Help a college student with an ethnography!

[Donax]

Seriously these questions are so loaded. and your thesis is bullshit because you want a certain outcome. Don't be so biased and ask questions that still pertain to the thesis without being so one sided and you'll get better results.

Instead of asking How are you physically? why not List other activities you do.
instead of Are you currently unemployed? Why not Employment status.
instead of Do your physical/personality attributes play apart in deciding what class/race/faction you play? why not Why did you choose your race class role.
instead of Are you above the age of 20 and still living at home/with relatives? why not Do you Own, rent or other. and ask the age in a seperate question.

You'll get more information this way.

[Hematomania]

Seriously these questions are so loaded. and your thesis is bullshit because you want a certain outcome. Don't be so biased and ask questions that still pertain to the thesis without being so one sided and you'll get better results.

Instead of asking How are you physically? why not List other activities you do.
instead of Are you currently unemployed? Why not Employment status.
instead of Do your physical/personality attributes play apart in deciding what class/race/faction you play? why not Why did you choose your race class role.
instead of Are you above the age of 20 and still living at home/with relatives? why not Do you Own, rent or other. and ask the age in a seperate question.

You'll get more information this way.

Thank you.

[foofymoonkin]

1. How long have you been playing WoW? March 2005

2. What made you start? Well, funny story. My old High School Chem teacher got fired and the new teacher we got was still finishing up his college. He was a big nerd and had the usual alienware laptop, carried video game guides in his briefcase and whatnot. I ended up being his student aid for my senior year and when WoW was released, he was completely addicted and trying to level. So, during class one day, he sets his laptop infront of me and tells me to level his paladin while he has to teach a class. So after making him look like an idiot in game by running him in to the lava and not even doing one quest, I decided to play the game for myself.

3. Do you regret starting? Sometimes, but when I think about what I would probably be doing right now away, I noticed I saved alot of money by playing a game rather than going clubbing and drinking every week.

3a. If so, do you feel like this is a drug? Yeah, sometimes when you are bored..you play the game. And still play it while you are bored ingame. Its like you just can't get away!

4. How are you physically? Not in the best shape, but I'm not one of those that you see can be rolled across the floor because they are so round.

5. Do your physical/personality attributes play apart in deciding what class/race/faction you play? No, why would it?

6. Are you currently unemployed? College Student+ employement.

6a. Has WoW ever caused you to be fired from a job? No, but I got pulled over one day for speeding home being late to raid.

6b. Has WoW negatively or positively affected your work ethic? No.

7. Are you above the age of 20 and still living at home/with relatives? I'm 24 and live about 300 miles from my family. I do not live on Campus. This is a normal rent apartment and normal bills. :<

8.Do you feel like the stereotypes that WoW players have are true? Please give a response and a numerical value (1-10) on how true you feel them to be, 10 being the strongest. 4

9.Are you actively in a romantic relationship? Married, however..it was to someone I meet on the game. Been together 6 years now..2 of them is being married.

9a.If so, how many months? N/A

10. Has WoW negatively affected a past relationship/friendship? Nope.

11. Has WoW possitively affected a past relationship/friendship? Met my husband through the game.

11a. If so, did you meet that person online or IRL? Online

11b. If so, did you persuade your friend/romantic interest to play? They were already playing.

11. If so, do said people still play the game?We both still play on a daily basis.

12. How is your life at home? When I can finally convince my Husband to get me get a cat, then it will be purrrrfect. Get it? Puurr..Cat.. >_>

[Drunknlulaby]

To the original person who posted:

I will not say anything rude about the format of your Ethnographic Interview questionnaire. I have a degree in Anthropology and had to do this several times. You might get some better results if you use the following format:



