Help wanted: psychology student research study...

[Jan Van Quirm]

Friend of mine (a reliable and grown-up academic type - yes I do have sensible friends too! ) is having lots of fun helping this young lady with her research into fantasy/sci-fi readerships/fandoms and so I've now also volunteered too and thought I'd spread the word.

No obligation to take this up and she won't contact you as you will see that she leaves that up to you to get in touch if you're intrigued with being someone's fantasy guinea pig...
Will let you know how I get on if you'd rather know more before you commit...

Subject: Absorbed fantasy reading study research participants needed

Have you ever been lost in a fantasy or science fiction book
and felt like the story world was real?

I am currently working on my dissertation as part of my doctoral studies at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. To complete this project I am doing research on reading fantasy literature in an absorbed state. In this study, fantasy literature is broadly defined and includes myths, legends, folktales, and fairy tales, as well as modern fantasy and science fiction. I could use your help.

I am looking for people who are 18 years of age or older, have read fantasy literature in an absorbed state of mind and have been positively affected or transformed by the experience, are willing to write about their experiences for confidential use and publication in this study, and are willing and able to communicate primarily via e-mail.

Participants in this study will write about their positive meaningful experiences of reading fantasy literature in an absorbed state of mind.

Please share your stories with me! If you are interested in participating, send an email message to campbell.dissertation@gmail.com with your name and the best way to contact you (i.e., phone number or email) or call me at 650/799-5236 (cell phone).

Thank you so much for your help!

- Sheree

 

[Tonyblack]

Sounds really interesting Jan.

 

[Jan Van Quirm]

- I was interviewed by Sheree earlier this afternoon. She's more interested in your purely reading experiences and responses therefrom rather than related stuff like fan communities necessarily. It sounds like it'll be an interesting study to take part in, especially for anyone who likes writing as she's interested in you describing how you felt whilst 'getting absorbed/lost' in a book and whether you see that immersion as positive or influential in a good way.

So she'll do a 1 to 1 'interview' by phone or email once you've made 1st contact to see if you're a likely candidate and then you sign up formally online - the rest of it is writing up the requirements - a kind of shopping list of experiences and then you'll be asked to write more deeply on what she deems most useful to the study - I think anyway.

You can pull out at any stage but if you do participate she protects your confidentiality and if she puts any revisions on your contribution she'll run it by you for consent before the study is published.

 

[chris.ph]

shes cheating we are doing her dissertation for her

 

[Jan Van Quirm]

Could be could be - she's definitely a Freudian branch Psychologist - very buttoned up

 

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

I wish I had seen the topic earlier, I have some good info on personal experiences getting lost in Tolkien and Anne McCaffery during really tough times in my life.

 

[Jan Van Quirm]

I think there may still be time for this Tina as I'm still in the middle of writing up the 2nd phase of the study for her and she is wanting to hear from people as to how they first reacted to the books (rather than the films) and then their effect on you in your daily life so I think you'd make a suitable candidate

Worth a try anyway - there's the email again campbell.dissertation@gmail.com - but better read that top post over again. She's based in California and she's reasonably flexible with contacts (I'm in the UK and we've had a biggish time difference to overcome)

If you like writing it's fun to do but very interesting as well - I had no idea there was a whole special branch of Psychology for fantasy worlds !

 

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

Cool, I shall offer my two cents ... NOT to be confused with a Tu'penny Upright!