The road towards ethics approval has been a long and winding one! I think, however, most of all it has been a valuable one. My undergraduate degree in sociology offered me the theoretical background I needed (and indeed, small assignments in which we had to do a mock ethics application as part of those courses). Coming into the University of Liverpool, I had no idea that I would need to apply for ethics approval, let alone what the requirements would be once I decided I did.
Several factors brought me to the decision to write my dissertation on the topic of internet communities and role-playing games. In February 2009, I presented my paper, “I’m Not A Doctor, I Just Play One On The Internet: Collaborative Writing in the Creation of Safe Spaces” at the University of Calgary Free Exchange conference. The research that went into that paper convinced me of two things; first, that there is still a wealth of knowledge to be gained on the subject, and second, that there was a space between interactive fiction and multiplayer role playing games that it appeared no one had previously studied. Narrative role-playing games are common on platforms such as Livejournal, which allow participants to create threaded tagging sessions. For the purposes of my paper, I was interested in narrative role-playing games in terms of their status as transformative works, and also the location of a safe space for women to express their fantasies and explore their sexuality.
In October 2009, Dr. Peter Wright was a guest lecturer for my Genre Definitions course, and he brought up the existence of RPGs–from tabletop gaming through MMORPGs–as a grey area that was difficult to define in terms of genre, although it was clear that a lot exchange had occurred, for instance, between Moorcock’s work and early Gygax. Science fiction and fantasy had influenced the creation of Dungeons & Dragons, and more recently, the reverse was also true. Encouraged, I asked him for several texts dealing with the crossover between the two, and in learning more about the history of gaming, I decided I wanted to take my initial paper much further if I could. I was interested in interviewing online gamers from both the narrative and the MMORPG tradition, and learning more about how they created their characters.
I refined the initial idea. It was clear to me that I’d need ethics approval if I wanted to gather interview data, and so I immediately asked my supervisor what the process would involve. He directed me to the English Department ethics committee representative, Dr. Siobhan Chapman, who has been marvelously supportive throughout the process. Since my proposed project didn’t involve anything invasive, she believed that it wouldn’t be difficult to apply for an expedited review. I quailed when I first saw the form: it was fourteen pages long, without the questions answered. Fortunately, it wasn’t as terrifying as it looked, since many of the questions were geared towards medical research and interventions that I would not be attempting.
It took me two or three weeks to work through all the questions; several answers, such as my methods section, were longer than a thousand words. I had to create the questionnaire, the informed consent document, the advertisement for my potential respondees, and turn all of them in to the Ethics Committee–and then wait.
The waiting proved the most difficult part. After Dr. Chapman’s assurance that the committee was likely to get back to me within a week, I was disappointed when the semester ended without hearing from them. I inquired in January as to the status of my project–only to be told I’d need to do a full revision before it was acceptable. Undaunted, I revised and resubmitted! …And was told I’d need to do another round of edits. For the most part, the feedback I got was very clear and indeed helpful; since I’d never been in this position before, I was ready to learn from what my reviewers told me. In the end, due to the several rounds of edits, I was not able to get an expedited review: I’d have to appear before the Ethics Committee in person.
I believe that I speak well in person, and I had confidence in what I wanted to present, certainly with my initial research and the reading that I had been doing in the meantime. Still, it was an intimidating prospect! And as it turned out, my supervisor was not available to join me, so it was lucky for me that Dr. Chapman was familiar with my application and was willing to go with me, since otherwise the committee wouldn’t have seen me.
We arrived early on the appointed day and waited (with me fidgeting quite a bit) until the committee was ready to see us. We were ushered in to a board room. Most of the seats at the table were filled, and there were two to the right of the head that were reserved for us. We were introduced, and, to my relief, the head of the committee mentioned that the only reason I had been called in was not because of any major doubts about my application, but because it was the regular procedure when there had been two reviewers who asked for edits.
My topic was introduced, and a few people asked questions. There was at least one question concerning a specific question on my survey that was really valuable. The others were mostly along the lines of clarifying what role-playing was, where it was carried out, and whether I would be able to contact individuals who would be appropriate respondents for my survey. It all took under ten minutes. Two weeks later, I received feedback for one last round of revisions, and when I completed them, my last task was to get all the paperwork signed by myself and my supervisor, and taken to Legal Services.
Although I might have preferred to have my application accepted and an expedited review to show that there were no problems in the least, I think I’m glad that I went through the entire hierarchy of possible responses. I’m sure I learned more from the revisions I made than I would have otherwise, and my survey is certainly a much clearer, cleaner document for having been reviewed by at least three separate individuals, each with their own pertinent suggestions.
As part of this project, I’ll be posting the advertisment and the link for the survey beginning on May 1, and I’ll be collecting responses for two months. If you’re a role-player, either in MMORPGs or in narrative RPGs, I hope you’ll be interested in filling it out!