nothin like blowing a stereotype... that was one of the most entertaining surveys i've taken in a while :).
it's always fun to see someone trying to study something that s/he completely does not understand. like trying to explain *anything* to a person that speaks only swahili, when you are explaining it in english. it will never make sense, and they'll draw the conclusions they like, no matter what you say.
a true, scholarly effort would be much more involved, instead of taking the standard questions involving addiction and replacing the subject with mmorpg's, as stated above. for an effort such as this, see the research section of
this site. i found it fascinating.
here's an interesting bit:
Quote:
* If you are the parent/guardian of a child under 18 years old who is being invited to be in this study, the word “you” in this document refers to your child.
* If you are a teenager reading this document because you are being invited to be in this study, the word “you” in this document refers to you
soo... they're also assuming that we're all young, impressionable students that should be doing our homework or something? and if this is what the survey was intended to measure, then why not make it a point to include that little tidbit in your solicitation?
Quote:
The MMORPG Player Survey asks questions about your MMORPG playing interests, social interests and needs, potential excessive Internet use, and general demographic information such as your age, gender, hours of work, level of education, income, marital status, number of children, and the nature of the place where you live.
i wasnt asked anything about my playing interests. i was asked how long i play. and i certainly wasnt asked anything actually conclusive about my social needs. at least, if you are going to ask questions like the ones you asked, differentiate between before the onset of the "addiction" and after it begins, to rule out preexisting conditions. perhaps, i've always been in my room, by myself, while my family watches sitcoms. perhaps, i've read more literature than my whole family put together. perhaps, being in a room playing an mmorpg is no different. was i addicted to reading as a child? can you honestly tell me that this was a bad thing? [i've been out of my parents' house for quite some time, fyi :)]
who decides what "excessive internet use" is? i use the internet for 40 h a week at work, since i'm a web apps developer, so when i go home i'm sometimes online looking at ways to improve my own work... is that excessive?
if i am looking up information on sans-souci, a palace in berlin, online, is that less "healthy" than running down the street to the library, which probably doesnt have much on the subject at all? is it less healthy than sitting on a sofa like a slug soaking up bad advertising and puerile plots, with no opportunity for interaction, and no reason for exercising sentient thought?
(note: yes, i know, some tv can be good, and informative; i'm referring to the other stuff, like the stuff my family watches :x)
omg i just might be addicted to social interaction... can that be?! oh, da horror!
wonder how these "students of education" would react if their cell phones were taken away... that's an addiction to social interaction, too, isnt it?
/endsoapbox ... for now :).
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