Question Types
I. Grand Tour Questions
The goal of the grand tour question is to find out the names of places and objects, to
meet and/or hear about people, to observe and/or hear about events or activities, and to
begin to understand how all of these elements interrelate. There are four types of grand
tour questions: the general overview, the specific tour, the guided tour, and the taskrelated grand tour.
Examples
A. General Overview
Ask the informant to generalize, to discuss patterns of events.
• Could you describe a typical day on the job?
• Could you show me/tell me how you usually make a box?
B. Specific Tour
Ask the informant about a specific incident or what he or she did on a certain day.
• Could you describe what happened at the management meeting yesterday, from
beginning to end?
• Tell me about the last time you used the crane.
C. Guided Tour
Ask the informant for a tour of the workplace or to accompany him or her while doing a
job.
• Could you show me around the plant? Could I go on a sales call with you?
D. Task-Related Grand Tour
Ask the informant to perform a task to help you understand the context.
• Could you draw a flow chart of how the aluminum moves through the plant, from
raw metal to the finished product?
• Could I watch you use the cutting machine and ask you questions about it
afterwards?
II. Mini-Tour Questions
The purpose of a mini-tour question is the same as that of the grand tour question. The
difference is that a mini-tour question deals with a much smaller aspect of experience.
For example, if you said to an informant, "Tell me about a typical day at General
Aluminum Products" and you heard the informant say again and again, "Then I run the
coil through the annealing machine." You might then decide to ask a mini-tour question
such as, "Describe what goes on when you run the coil through the annealing machine."
The mini-tour question puts a magnifying glass on an activity or area that you think is
important.
Page 1 of 2 : Drawn from ERIC article ED423721 - Teacher/Ethnographer in the Workplace: Approaches
to Staff Development – authors: Mary Kay Gee and Charlotte Ullman III. Example Questions
Example questions are usually woven throughout the ethnographic interview. An
informant might say, "My supervisor gave me a hard time about OSHA regulations
yesterday," and you might ask, "Can you give me an example of your supervisor giving
you a hard time?" It is easy to assume that we share the same idea of what a hard time
is, but surprising differences exist.
IV. Experience Questions
Open-ended experience questions, such as "Could you tell me about some experiences
you've had working on the annealing machine?" are often used after a number of grand
tour and mini-tour questions. Experience questions are sometimes difficult for people to
answer. They often prompt informants to tell about their unusual experiences, as
opposed to the more typical experiences.
V. Native-Language Questions
If your informant is a non-native speaker of English, you speak that language, and it's
appropriate to conduct the interview in this language, by all means, do so. However,
what is meant by native-language questions here is more about using the terms that the
informant uses to talk about the job. For example, if hot aluminum coils arc cooled in a
pressurized air containment cooling unit that your informant calls "the blower room," call
it the blower room. Ask questions such as, "How long does it stay in the blower room?”
The more you can get informants to talk about work the way they think about work, the
better. This will give you a window into how they think about things, as well as how they
talk about things, and will help establish rapport. There are three types of nativelanguage questions: direct-language questions, hypothetical-interaction questions, and
typical-sentence questions.
A. Direct-Language Questions
Ask the informant how he or she would say something.
• What do you call it when you mis-measure a piece? How do you refer to your
work area?
B. Hypothetical-Interaction Questions
Set a scene for the informant. Describe the people involved (talking with a supervisor
about a production problem) and try to get him or her to talk the way they would in that
situation.
• If you were talking with a co-worker, would you say it that way?
• If I were on the factory floor, what kind of things would I hear co-workers saying
to each other?
• How would you say that to your supervisor?
C. Typical-Sentence Questions
Ask directly for typical sentences or activities.
• What are some sentences that use the words “blower room”?


These kinds of things are always tricky. It's probably more difficult with English speaking people than anyone else. lol! I would be more than happy to do one for you though. So give me a few and I will, but honestly the above format may yield better results for you. Either way, I hope it goes well!!! (I LOVED getting that degree!)

[Darkdruidelf]

^
Urg, research methodology. Always bored me in psychology and sociology. Almost as bad as ethical issues, which were usually 'Someones feewings might get hurt'.

[Ruud]

1. How long have you been playing WoW?
Since october 2005

2. What made you start?
Collegues playing, and always loved the lore in the Warcraft RTS games.
3. Do you regret starting?
Never
3a. If so, do you feel like this is a drug?
Noes
4. What other activities do you participate in?
Other computergames :P Some communitywork.
4a. Would you consider yourself to be physically fit?
No.

5. Why did you choose your race/class role?
I choose nelf because that was my preferred race to play in multiplayer Warcraft 3. Bad reason, I know that now :P never played a (MMO)RPG before. I choose a priest because the description back then said something about "controlling minds of the people". Not how I expected it but shortly after I fell in love with healing so all turned out well.
5a. How about your faction?
Because I chose the race
6. Employment status?
Unemployed.
6a. Has WoW ever caused you to be fired from a job?
No.
6b. Has WoW negatively or positively affected your work ethic?
No.
7. Do you own, rent or other?
Rent.
7a. How old are you?
30 now.
8.Do you feel like the stereotypes that WoW players have are true? :Edit, examples needed: Fat, lazy, virgin, momma's boy, etc: Please give a response and a numerical value (1-10) on how true you feel them to be, 10 being the strongest.
1 really, literally met people of all walks of life in WoW.
9.Are you actively in a romantic relationship?
No.
9a.If so, how many months?
-
10. Has WoW negatively affected a past relationship/friendship?
No.
11. Has WoW possitively affected a past relationship/friendship?
No.
11a. If so, did you meet that person online or IRL?
-
11b. If so, did you persuade your friend/romantic interest to play?
-
11. If so, do said people still play the game?
-
12. How is your life at home?
I live alone so basically do what I want?
:Edit:

