My name is Diksha Kale, and I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University. I am working on a research project under the supervision of Dr. Stacy Douglas. If you are a current Carleton University student (graduate or undergraduate), I am inviting you to participate in a study entitled “Leaving Home: Using Interactive Fiction to Explore Student Attitudes towards Immigration”. This study aims to offer an interactive, educational experience which can help users understand the challenges related to immigration and xenophobia.
The study involves an Interactive Fiction (IF) short story (with 30 minutes to 1 hour of playtime) that places the participant in the role of a fictional immigrant who must leave their homeland to pursue their education. If you choose to participate in the study, your answers to the survey questions at the end of the game will be recorded digitally and stored on a secure file. The survey will focus on questions related to your perceptions of the different themes in the story both before and after playing, and feedback on the different aspects of the IF story to make it more accessible and impactful. Since the study is conducted online entirely, your physical presence in any specific location for this study is not required.
As part of the project, due care will be taken to protect your identity. Your data will be anonymized using a pseudonym. You will be given a list of available pseudonyms from which you can choose one for yourself. The pseudonym will be used instead of your real name when presenting the data to an audience. You will have the right to end your participation in the study at any time, for any reason. If you want your data to be removed from the study, then you must withdraw from the study before October 16, 2025.
As a token of appreciation, each participant will receive $25 via e-transfer. Please note that the compensation is not available to participants who withdraw from the study before completion of the assigned tasks. The compensation will be provided to participants upon successful completion of the tasks assigned to them for the project i.e., playing the IF story up to three times, and answering all the survey questions at the end of each gameplay by September 30, 2025. All research data, including the survey responses and your personal information, will be stored in password-protected files. Research data will only be accessible by the researcher and the faculty research supervisor.
If you would like to participate in this research project, or have any questions about the research, please contact me at dikshakale@cmail.carleton.ca.