They have played more than 1,000 games, mostly on gender, but also on race, religion and age, among other topics. The project is funded by Microsoft. Other Issues to Explore Bruckman's research is filled with socio-political questions. In another project, she is investigating the management of deviant behavior online with graduate student Priscilla Dodds. And as these on-line communities become a bigger part of our lives, there are real questions about who makes the decisions.
Democracy is time consuming.
We do it in the real world because it's worth it. Bruckman also wants to know the effects on individuals of community support derived on line. Many people fear that the virtual world is replacing the real world for active Internet users, but Bruckman's research shows this is not true. It is not the case that someone who had a balanced life was exposed to the technology and then went off the deep end. On the positive side, the community support found in a virtual community can provide students with a lot of help, Bruckman says.