CAN YOU HELP ME WITH MY THESIS?

[besitaa]

I AM A GRADUATE STUDENT AT ÇAĞ UNIVERSITY IN TURKEY CURRENTLY MAJORING IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND MARKETING. I AM WORKING ON MY MASTER’S THESIS. MY GOAL IS TO WRITE ABOUT OTHER SECOND LIFE USERS BESIDES MYSELF TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE METAVERSE AND OUR FUTURE IN IT. MY RL NAME IS BESTE. 

I know it's hard to trust people we don't know in SL. Especially if these people are asking you to click on a link. Therefore, I am sharing my LinkedIn account with you so that you can trust me a little bit. https://www.linkedin.com/in/beste-demirci-a43b41172/

As part of this work, I'm looking at Second Life purchases and specifically the online shopping experience associated with the platform via the in-world shopping or Marketplace. That's why I created a questionnaire for shoppers to fill out. Filling out the questionnaire takes only a few minutes and no personal data is recorded as part of the study - only the answers to the questions.

The study is completely voluntary as it is anonymous. Many thanks in advance to those who want to help. 

The link below will direct you to the relevant survey.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeo4H6E7gLn_VXjpqk6OEhx-ZPnMOP5LU_JgcmJJKvRmuV-Ng/viewform

[Persephone Emerald]

I'm gonna warn you right now to expect alot of pushback and not much support from SL residents regarding your survey.  

1. People on these forums are not representative of the majority of SL users because very few SL users use these forums.

2. People on these forums get these kinds of requests all the time and tend to be suspicious of them. Posting a LinkedIn page doesn't prove you are that person.

3. Most people on here just don't want to bother with taking a survey about their spending habits.

I wish you luck.

Edited April 26, 2022 by Persephone Emerald

[besitaa]

Thank you very much for your warnings. Frankly, I have very little time left and I wanted to try my luck here. If even one person wants to participate in the survey, it will contribute greatly to my study. I have no idea how else I can convince him of my identity. My friends in SL said it was not good for me to even share that account, but nothing else came to my mind. Also, thank you again for your good wishes.

[Chic Aeon]

I am going to look at this post from a "teacher's" point of view rather than the thesis writer in hopes it might shead some insight for the OTHER TONS OF FOLKS who ask the survey thing.

 

From a teacher's perspective the survey really has little value except that the writer went to the effort to make one. If you don't have people's RL info you cannot verify that any of the "answers" are real and not reproduced. Someone could easily game the survey (and actually that appears to happen often :D).   The people giving their input need to be named at least by avatar so that they could be reached to verify if needed. 

 

If a thesis writer is new to SL, the best they can do is give an overview of their first time experience and how that may have changed over time -- and how it relates to the theme of the thesis. For those older in SL who have been ACTIVE  here for months to years (the OP's  profile says 1 year and one month) then they should already know about the shifts that have been going on with shoppers. Reading these forum posts could get you plenty of information that you could point to or paraphrase (I am guessing direct quotes "might" be against forum rules -- I know not.

 

Again from a READERS point of view I would be more impressed with seeing the research someone has done and seeing one on one interviews with people they have met than any survey.   

 

This is not trying to be mean,  but there are better ways to make a point than an anonymous survey.

[besitaa]

First of all, thank you for your information. The method I used in my thesis is the mixed method. Before this survey, I conducted a preliminary study with my thesis advisor, in this context, I interviewed about 30 avatars. Apart from this, the survey method can be used to reach a certain number in order to generalize on a multi-user platform such as SL. The real-life information you mention has not been requested in most of the surveys I have encountered so far.

[Mollymews]

i filled out you form. Was pretty straightforward and nothing out of the ordinary

all the best with your school work

[besitaa]

Thank you very much for your interest and good wishes. You are very kind.