13. Has WoW affected your life in a positive way?
I guess, meeting a lot of different people is always helping, just like when I worked in stores.
13a. Please explain.
Just did \o/
14. Roughly how many hours do you play weekly?
~15
15. Do you feel that the monthly fee is appropriate?
Yes
15a. If not, have you ever sacrificed anything, weather it be gas money, grocery money, etc, to play the game?
-
16. Why do you enjoy the game?
Mostly because of social interaction.
16a. Have you learned any real life skills from WoW?
Not directly.
17. Have you had a bond with someone who you would've regularly not, hadn't they also play WoW (IRL) ?
Yes, I've met several people who live in other countries which I met in WoW.

[galaxiah]

1. How long have you been playing WoW? Since Jan 2005

2. What made you start? To play with friends.

3. Do you regret starting? No.


4. What other activities do you participate in? I draw/paint/sculpt/photography/graphic design. I love outdoor activities, especially archery and camping.
4a. Would you consider yourself to be physically fit? I'm slim, but I could be physically stronger

5. Why did you choose your race/class role? Well for my main character. I like the lore of nightelves. I like the aspect of the druid.
5a. How about your faction? Chose to play Alliance to play with my friends. I have horde characters as well

6. Employment status? Self employed.

6a. Has WoW ever caused you to be fired from a job? No.

6b. Has WoW negatively or positively affected your work ethic? No.

7. Do you own, rent or other? Rent
7a. How old are you? 23

8.Do you feel like the stereotypes that WoW players have are true? :Edit, examples needed: Fat, lazy, virgin, momma's boy, etc: Please give a response and a numerical value (1-10) on how true you feel them to be, 10 being the strongest. No. Most people I have met who play WoW actively have been "normal" and most of them average weight or in shape. I rate this stereotype at a 4, because I have met some.

9.Are you actively in a romantic relationship? Yes
9a.If so, how many months? 5 years

10. Has WoW negatively affected a past relationship/friendship? No.

11. Has WoW possitively affected a past relationship/friendship? Yes
11a. If so, did you meet that person online or IRL? online
11b. If so, did you persuade your friend/romantic interest to play? we met in game
11. If so, do said people still play the game? No my boyfriend does not play anymore

12. How is your life at home? Normal

:Edit:

13. Has WoW affected your life in a positive way? I think so.
13a. Please explain. I have met new friends and interacted with people in the game. Since I primarily work at home alone, it's nice to have friends (distant and people I know IRL) to actively talk to and interact with.
i have also met my current boyfriend in WoW, a person who has affected my life positively

14. Roughly how many hours do you play weekly? 6-15. used to be more

15. Do you feel that the monthly fee is appropriate? Monthly fee is fine.


16. Why do you enjoy the game? Play with friends.
16a. Have you learned any real life skills from WoW? I actively/effectively slay dragons daily. :P In all seriousness I've gained better social skills

17. Have you had a bond with someone who you would've regularly not, hadn't they also play WoW (IRL) ? Yes. I have a few friends who I initially talked to because we had this common interest.

[Drunknlulaby]

1. How long have you been playing WoW? I've been playing for about a year and a half. Maybe longer to be honest.

2. What made you start? A friend of mine demanded I try it out under penalty of sporking. (Really, he has a thing for sporks.)

3. Do you regret starting? Not at all! I have meet some really nice people in that game that I chat, and run with all the time.
3a. If so, do you feel like this is a drug?

4. What other activities do you participate in? I am an avid rock climber, drinker (Not at the same time. lol!), and traveler.

4a. Would you consider yourself to be physically fit? I would say I feel physically fit by my standards. I work out etc...

5. Why did you choose your race/class role? I chose a Blood Elf Frost DK for my main. I chose this because I thought it would be fun! It is!

5a. How about your faction? I chose Horde for the same reason as question 2's answer.

6. Employment status? I run an IT consulting company full time.

6a. Has WoW ever caused you to be fired from a job? No sir it has not.

6b. Has WoW negatively or positively affected your work ethic? I can't honestly think of way that either option has come into play as far as work is concerned. I separate work and WoW. (Though it would be nice to play during downtime!)

7. Do you own, rent or other? I rent an apartment.

7a. How old are you? I am 31 years old.

