How do you lead?

Miniver

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Apr 2008

Hey folks,

I have a 5-10 minute survey studying leadership behaviors among MMORPG players and would greatly appreciate your participation if you are 18 or older. No personal or identifying information is being collected.

I am a graduate student in industrial & organizational psychology (and a long time gamer) and one of my research interests is leadership. I would like to see what links there might be between game and real world leadership.

The first page of the survey link has more information about the study as well as contact info if you have any questions.

Thanks for your help!

EDIT: This survey is now offline. I'll post results ASAP. Big thanks to everyone who was able to help out!

Sakura Az

Sakura Az

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2007

The frozen north

Ambassadors Of Enlightenment [Sage]

A/

interesting survey, took it.. i think you shoudl have included an option for just a normal guildmember who isn't an officer or the leader. thats my only thought about the survey.

goodluck with your reseach too.

mystical nessAL

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Nov 2006

DDrk

W/Mo

I'll take a look, after all im studing psychology too. ><

PlasticBlue

PlasticBlue

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Apr 2008

Middelburg

The Sneezing Dragons

E/

Nice one
Keep us posted on the results

enxa

enxa

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2006

Novi Sad, Serbia

Rt/

filled

good luck

cataphract

cataphract

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2005

Ashford Abbey

Hey Mallyx [icU]

Mo/Me

The software yelled at me! QQ

Kusandaa

Kusandaa

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2006

N/Mo

Interesting topic, giving it a shot now =]

Tatile

Tatile

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2007

Stygian Disciples of Tenebrasus

N/Me

Nice survey, though some of it is a bit... odd in consideration to what the questions are relating to.

Also, some of them don't totally apply to those of us in very small guilds.

TomD22

TomD22

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jul 2005

Interesting topic. (and an impressively thorough ethics disclaimer at the start ^^)

I need to know before filling it out, though, whether we're being questioned about in-game activities/responses ONLY or whether the questions are meant to apply to our lives in general?

Like, for instance: "I talk about my most important values and beliefs" - does that apply to values and beliefs in general? Or specific in-game, guildwars-related values and beliefs? 'Cos, y'know, I wouldn't start discussing my real-life morals or religion or anything, but I would maybe discuss specific in-game values like how exactly a team should work together in a gvg or something...y'know?

It's just not very clear atm

The Red Messenger

The Red Messenger

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2008

America

Interesting...a bit complex for your target audience.

asking whether we "re-examine critical assumptions" kind of made me tilt my head to the side for a second. Remember...a lot of gamers aren't that smart or have ADD of some form or another. Simplicity is the key

i got to question 7 or 8 and lost interest...your questions were too veg for me

Smile Like Umean It

Smile Like Umean It

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jul 2006

E/Rt

For some of the questions I don't think you had an answer that could apply to some people.

And yeah, though I actually do a lot of that stuff, I still think you made it a bit more complex than need be.

Miniver

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Apr 2008

Thanks to those who have had a chance to fill it out!

I appreciate the comments and agree that some of the questions are tough to apply. Unfortunately it's a balancing act. I'm using measures from the literature so I can better compare the results to prior findings, but as a result it can be generic/odd at times.

Miniver

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Apr 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by TomD22
Interesting topic. (and an impressively thorough ethics disclaimer at the start ^^)

I need to know before filling it out, though, whether we're being questioned about in-game activities/responses ONLY or whether the questions are meant to apply to our lives in general?

Like, for instance: "I talk about my most important values and beliefs" - does that apply to values and beliefs in general? Or specific in-game, guildwars-related values and beliefs? 'Cos, y'know, I wouldn't start discussing my real-life morals or religion or anything, but I would maybe discuss specific in-game values like how exactly a team should work together in a gvg or something...y'know?

It's just not very clear atm
Sorry for the ambiguity! There is one block of questions that ask about the MMORPG specifically and after you complete that chunk, you'll see the same set of questions again. The second time you'll be instructed to answer them for work (or school, if you don't work). These two chunks of questions make up the bulk of the survey, so it's all downhill after you fill them out.

Savio

Savio

Teenager with attitude

Join Date: Jul 2005

Fifteen Over Fifty [Rare]

Why do people keep thinking that surveying gaming forums will yield useful results?

Dr Strangelove

Dr Strangelove

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Dec 2005

Wasting away again in Margaritaville

[HOTR]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Savio
Why do people keep thinking that surveying gaming forums will yield useful results?
If you put stats in your reports, no one will check the source.

