Need or Greed: An Analysis of Ethical Issues Across In-Game and Out-Of-Game Contexts

David Simkins · Sarah Chu · Yoonsin Oh · Constance Steinkuehler

Wed., June 10, 3:30–4:30, Browsing Library (2nd floor, West Central)

Social games provide third places (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006) for social interaction, providing opportunities for the development of bridging relationships. Despite the focus on enjoyment, these spaces teem with ethical norms where guidelines of behavior are emergent (Taylor, 2006), determined by the affinity group (Gee, 2003), and often consequential (Malaby, 2007). Active participation in these games often means negotiating between the in-game rules and those derived from other contexts such as those based in homes or schools. What then are ways of comparing conflicts and values between in-game and out-of-game contexts? How do these conflicts and values help to reveal the role of context in ethical decision making? This study aims to improve insight into one in-game context, the vastly popular massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft (WoW).

This talk will discuss the results of interviews with small groups of 3 to 4 participants (n=24) from our after-school online gaming group (Steinkuehler, 2008; Steinkuehler & King, 2009). Participants are male, between 13 and 18 years old, from smaller cities, towns and rural areas in southern Wisconsin, and are WoW players of varying levels of experience. Participants are given a pre-test to determine previous level of experience with the context of the ethical issues presented in the study. After splitting into small group, the participants are presented with two dilemmas. One is derived from a standardized work on developmental ethics (Kohlberg, 1976; Colby, Kohlberg, Speicher, Hewer, Candee, & Power, 1987). The other scenario is similar in structure, but is drawn from an in-game experience in WoW. Each participant fills in a questionnaire that elicits information about their thought process and priorities regarding the ethical situation. The researcher then asks each of the questions to the small group, asking them to come to a consensus about each question.

The role of context is analyzed using a combined coding scheme. First, top-down codes used are based on Kohlberg's six stages of moral judgment (Kohlberg, 1976). Bottom-up coding of values (Simkins & Steinkuehler, 2008), analytic tools based on discourse analysis (Gee, 1999), and cognitive mapping (Tolman, 1948) are used to find emerging themes (Miles & Huberman, 1994) in the interview data. This presentation reviews findings from these interviews, and presents analysis of participants' prioritization of ethical issues.

References

Gee, J. P. (1999). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. New York: Routledge.

Gee, J. P. (2003). What videogames have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Colby, A., Kohlberg, L., Speicher, B., Hewer, A., Candee, D., Gibbs, J., & Power, C. (1987). The measurement of moral judgment: Vol. 2. Standard issue scoring manual. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Kohlberg, L. (1976). Moral stages and moralization: The cognitive-development revisited. In T. Lickona (Ed.), Moral development and behavior: Theory, research and social issues. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Malaby, T. (2007). Beyond play: A new approach to games. Games and Culture, 2(2), 95–113. Miles, M., & Huberman, M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded handbook (2nd Ed.). London: Sage Publications.

Simkins, D., & Steinkuehler, C. (2008). Critical ethical reasoning and role play. Games and Culture, 3(3–4), 333–355.

Steinkuehler, C., & Williams, D. (2006). Where everybody knows your (screen) name: Online games as “third places.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(4), Article 1.

Steinkuehler, C. (2008). Massively multiplayer online games as an educational technology: An outline for research. Educational Technology, 48(1), 10–21.

Steinkuehler, C., & King, B. (2009). Digital literacies for the disengaged: Creating after school contexts to support boys’ game-based literacy skills. On the Horizon, 17(1), 47–59.

Taylor, T. L. (2006). Play between worlds: Exploring online game culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Tolman, E. C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological Review, 55(4), 189–208.