8.Do you feel like the stereotypes that WoW players have are true? :Edit, examples needed: Fat, lazy, virgin, momma's boy, etc: Please give a response and a numerical value (1-10) on how true you feel them to be, 10 being the strongest. No I do not feel they are. On the scale I say 10.

9.Are you actively in a romantic relationship? No, but I was single for 3 years before playing.
9a.If so, how many months?

10. Has WoW negatively affected a past relationship/friendship? Not at all.

11. Has WoW possitively affected a past relationship/friendship? It certainly has not changed anything that I am aware of.
11a. If so, did you meet that person online or IRL?
11b. If so, did you persuade your friend/romantic interest to play?
11. If so, do said people still play the game?

12. How is your life at home? I would say it is amazing!

:Edit:

13. Has WoW affected your life in a positive way? I can definitely type faster than I used to. Lol!
13a. Please explain.

14. Roughly how many hours do you play weekly? More than I should...I would say 12-15

15. Do you feel that the monthly fee is appropriate? I do.
15a. If not, have you ever sacrificed anything, weather it be gas money, grocery money, etc, to play the game?

16. Why do you enjoy the game? I like to kill things with my friends.

16a. Have you learned any real life skills from WoW? Not really no.

17. Have you had a bond with someone who you would've regularly not, hadn't they also play WoW (IRL) ? n/a

[Arjana]

As a fellow college student that has to do stupid surveys I feel compelled to help. I think your questions are incredibly loaded/negative and for the future you should learn to phrase questions more objectively, or people will be offended and reluctant to participate. You don't want to do this in most cases, especially if it's a group of people you're interested in learning more about. I however have faith that you're a fellow gamer who wants to dispel these terrible stereotypes, so I'll bite.

1. How long have you been playing WoW? About 5-6 years.

2. What made you start? I played a lot of console games before and had been wanting to start playing an MMO with friends. Friend picked WoW so I joined.

3. Do you regret starting? Nope.

3a. If so, do you feel like this is a drug? No. I feel it's more like a hobby - if you find yourself enjoying it, you might wanna spend more time doing it, especially if you can do it with friends.

Do you participate in any activities? I'm not sure what you mean by "activities", but um.. I hang out with friends, do a lot of art and go to classical music concerts once in a while. No organized sports if that's what you're asking.

4a. Would you consider yourself to be physically fit? Yeah.

5. Why did you choose your race/class role? Um.. I dunno, I play a lot of alts so I just went with whatever looked interesting.

5a. How about your faction? Picked friend's faction.

6. Employment status? Full-time grad student atm.

6a. Has WoW ever caused you to be fired from a job? Nope.

6b. Has WoW negatively or positively affected your work ethic? Not really, it's a hobby separate from work.

7. Do you own, rent or other? Own, rent or other what? A house? I'm renting my own apartment.

7a. How old are you? 23.

8.Do you feel like the stereotypes that WoW players have are true? :Edit, examples needed: Fat, lazy, virgin, momma's boy, etc: Please give a response and a numerical value (1-10) on how true you feel them to be, 10 being the strongest. No. 2.

9.Are you actively in a romantic relationship? Yep.
9a.If so, how many months? About a year and a half.

10. Has WoW negatively affected a past relationship/friendship? Nope.

11. Has WoW possitively affected a past relationship/friendship? Yep, more than one.
11a. If so, did you meet that person online or IRL? Both.
11b. If so, did you persuade your friend/romantic interest to play? They already played.
11. If so, do said people still play the game? On and off, yes.

12. How is your life at home? Pretty broad question, so general answer: awesome.

13. Has WoW affected your life in a positive way? Yep. I wouldn't have met my amazing boyfriend otherwise, plus it gave me something to play with my friends I'd moved away from.

14. Roughly how many hours do you play weekly? Depends on how much free time I have. Lately probably about 5, if that.

15. Do you feel that the monthly fee is appropriate? Yeah, though in direct comparison to other online games that are free-to-play it could seem a little high.

15a. If not, have you ever sacrificed anything, weather it be gas money, grocery money, etc, to play the game? Uh no, it's not that expensive.

16. Why do you enjoy the game? Cuz it's a fun game that I can play with friends.
16a. Have you learned any real life skills from WoW? Better teamwork ;D Coordinating 10 people's schedules and talents/abilities. :P

17. Have you had a bond with someone who you would've regularly not, hadn't they also play WoW (IRL) ? That's kinda badly worded, but no. People I can't stand because of their personality are still the same annoying people on WoW.

For future surveys try to be less biased, and warm up to people as they go down the list of questions: ie start with less personal. It's also easier to collect/organize your data the less open-ended questions you have, try to be very specific. Good luck with your paper.