Survey Research Innovations
Survey Methods and Data Collection Management
Second Life
RTI maintains a research facility in Second Life. Second Life is an online virtual world with a 3-D graphical interface. In Second Life, residents design avatars (animated visual representations) for themselves and visit the world for socializing, world-building, and participating in an in-world virtual economy that depends on the sale and purchase of user-created content. As a global phenomenon (approximately 60 percent of Second Life residents live outside the United States), Second Life offers researchers the ability to reach a broad international population.
Open to the public, our building in Second Life includes a reception area, two small interviewing rooms designed for one-on-one interviews, and two large interviewing rooms designed for focus groups and other meetings. Our survey methods research in Second Life has focused initially on the logistics related to recruiting interview respondents, conducting self-administered surveys via virtual kiosk, and conducting in-avatar interviews.
Contact: Elizabeth Dean (Frances Meriman in SL), Research Survey Methodologist, 919-541-7445.