Insignificant Wranglings

Today’s Plan:

• Sharing the Proposal Template
• Let’s Talk Surveys (And Qualitative Research Principles)

Introducing the Proposal Template

Here’s a link to the proposal.

In Monday’s class, I’ll ask you to meet up with your folks and share initial project ideas. Wednesday will be a work day in the lab. On Wednesday I will try to meet with potential teams to discuss data collection and norming; I’ll ask folks doing a standard Sicart analysis to try and draft a clean heuristic to analyze a game. On Friday, we’ll cover characters and actions again in class (or I can give teams more time to work on the proposal sections–let’s check in at the end of Friday’s class).

Surveys

Surveys typically collect three kinds of information:

• Attitudes and Preferences [data]: Generally leans towards what we should do.
• Opinions and/or Reactions [data]: Generally measures thought about what we have done.
• Demographic information [What do I need to know about my audience to frame my data]

Generally, you measure attitudes and preferences using multiple choice, ranking (favorite to least favorite) or likert scales. While the term likert scale might be unfamiliar, I can almost guarantee you’ve encountered one before.

• It is very likely you have encountered a Likert scale
• It is likely you have encountered a Likert scale
• It is neither likely or unlikely you have encountered a Likert scale
• It is unlikely you have encountered a Likert scale
• It is very unlikely you have encountered a Likert scale

Note: social scientists and marketers often omit the middle option above. Doing so forces a respondent to make a decision (the middle option provides them an opt out).

Note: If you do a ranking scale, make sure you tell someone whether 1 is their favorite or 1 is their least favorite. That is, if you ask someone to rank their preferences from 1 to 5, then be sure to write something like: please rank the following options from 1 (least favorite) to 5 (favorite).

We can collect more information in surveys via open ended, free write questions. There’s a few issues with these though. One is that people are likely to skip them. If you have more than one of these in a survey, your response rate is likely to plummet. The other difficulty is that these require quite a bit of time to “code”: that is, to go through and synthesize responses. However, that time is usually rewarded; for instance, I’ve published several articles on experimental class projects and I often get the best data from open-ended student responses, but this data takes much more time to analyze than a likert question.

Collecting demographic information is tricky because (some) people are skeptical of surveys. People can become suspicious if they think they know what your survey is attempting to prove. This can, if they disagree with you, create animosity, and lead to survey trolling. This is one reason it is important to create neutral, objective, balanced questions that do not preference a particular response.

Survey skepticism can often surface as a resistance to supplying demographic information. You have to think about what information you need to meaningfully code and analyze your data. A lot of the time, I complete a survey and wonder why they need to know how old I am or my sexuality. However, sometimes demographic information is extremely important–especially if we hypothesize that subject position informs outlook. So–an important preliminary question is to ask whether I *really* need to know demographic data.

If you need to collect demographic data, particularly data relating to race, sex, gender, and/or sexuality, then you need to be careful, diligent, and respectful. I think gender and sexuality are particularly difficult these days, given the rapid reconceptualization of those concepts (which is a good thing). So we should spend some time investigating how to ask demographic questions, particularly about gender and sexuality.

There’s more information on question types and some tips in this article.

What Not to Do in a Survey

Some general tips (emphasis–avoid loaded words). Some more tips (emphasis–use audience’s language).

Ok, let’s try an exercise.

A classic example of how not to construct a survey.

Okay, now let’s try crafting a survey question.

Today’s Plan:

• Golumbiski and Hagen, Design Sins
• Robin Williams, The Basic C.R.A.P.
• Golumbiski and Hagen, Works Every Time Layout

Golumbiski and Hagen’s Design Sins

Let’s talk about what *not* to do. Here’s a link to G+H’s White Space book. Marc: scroll down to their 5 steps for visual success.

Robin Williams’ Basic Design Principles

My first foray into design was Robin Williams’ Non-Designer’s Design Book. In it, Williams lays out the basic C.R.A.P.:

• Contrast
• Repetition
• Alignment
• Proximity

These principles still ground a lot of design theory two decades later. Those who read White Space will encounter them with some different names, but the principles remain the same. For instance, let’s check out the website Clean Up Your Mess, which offers an example of Williams’ principles in action.

Creating a G+H Works Every Time Layout

First, some materials. We need properly sized placeholder images. Either 1/3 of the page or 2/3 of the page.

• 1/3 Image
• 2/3 Image

Second, an acknowledgement. G+H’s aesthetic grows out of a late modernist emphasis on clean, efficient, “modern” design. And this kind of design still wins awards today. Take, for instance, the 2022 Graphic Design USA Inhouse Award Showcase winners. But there are more postmodern? (no) contemporary approaches to design, approaches that are a bit more idiosyncratic or chaotic (see 99 Designs 2022 awards). These are harder to teach and to assess. History of graphic design and technical communication vs art.

Third, the problem with Canva (and, to a lesser extent, a problem with Word templates).

Okay, now back to G+H’s White Space book. Let’s look at the works every time layout.

Homework

Use G+H’s “Works Every Time” Layout to redesign your unfortunate flyer.

While I don’t particularly care what technology you use for this redesign, I recommend *not* using Word, simply because you will be fighting against the program.

Today’s Plan:

• Real Talk
• A Few Thoughts

Real Talk

According to the syllabus, we are supposed to move on to proposals this week. However, only 8 of 16 students have completed the third worknet (which were due last Friday) and we have a 4th worknet due on Wednesday. On the one hand, reading and writing about one research article a week doesn’t seem like an overbearing ask. On the other hand, moving onto the proposal assignment before folks catch up on the worknets seems bad. So, I’m going to push back on introducing the Proposal Assignment until Friday.

Wednesday will be a work day in the lab so that you’ll have time to catch and/or finish work list #4. I will be taking attendance Wednesday–consider it a mandatory reading/writing hour.

A Few Thoughts

I’m reviewing the Worknet #3 submissions. A few things:

A few of you have read Pozo’s Queer Games After Empathy: Feminism and Haptic Game Design Aesthetics from Consent to Cuteness to the Radically Soft.” I was wondering, can you transform Pozo’s description of haptics into a checklist for examining a game? I was having some difficulty figuring out how to “operationalize” these ideas.

I wanted to talk about paraphrasing and explication. Ethan took a swing at a difficult concept from Hammar’s article:

This article is focused on something called “prosthetic memory”, or “how contemporary mass media enables the formation of sensuous mnemonic limbs in audiences.” A mnemonic limb, “meaning a sensuous prosthesis formed from the affective engagement with historical mass media, i.e. cultural constructions.” The article applies these concepts to the game Mafia III and the racial implications in the game’s story. Hammar argues that by playing as a black man in the south in the 1960’s, a mnemonic limb may be formed for non-black players to better understand black experiences. He also argues that critics should have a power-hierarchical mindsets when analyzing media to better understand it.

Semantic
Prosthetic memory- In essence, a prosthetic memory is a memory of an event that was never experienced. Hammar argues that these can be helpful in creating a layered game with positive real world consequences. He argues that in Mafia III, the prosthetic memories of being a minority and the oppressive experiences that come with it can help players in real life become more empathetic.

Finally, for Sicart folks, I want to look at a section from his book [files section of Canvas].