Foldit Survey #2, ambiguity in second to last question

Started by Gharveyn

Gharveyn Lv 1

In the second to last question of survey #2 it asked if we felt we had freedom of movement when playing. (paraphrasing, we can't remember the specific wording)

We (we identify as multiple personality) presumed this meant:

Did we feel we could do anything we liked within the context of the game to succeed in the level?

However, we became confused when we considered this question in context with the many questions about whether or not we felt socially coerced to play.

Could this question have been asked in context with the numerous coercion concerns?

Would many players answering this survey make the assumption that this was another question about feeling coerced to play, regardless of whether or not such an assumption might be true?

If you did not introduce this ambiguity deliberately, then your data may be at risk of being skewed by this ambiguity.

You may need to discard that question in your current collection of data and then reword that question in future surveys to make it more specific, such as:

In context with how the game is played, do you feel as if you are free to do whatever you like to succeed with each level?

Please note, taken in a different context the numerous questions about possible social coercion make this look like a psychological study of schoolchildren, if schoolchildren constitute the majority of your player population.

just sayin'!

-enjoy!

joshmiller Staff Lv 1

Hi Gharveyn,

I appreciate the feedback! The question you are referring to is taken from a standardized questionnaire, so any ambiguities have been deemed minimal by other researchers. I can assure you that we are not researching the social coercion of schoolchildren :)

I hope this answers your question. I am happy to speak about this further in a private message.

Best,
Josh