Undergraduate Sociology Case Study - has the home become the new arcade?

Zoomyzoom

Hi guys,

Ref: Sociological topic of interest: “has the home become the new arcade: evolution of a fighting-games community, from arcade to the home.”

With your permission (all those who would like to participate in this case-study) I would like to investigate how new-media (internet connectivity, consoles, games, etc.) has evolved the traditional notion of ‘third-spaces’ (physically & geographically located: arcades, internet cafes, etc.) into a hybrid spaces known as ‘virtual third-spaces’ (virtually located in cyberspace: Xbox Live, boards.ie, etc.) which are often accessed through new-media devices (laptops, pcs, gaming consoles) in the private sphere of the home.


I would like to conduct a Sociological case-study (supported by the qualitative method of participant-observation alongside informal interviewing and a semi-structured questionnaire) within the communities' social spaces (offline during tournaments and online through Xbox live and boards.ie) in an effort to explore the above research question.


Below is a snippet from my proposal which I think will be helpful for those who want to know what my research is about:
"Consoles (Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, etc.) and their affiliated games (Street Fighter, Need for Speed, Wii Sports, etc.) have the ability, through connectivity to the internet (Xbox Live, PSN, etc.), to create and often enhance social-inclusion across a wide variety of social-demographic backgrounds, can erase borders centred around time and space, and can promote new types of virtual social spaces and communities (virtual communities existing in cyber-space and centred around content-centric preferences). In the context of computer-mediate communities, which are only possible through the creation and maintenance of virtual third-spaces, I would like to concentrate my research on a specific ‘Fighting Games Community’ on boards.ie in Ireland. A percentage of the members grew up playing in the arcades (traditional notion of third-place: existing outside the home and work place) while others grew up playing on a console most likely in the private sphere of the home. I would also like to investigate the impact that new-media has had on the creation and maintenance of this this community.”


Over the next few weeks, and as a guest of D & A, I would like to attend tournaments and interact with the community online while recording our experiences and interactions.


There are no risks involved in this research and the interviews, semi-structured questionnaire and participant-observation DOES NOT constitute as any type of scientific experiment and/or psychological counselling or treatment. In an effort to maintain complete anonymity, all identities will be kept confidential and I will use a code names/pseudonym to identify your information and other data. Neither personal names nor private information will appear in the final thesis.


I will store all recordings, transcripts and other notes safely in a locked box located in a secure location. This information will also be kept on a password protected folder on my laptop. All information regarding participants will be kept completely confidential.
All participation is voluntary and individuals are free to refuse to take part, can refuse to answer any questions and may stop at any time. It would be highly unethical of me to include anyone or any member who does not want to be part of my researcher. I must re-iterate that all participation is voluntary. Everything that I record or write about will be coded and full anonymity will be maintained for those who are concerned about anonymity. Any person or member who does not want to be part of my research can be assured that I will not include them or any details about them.


The benefit to the community is that all members can have full access to the research when it is finished and may use it to understand how the experience of the individuals of this particular games community compares with others or to the wider Sociological literature.

Thank you all for your help in advance; I greatly appreciate it.

Kind regards and many thanks

Rachel Phillips

ayjayirl

Our games room is definitely arcade like.....minus the cabs that is.

I smell a 5v5 after these results.
Old skool Arcade Team v New age consolers......

K.O.Kiki

I'm creating my own team for a 5v5.

Team "Apathetic about SF (but not really)".

Sponsored by crisps.

Zoomyzoom

Hi guys, sorry but I didn't clarify in my manuscript that I need to get an idea of the numbers of people willing to participate. In terms of participation, this would include filling out a 5 minute survey (online) along with speaking to me at the upcoming events... like a short informal interview.

Can anyone who is interested in participating in my case-study please thank this post so I can get a fix on the numbers?

Thank you very much for all your support and cooperation.

Rach

UberPrinny_Baal

Zoomyzoom wrote: »

Hi guys, sorry but I didn't clarify in my manuscript that I need to get an idea of the numbers of people willing to participate. In terms of participation, this would include filling out a 5 minute survey (online) along with speaking to me at the upcoming events... like a short informal interview.

Can anyone who is interested in participating in my case-study please thank this post so I can get a fix on the numbers?

Sure!

Orim

Meant to post anyway but I am of course willing to help.

Doctor DooM

Will help any way I can, obviously.

Orim

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Will help any way I can, obviously.

Just trying to stay on Zeus's good side :pac:

D4RK ONION

Happy to be interviewed, of course.

Dreddybajs

Same here, will help any way I can.

K.O.Kiki

I'm boring bored.

Orim

Actually I assume you would still want us to be involved if we don't agree with your hypothesis but want to check anyway.

Owwmykneecap

Yeah sure no problem.

1man3letters

sounds cool, im in if ya need it

Sairus

Zoomyoom wrote: »

Can anyone who is interested in participating in my case-study please thank this post so I can get a fix on the numbers?

