A role playing session is followed by an evaluation of the interaction and the statements made. The range of groups included one arguing for a larger share for highways, another representing air quality environmentalists, and one speaking as a national cycling lobby seeking more money for bike paths. Role playing allows people to take risk-free positions by acting out characters in hypothetical situations. It helps participants understand the range of concerns, values, and positions held by other people. It is sometimes called game simulation, simulations, simulated discussion, simulation games, and gaming.
Role playing encourages active participation in confronting a situation.
There is no script. Participants improvise how their characters might respond in the given situation and interact with the other characters. Role playing is also used to dramatize proposed changes. In Hawaii, skits were used at an electronic town meeting to compare State funding for traditional industries with State help for new high-tech industries. Instead of the participants themselves assuming roles, a local improvi sational acting company acted out several scenes, and viewers were then asked to react to issues raised by the role playing.