Academic research on virtual worlds
It has been fascinating to see how the world and video games have changed in recent years. Video games have been a source of social and scientific research, some of which will be presented in an online conference next weekend. Some of the topics that will be covered in the three sessions include the economy, messages about the environment and future developments in the virtual world.
A young lady from Yeditepe University in asked for help in collecting data for her thesis on the WoW Europe forums. The researcher, Tugce Tosya seeks to find out learn more about presence in computer games, and has chosen World of Warcraft as her population of choice. You can find her brief questionnaire online. I found it took about five minutes to complete and checks out against possible keyloggers or spyware. Any questions you have about the survey can be directed to her academic supervisor or the Information Systems & Technologies department.
Good luck on your thesis Tugce, let me know if you need any help with analysis. We'd love to hear about other WoW-based projects.
