title: Spontaneous Communities of Learning: Cooperative Learning Ecosystems Surrounding Virtual Worlds

authors: Galarneau, Lisa L.

subjects: online gamers

abstract: This thesis is the culmination of a five year research project exploring online gamers
and the cultures they engage with, both virtually in the many massively multiplayer
games and virtual worlds online, and in the physical spaces they inhabit in various
play spaces around the world. The primary research questions concerned social
learning in such spaces, i.e. how do players learn from one another what they need
to be successful, and what are the associated norms and practices for doing so?
What sorts of peripheral skills are gained, and are they applicable to physical world
contexts? Finally, what does participation in such spaces mean for individuals who
may have lacked other mechanisms for social learning, and what impacts might such
findings have on existing educational structures?
I anticipate that this thesis will generate as many questions as it will answer, and I
hope, that as a snapshot of a gaming culture in time, will be looked upon as a
monograph in the classic ethnographic tradition.

text: Spontaneous Communities of Learning: Cooperative Learning Ecosystems Surrounding Virtual Worlds This thesis is the culmination of a five year research project exploring online gamers
and the cultures they engage with, both virtually in the many massively multiplayer
games and virtual worlds online, and in the physical spaces they inhabit in various
play spaces around the world. The primary research questions concerned social
learning in such spaces, i.e. how do players learn from one another what they need
to be successful, and what are the associated norms and practices for doing so?
What sorts of peripheral skills are gained, and are they applicable to physical world
contexts? Finally, what does participation in such spaces mean for individuals who
may have lacked other mechanisms for social learning, and what impacts might such
findings have on existing educational structures?
I anticipate that this thesis will generate as many questions as it will answer, and I
hope, that as a snapshot of a gaming culture in time, will be looked upon as a
monograph in the classic ethnographic tradition.

year: 2010

title: Workaholism: how does it impact on people’s lives?

authors: McMillan, Lynley H.W.

abstract: Although there appears to be considerable popular interest in workaholism, scientific understanding of the construct is very limited. Paradoxically, although many argue that the personal cost of workaholism to workers, families and friends is enormous, these people’s perspectives do not appear to have been analysed using formal scientific paradigms (Scott, Moore, Miceli, 1997). The present research considers the construct of workaholism in its impact on people’s lives. The thesis comprises six chapters that outline data from three separate studies. The theoretical perspective involves interaction theory, where workaholism is hypothesised to arise from a personal tendency toward workaholic behaviour that is activated and maintained by reinforcing stimuli. The epistemological perspective involves applied research in a naturalistic setting, using triangulated, quantitative data within a contrasted-group design (i.e., workaholics, non-workaholics). Time diaries were used to assess the impact of workaholism on the allocation of time to ‘outside-work’ activities such as sleeping and exercising. Together, the data validated the two-factor measure of workaholism, corroborated the theoretically based definition, and showed that workaholism was distinct from four generic ethics (work, achievement, leisure, and time) and three specific constructs (obsessive thinking, compulsive finishing and delayed gratification). Workaholism scores were stable across time and held a consistent temporal relationship to work and leisure behaviours and intrapersonal and interpersonal well-being. Additionally, while workaholics evidenced differing work and leisure patterns to non-workaholics, they experienced similar health status, pleasure and relationship satisfaction. Thus, workaholism impacted on peoples’ choices about time allocated to work and non-work activities, but it was not necessarily harmful. These data are congruent with interaction theory, support the inductively generated definition of workaholism, and thereby provide a conceptual springboard for evolving future research designs. In sum, the research advances contemporary knowledge about workaholism in five ways (a) by providing one of the first systematic analyses of workaholism using data from multivariate sources, (b) by generating longitudinal New Zealand data from contrasted groups, (c) by analysing significant others’ perceptions of workaholism, (d) generating an empirically based operational definition, and (e) by adapting innovative measurement methods from other fields (e.g., time diaries) for use in workaholism research.

