I am an undergrad student at Columbia College at Columbia, Missouri. As part of academic graduation requirements I need to conduct research and write a paper to get an idea of how the process works. Because of my interest in gaming (of all types) I chose to focus on the area of gaming style and preference. 

Below this point is my informed consent statement. By clicking the link provided you are agreeing to give consent to participate in the research.

Feel free to reply to the op with questions in addition to using the contact information provided.

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Informed Consent Statement
This email is being sent to you to ask you to participate in a research study designed to study gaming preferences. You will be asked to rate items on a scale based on your gaming habits. Your participation should take a few minutes.
If you choose to participate, it is important that you respond to the questions as honestly as you can. None of the questions measure mental disorders, and there are no right or wrong answers to any questions. Because your answers to some questions might change somewhat from day to day, I would like you to use your three most recent gaming experiences for your frame of reference for answering questions. In other words, answer questions in accordance with how you have typically felt during three most recent gaming experiences.
Your name will not be connected in any way with the questionnaire data. The questionnaire includes only demographic information that cannot and will not be used to identify you. Your personal responses will be held in the strictest confidence throughout the research project. Data collected will only be used in aggregate form. You may choose not to participate in this project. There will be no penalty if you choose not to participate or if you discontinue participation.
The results of this project will be used for a class project and presentation. 
If you have questions about this project, you may contact Daniel Loyd by mail at: Columbia College, 1001 Rogers St., Columbia, MO 65216, by phone at: 573-499-1939 (work phone), or by email at: deloyd1@cougars.ccis.edu.
There is no financial compensation for your participation. If you are willing to participate in this research project, please click on the link below to acknowledge your informed consent and begin the questionnaire:


https://docs.google.com/a/cougars.ccis.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHgzZ0FsVEJ6aUJGc2dZS0xPb09fMXc6MQ

I filled it out for you. One question though, when you say "Rate your preference for playing X as compared to Y."

I vote 7 if I strongly prefer X, and 1 if I don't play them... do I vote 2 if I strongly prefer Y???

Thank you for your participation. I understandyour confusion once I went back and looked at it again. In terms of what you should answer, there is no wrong answer. However you interpret the question and fill it out is fine. From a design standpoint, I can see that I made a mistake.  It is likely to confuse people , and created many different interpretations of the same question. Thank you for your question. I will not change the questionaire while it is in progress, however I can use your insght in the paper as a possible cause for failure if I cannot find what I am looking for.

I have begun to answer questions from various participants on the boards that I posted it on. For greater consistency I am going to post the links the the other threads. If I only give information to a specific group it could theoretically taint the results.

Vgchartz:

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=137078&page=1


En World:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/314564-research-design-project.html


Gateworld.net:

http://forum.gateworld.net/threads/83384-Research-Design-Project?p=13055101&posted=1

Boardgamegeek

http://boardgamegeek.com/article/7923514#7923514

I chose boards that I either lurk or post on effectively making it an internet equivalent of a convenience sample. I also tried to vary the focus of the board (boardgame, rpg, videogame general geek).

lol some guy asked the same question as me XP

That is why I am beginning to see flaws in the design. It's okay though. It will make for a detailed results section of the paper.

Having 1 mean "strongly agree" and "don't play" is kind of annoying. I had to go back and change all my answers. And instead of doing that I just exited out, because I didn't care that much.

Filled it out. Sort of curious how will you interpret and link the results.
But yeah, when doing questionaire always try to test it first on a few people (2-5) and ask for feedback on clarity of questions and possible problems.

The alternating scales is a known issue, however my professor has graded this questionnaire twice. It has also gone through the human subjects committee. I am not exactly sure what to make of it. He actually complemented the alternating scales on being good research design. My two hunches are:

1. Because we both understood what I was talking about we may have overlooked an issue (likely)
2. The online format is a fallback. I was unable to secure permission at the local game store. There may have been something about the questionnaire that may have worked better in an environment where I had more direct interaction and could address concerns upfront.

I strongly lean towards #1.

I would like to thank everyone that has participated. I will be collecting data until this Wednesday. If you are interested in participating but have questions feel free to pm me or post in the thread.

Your participation is anonymous and is part of a larger sample from multiple websites.