"are research ethics different from rl?"

[14:28] Tom Bukowski: okay, Cate's question
[14:28] Tom Bukowski: Cate Ceawlin - I would like to hear something about if and how ethics issues in research are different from RL
[14:28] Tom Bukowski: ethics - I have a section on this in my book
[14:28] Tom Bukowski: for me it was not too hard, because in my research I never ask about "rl" information, and I never even use people's screen names
[14:29] Tom Bukowski: I change the names of sims, places, everything
[14:29] Tom Bukowski: change small details so the persons are untraceable
[14:29] Tom Bukowski: it's a different issue if you want to ask about rl info or meet people in the actual world, but even then doable
[14:29] Tom Bukowski: basically the ethics issues are much easier than with gay men or lesbian women in Indonesia, home to more Muslims than any other country
[14:29] Tom Bukowski: things are fine there, but I do have to be careful
[14:30] Tom Bukowski: the other ethical decision I made for the Second Life research was not to use alts
[14:30] Riven Homewood: When I first encountered researchers in sl, my worry was that they would look at me as a sort of freak - many of them seemed quite new to sl
[14:30] Tom Bukowski: and if you see my profile, I say right away that I'm an anthropologist
[14:30] Gabrielle Riel: Interesting...no Alts :-)
[14:30] Tom Bukowski: I'm not saying everyone has to do that, just that it worked best for that particular research project and for me
[14:30] Tom Bukowski: but I think it's important to not deceive people
[14:31] Tom Bukowski: basically, I find research in Second Life a joy
[14:31] Forelle Broek didn't think Riven was a freak when he first met her
[14:31] Gabrielle Riel nods in agreement
[14:31] Tom Bukowski: people love to be interviewed, love to talk and hang
[14:31] Tom Bukowski: if you just show basic respect
[14:31] Tom Bukowski: and listen to people
[14:31] Tom Bukowski: it's amazing what can happen!