MBI Holodeck

by Marek Buzinkay and Dr. David Moore, Leeds Metropolitan University

Abstract

This paper discusses ethical considerations regarding ethnographic research in synthetic worlds. The main question is what kind of ethical approaches do researchers apply when they investigate social artifacts and behavior of players and/or their avatars in so-called virtual or synthetic worlds.
This paper shows that, besides some mandatory ethical guidelines and professional codes, there is no specific ethical code for virtual ethnography in synthetic worlds. The results of a conducted survey among online researchers indicates the same results: ethics is an important topic, which is monitored by institutions, but without offering a clear set of fitting tools for virtual ethnography. Therefore, this paper will be structured the following way:

First, it gives a short overview over the fields of research regarding synthetic worlds as well as the use of ethnographical methods in synthetic worlds research.
Second, the actual status of ethical standards in science and research will be outlined, with a special focus on online ethnography. This will lead to the question, what ethical practices are used actually in virtual world research.
Finally, an ethical approach toward synthetic world ethnography will be presented.

Part 1: Research conducted in Synthetic Worlds - continue here…

Note: the paper was not published in a scientific journal due to the low number of interview partners (see part 4) we were able to approach. The results may not be reliable. Instead, it is intented to illustrate our ideas and found facts to the interested audience through this research blog, and maybe be a starting point for others to research further.