UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH
PROJECT TITLE: The Influence of the User Experience of Playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games on Gaming Behaviors and Engagement
You are invited to participate in a research project conducted by Kelly Sopchak from the College of Education at the University of Houston. This project is a part of my candidacy research for my doctoral program and will supervised by Dr. Arbona (Professor, College of Education).
NON-PARTICIPATION STATEMENT
Your participation is voluntary and you may refuse to participate or withdraw at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. You may also refuse to answer any question.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this project is to assess the experience that one may have while playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs). Data will be collected during the summer of 2011.
PROCEDURES
There will be approximately 200 other participants in this study who will also be reporting on their experience.
Participants must be 18 years of age and older to complete the survey. The information obtained in this study will not be linked to the participant in any way to ensure that the participants remain anonymous. This project consists of one survey that will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. The survey consists of items (e.g. “This game lets me enter a world outside of my own experiences” and “This game can fulfill my desire to compete with other players”) related to the participants experience of playing MMORPGs.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Your participation in this project is anonymous. Please do not write your name on any of the research materials to be returned to the principal investigator.
RISKS/DISCOMFORTS
There are no anticipated risks involved in participating in this project. Due to questions related to anxiety and depression, there may be minimal discomfort experienced by the participant.
BENEFITS
While you will not directly benefit from participation, your participation may help investigators better understand the user’s experience of playing MMORPG’s.
ALTERNATIVES
Participation in this project is voluntary and the only alternative to this project is non-participation.
INCENTIVES/REMUNERATION
After the survey is completed, there will be an external link that appears to record your email address should you choose to provide it. The provided email address will in no way be linked to the completed survey. After the data is collected there will be a drawing where five email addresses will be chosen to receive a six-month paid subscription to their preferred MMORPG or a gift card for the approximate value ($90).
PUBLICATION STATEMENT
The results of this study may be published in professional and/or scientific journals. It may also be used for educational purposes or for professional presentations. However, no individual participants’ responses will be identified.
If you have any questions, you may contact Kelly Sopchak at kmsopcha@mail.uh.edu. You may also contact Consuelo Arbona, Ph.D., faculty sponsor, at carbona@uh.edu; 713-743-9814.
ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING YOUR RIGHTS AS A RESEARCH SUBJECT MAY BE ADDRESSED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON COMMITTEE FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN SUBJECTS (713-743-9204).
Principal Investigator’s Name: _Kelly Savage Sopchak