---

UberPrinny_Baal wrote: »

Sure!

Orim wrote: »

Meant to post anyway but I am of course willing to help.

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Will help any way I can, obviously.

D4RK ONION wrote: »

Happy to be interviewed, of course.

Dreddybajs wrote: »

Same here, will help any way I can.

Owwmykneecap wrote: »

Yeah sure no problem.

1man3letters wrote: »

sounds cool, im in if ya need it

omg no one ever listens No wonder society is so awful.

Zoomyzoom

Hi guys,



I just put together a quick survey (please see link below) and was wondering could all those willing to participate, please complete?

http://edu.surveygizmo.com/s3/820827/Fighting-Games-Community

Unfortunately I do have a time frame and the survey will only stay active until the 11th of March.

Many thanks in advance.

Rach

Orim wrote: »

Actually I assume you would still want us to be involved if we don't agree with your hypothesis but want to check anyway.

Yes that's perfectly fine... even encouraged

Dreddybajs

Sairus wrote: »

---

omg no one ever listens No wonder society is so awful.

I saw that, thanked it, and then replied so the thread would be bumped, making it more likely that more people would see it and get involved. Stay free Sai.

Monkeyto

Survey Taken!

K.O.Kiki

Done.

Orim

Done. and in work so I got my survey money :pac:

Couple of quick points :

The questions about having been/played in an arcade asked to specify where and when. That's a little unclear as it's a very general question with the answer taking place over a period of years. I gave a very general answer but I wasn't sure if that's what was wanted.

Questions 29 and 30. 30 seems to suggest that 29 should be a yes/no question but 29 has an input box.

Questions 35 - 39 again have a very general answers spanning a number of years available to them. Answered generally again but not sure if that's what you wanted.


Monkeyto is completely going to skew the results.
Q. When did you last play in arcade?
A. Right now. One handed while filling this survey.

fake_roogle

if i'm down south i don't mind doin it

Zoomyzoom

Orim wrote: »

Done. and in work so I got my survey money [IMG]file:///C:/Users/Rachel/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif[/IMG]

Couple of quick points....

Hey Orim, thank you for your input (always welcome) and I will keep all those suggestions in mind. The idea of this survey is to just collect some basic demographic information on participants.... the interviews, that I hope to conduct at the tournaments, will go into further details

Sairus

Dreddybajs wrote: »

I saw that, thanked it, and then replied so the thread would be bumped, making it more likely that more people would see it and get involved. Stay free Sai.

And then I quoted your veiled attempt at bumping with a sarcastic jab in an even greater veiled bump. Meta.

A-Trak

Done,

Might be worth posting in the arcade and retro forum as well for a different take from the fighting game slant,

A-Trak

Also,

Unky Chop Chop a member here, his home is basically a fighting games arcade :rolleyes:
Could be useful PM'ing him for interview at an event.

Orim

A-Trak wrote: »

Also,

Unky Chop Chop a member here, his home is basically a fighting games arcade :rolleyes:
Could be useful PM'ing him for interview at an event.

Except it hasn't been opened to the public :mad:

Fergus_

I could do the online survey but I won't be able to do the interview as I'm most likely not turning up

Or do you need both to be done?

Zoomyzoom

A-Trak wrote: »

Might be worth posting in the arcade and retro forum as well for a different take from the fighting game slant,

That's a really good idea and I would love to do it (think it would really add depth to the project) but it's only a small Sociology case-study (rather than a research project) with a limited time frame and limited sample... only the fighting-games community on boards.ie for now.

The Anthropology project I'm also doing is a research-thesis-project, which is much bigger... big enough to move forward into a PhD research, according to my supervisor. I've been offered entry into the PhD program in college, if I can get the funding. So you never know, I may be coming back to you on the above... fingers crossed! If I get it, then I'll be able to research other communities, people, etc. outside the fighting games community and even outside Ireland

Fergus_ wrote: »

I could do the online survey but I won't be able to do the interview as I'm most likely not turning up Or do you need both to be done?

.



If you can complete the survey it would be great and I totally understand if you're not available for interviewing... you've got important exams coming up. So don't worry (just Fergus) about the interviewing part of the project... "Fergus, you need to study more!" I'll keep note that you couldn't do the interviewing part Hope the exams go well for you and good luck!

Nutrient

Survey taken

Very well constructed I must say

Orim

We should totally do a fund raising tournament/event for Rachs PhD because I for one can't wait to see the results of these studies and would love to see them brought as far as possible.

D4RK ONION

Survey taken!

Placebo

Zoomyzoom

Hi guys,

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you all. College has been a bit hectic for the past few weeks. I close the survey on the 11th and I'm now running the preliminary results.

Many thanks to everyone for all your help and support, I greatly appreciate it.

Regards

Rachel