Do I need permission to post a research invitation?

[MelBarb]

Hi, I am a doctoral student doing my dissertation on avatar therapy. I would like to interview psychotherapists/counselors who have experience doing avatar therapy or using avatar based interventions. Do I need permission to post a research invitation? It has been approved by my university ethics board.

[Rolig Loon]

Not as far as I know.  The most serious hurdle you will face is credibility.  Anyone can claim to be doing a scientific study.  Convincing your potential subjects that you are genuine will be a challenge.. And then, of course, verifying that your subjects are believeable is another one.  As one of our regulars here reminds us, "On the Internet, nobody knows that you are a dog."

[Chuck Renard]

Almost everybody in SL is somehow broken, so the field is rich for harvest if cultivated properly. The real Question is (as it is in real life psychoanalysis) Can you delineate truths from lies and fabrications and what to do if you can. I have an SL friend who has been here (in SL) almost as long as I have (8 years or so) and she was the victim of severe home abuse as a child according to what she says. She has changed drastically over the time I've known her - so is she being truthful? and is her change a result of the therapeutic ingredients of SL Roleplay? Someone other than ne would have to decide that.