Also, this survey is completely ridiculous:


Quote:
Originally Posted by Survey
I re-examine critical assumptions to question whether they are appropriate

I consider an individual as having different needs, abilities, and aspirations from others

I emphasize the importance of having a collective sense of mission
Answer: I get drunk and complain loudly in vent that no one is blinding this hammer warrior. Sometimes I sing bad 80s songs as a motivational technique.

Winterclaw

Winterclaw

Wark!!!

Join Date: May 2005

Florida

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Savio
Why do people keep thinking that surveying gaming forums will yield useful results?
No idea because someone would answer the same question differently depending on how it is asked. Only n00bs tend to take polls and follow them too closely.


BTW, I play with H/H and don't have a guild so I'm anything but a leader.

kokuou

Academy Page

Join Date: Nov 2007

N/Me

Really, these kinds of polls should be taken by those over the age of 18-ish. It's likely that a large majority of those here are fairly young and won't understand/care about the meanings of these questions, and will likely just start clicking, which could very likely lead to skewing your results.

Savio

Savio

Teenager with attitude

Join Date: Jul 2005

Fifteen Over Fifty [Rare]

Age is an insignificant factor compared to the fact that it's an online survey posted to probably several gaming sites, the participants are self-selecting forumgoers, and the questions are biased towards a particular type of leader.

Also, a significant portion of the forumgoers are 18+. That doesn't mean they act mature though. (Additionally, those that complain about a particular age group tend to be just a year or two older than said age group.)

Dr Strangelove

Dr Strangelove

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Dec 2005

Wasting away again in Margaritaville

[HOTR]

Self selection isn't as bad as you might think, depending on the topic. On a forum, you're likely to get hardcore gaming nerds rather than the mythical casual gamer. The people leading guilds are mostly the hardcore nerds, so you're cool there, and your data isn't useless.

The problem with this survey is completely irrelevant questions. They read like some of the gibberish you find on communications major resumes (no offense to any of you). Considering that MMORPG leadership is much less strict than business relationships, it's just not applicable.

Naturally, I clicked "sometimes" on everything on the first page, then quit.

Savio

Savio

Teenager with attitude

Join Date: Jul 2005

Fifteen Over Fifty [Rare]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Strangelove
The people leading guilds are mostly the hardcore nerds, so you're cool there, and your data isn't useless.
It's quite an assumption to think that players leading guilds are hardcore nerds, and that the hardcore nerds on Guru are representative of anything.

Dr Strangelove

Dr Strangelove

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Dec 2005

Wasting away again in Margaritaville

[HOTR]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Savio
It's quite an assumption to think that players leading guilds are hardcore nerds, and that the hardcore nerds on Guru are representative of anything.
Probably a good point, but I think selection bias is the least of the problems with this survey.

StormDragonZ

StormDragonZ

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2008

New York

W/R

I am not a leader.

I've been told calling targets to be annoying.
I've been told Melonni isn't worth using... ever...
I've been told Masters Rank isn't important.
I've been told no one likes Necromancers who don't have a Monk secondary.

Therefore, I am not a leader.

Clarissa F

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Nov 2007

Fighters of the Shiverpeaks

Me/Mo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEZEosWNWso

I lead like a cholo...elbows up, side to side.

escoffier

escoffier

Academy Page

Join Date: Nov 2006

known-destination:unknown

bawls deep [pron]

Rt/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by StormDragonZ
I am not a leader.

I've been told calling targets to be annoying.
I've been told Melonni isn't worth using... ever...
I've been told Masters Rank isn't important.
I've been told no one likes Necromancers who don't have a Monk secondary.

Therefore, I am not a leader.
QFT, however I am the proud leader of a guild of 1.

Miniver

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Apr 2008

LOL @ Dora

Good points all, but the truth is you can never get a perfect survey of anything. The U.S. Census is supposed to account for everyone in the country, but I think we know how well that works! So we do our best, continually triangulating.

As for muddied results from people just clicking things, it's not all that horrible a problem. Yes, it exists, but it can be corrected for. It's pretty obvious when somebody enters 200 on their age that the respondent should be dropped from the results. Another way, which somebody brought up, is those people who don't feel applies to them simply drop out. That saves everybody's time.

And if you're curious, the age limit on the survey is because it's a PITA to get permission to do research involving minors. Which is pretty silly for an online survey with a click-through consent page, but that's the bureaucracy!