I would like to thank those of you who offered your assistance through PM interview. I have gathered very valuable information in regards to my project, so if I have not already discussed an interview with you before this post, I do not request any further interview applicants. However, if you have not filled out my survey yet but wish to do so, by all means. Again, a big thanks to all that took the time out of their schedules to help me with my project!

[pondrthis]

I wish my research was something interesting like this. Mine has to be about post-processing MR data to back out white matter myelin content... see? It doesn't even make sense to most people T.T

[LVUER]

What is this interview about, btw? If it's not too technical, I don't mind helping you, since I've don't think I'm going to be busy... until Monday at least...

[Jintoki]

@pondrthis: Oh jeez, that does sound like a heavy project! I was able to choose whatever over my project for my rhetoric and digital media class.

@LVUER: Thanks for the offer, but I'm fine on interviews now. I originally told the IRB in my protocol that I'd only conduct three interviews, but I accidentally did 4. So, I'll see if I can use all of it or just pick the best three. Oh, and my project is to research the collaborative effort on Ren'Py. If you still want to help, you can fill out the survey I linked to in the first post.

[LVUER]

OK, filled it ^_^

[Jintoki]

Thanks!

[PyTom]

I am somewhat curious: What will be the end result of this project? Is it a paper to be published somewhere, a report for a class, or something else? Will you make the results public when you finish them?

[Jintoki]

It will be a research paper for my class. I've already made some changes from the details I listed to the IRB, so I don't know if I will be able to publish it or not. However, if you guys want, I can post the final document here when it is finished.

[pondrthis]

Do you need IRB approval before you TALK to people? In my line of research, pre-experimental approval (usually IACUC) is for more serious matters, like taking the brains out of animals and stuff like that. I can even understand needing approval for something like psychology research which might (in super-rare circumstances) disturb the subject somehow, but to take an interview?

I would think you could do the interview and then just be like, "Hey guys, I did four interviews, sign this".

I guess that shows my ethical standards v.v

[Jintoki]

Yes, I needed IRB approval before I conducted any interviews. Before that I had to go through a series of modules in order to teach me the rules and regulations behind using human research subjects. I know my classmates are doing more face-to-face, direct research, but with visual novels so niche and especially around my area, I thought investigating directly on the Lemma Soft Forums would be the best route to take. If this were face-to-face, I would have those who interviewed sign a informed consent form, but because I conducted the interviews via the internet, I was told that attaching the informed consent form on my initial post was sufficient enough.

[pondrthis]

I guess that begs the question "what makes someone a 'subject'?"

If you were publishing your findings in a journalistic setting rather than an academic one, the ethical requirements would be completely different despite your actions being identical in each case. Furthermore, the goal of the interviews would be the same (the collection and dissemination of information), so I find myself confused at this conundrum.

Academic snobbery has been getting to me recently... and now to find out that they try to transform the compliment of being interviewed into the subjugation of a case study... at this rate, I'll drop out before I even get my Master's, let alone the PhD.

[Jintoki]

Attached is my final report based on the information presented me through the survey and the interviews. First off, I will not be publishing this in any official manner. Also, the suggestions listed within my report are based on my opinions and may not represent what is actually good for the Ren'Py community. Also, my research is based on a brief research period, so my report might not be the most reliable when it comes to certain information. I apologize that my report might be of poor quality, and I apologize for the wait in posting this.

Again, thank you for all of you who filled out the survey or went through the interview process!