text: Workaholism: how does it impact on people’s lives? Although there appears to be considerable popular interest in workaholism, scientific understanding of the construct is very limited. Paradoxically, although many argue that the personal cost of workaholism to workers, families and friends is enormous, these people’s perspectives do not appear to have been analysed using formal scientific paradigms (Scott, Moore, Miceli, 1997). The present research considers the construct of workaholism in its impact on people’s lives. The thesis comprises six chapters that outline data from three separate studies. The theoretical perspective involves interaction theory, where workaholism is hypothesised to arise from a personal tendency toward workaholic behaviour that is activated and maintained by reinforcing stimuli. The epistemological perspective involves applied research in a naturalistic setting, using triangulated, quantitative data within a contrasted-group design (i.e., workaholics, non-workaholics). Time diaries were used to assess the impact of workaholism on the allocation of time to ‘outside-work’ activities such as sleeping and exercising. Together, the data validated the two-factor measure of workaholism, corroborated the theoretically based definition, and showed that workaholism was distinct from four generic ethics (work, achievement, leisure, and time) and three specific constructs (obsessive thinking, compulsive finishing and delayed gratification). Workaholism scores were stable across time and held a consistent temporal relationship to work and leisure behaviours and intrapersonal and interpersonal well-being. Additionally, while workaholics evidenced differing work and leisure patterns to non-workaholics, they experienced similar health status, pleasure and relationship satisfaction. Thus, workaholism impacted on peoples’ choices about time allocated to work and non-work activities, but it was not necessarily harmful. These data are congruent with interaction theory, support the inductively generated definition of workaholism, and thereby provide a conceptual springboard for evolving future research designs. In sum, the research advances contemporary knowledge about workaholism in five ways (a) by providing one of the first systematic analyses of workaholism using data from multivariate sources, (b) by generating longitudinal New Zealand data from contrasted groups, (c) by analysing significant others’ perceptions of workaholism, (d) generating an empirically based operational definition, and (e) by adapting innovative measurement methods from other fields (e.g., time diaries) for use in workaholism research.

year: 2002

title: Using Twitter in an Indigenous language: An analysis of te reo Māori tweets

authors: Keegan, Te Taka Adrian Gregory

abstract: Language revitalization theory suggests that one way to improve the health of a language is to increase the number of domains where the language is used. Social network platforms provide a variety of domains where indigenous- language communities are able to communicate in their own languages. Although the capability exists, is social networking being used by indigenous- language communities? This paper reports on one particular social networking platform, Twitter, by using two separate methodologies. First, Twitter statistics collated from the Indigenous Tweets website are analysed. The data show that languages such as Basque, Haitian Creole, Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Frisian and Kapampangan do have a presence in the “Twittersphere”. Further analysis for te reo Māori (the Māori language) shows that tweets in te reo Māori are rising and peak when certain events occur. The second methodology involved gathering empirical data by tweeting in te reo Māori. This served two purposes: it allowed an ancillary check on the validity of the Indigenous Tweets data and it allowed the opportunity to determine if the number of indigenous- language tweets could be influenced by the actions of one tweeter.

text: Using Twitter in an Indigenous language: An analysis of te reo Māori tweets Language revitalization theory suggests that one way to improve the health of a language is to increase the number of domains where the language is used. Social network platforms provide a variety of domains where indigenous- language communities are able to communicate in their own languages. Although the capability exists, is social networking being used by indigenous- language communities? This paper reports on one particular social networking platform, Twitter, by using two separate methodologies. First, Twitter statistics collated from the Indigenous Tweets website are analysed. The data show that languages such as Basque, Haitian Creole, Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Frisian and Kapampangan do have a presence in the “Twittersphere”. Further analysis for te reo Māori (the Māori language) shows that tweets in te reo Māori are rising and peak when certain events occur. The second methodology involved gathering empirical data by tweeting in te reo Māori. This served two purposes: it allowed an ancillary check on the validity of the Indigenous Tweets data and it allowed the opportunity to determine if the number of indigenous- language tweets could be influenced by the actions of one tweeter.

year: 2015