YAY!!! For Canada! :D

Woah, how exactly did you pitch this project?

In short, it's a broader study of how participation in stigmatized recreational groups can, in spite of the stigma associated with them, nonetheless benefit the individual through the development of a coherent and stable sense of positive identity. Specifically, we believe that for some furries, a fursona represents one's "ideal self", or who they would like to become if they could. We think that by spending time as one's ideal self by roleplaying as them, taking on the identity, and interacting with others as that self, people come to internalize aspects of that ideal self and ultimately develop a stable, positive sense of identity. =)

I was slightly surprised they'd approve funding for 'furries' in particular, but this seems to be a little more uh, pitch-worthy.

Congratulations on both receiving the grant, and especially for your concept!

I think that your hypothesis makes a lot of sense. A century - or 10 centuries - ago, a farmer's son would become a farmer, a farmer's daughter would become a farmer's wife. Loads of character and personal construction guidance was provided by family and community. It was almost impossible to avoid the cultural straightjacket unless one ran away and became a pirate, mountain man trapper, prospector, or something else very unlikely or nearly impossible.

Now a days, the pace of technological/career/economic/social change has become much more rapid. Young people have to do more self-definition and self-construction because the past is really irreversibly the past. Change is now. Young people have a new tool for finding, defining, and constructing themselves: the huge numbers of non-geographic social communities available through the internet. As Tim Leary said, "You can be anything you want to be this time around." Or at least you can try...

Do you have a link where I could download a PDF of your grant proposal? I'd love to read it, and from your brief summary above, I'm sure that its going to be deliciously thought provoking.

Nice insight! Yup, definitely agree with you there! ^^;

Regarding sending a copy of the grant proposal: hrm, lemme get back to you on that. I'm not sure what the rules are on that (I'll have to double-check with my colleagues).

Thanks! I can understand how potential academic competition for grant money might overshadow the ideals of both scientific and government funding transparency. For whatever good it does, I hereby promise to not redistribute the document to anyone or in any manner without prior written permission from you.

I sure hope that your colleagues OK my seeing it; I had never thought about the furry community as being anything other than fun. After reading your comments, I couldn't help but think that play - whether in young humans or other young critters - plays a very important role in both socialization (especially in communication and negotiation) and learning how to eventually earn a living.

Even though I hadn't met the furry community until 2006, ever since childhood growing up on a farm, I've considered myself a human/not-quite-human critter hybrid. Being a high performing Asperger's, that can happen:
http://forums.furaffinity.net/showt.....ght=born+furry
comment #24

Having found furrydom while far far out of childhood or adolescence, one might not expect furry society to have any effect on my socialization. I've been around so long that I helped land men on the moon - do the math:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3281601/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3281566/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3281513/
or in my furry form:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3281650/

But your research has prodded me into doing some introspection - and that isn't what happened! Much to my surprise, FA has been very useful "training wheels" for me in two substantively important aspects of socialization:

1) I'm now more open to enjoying socializing with newly met people. This happened first on FA, and then IRL.

2) As is usual for Aspers, I -since childhood - had found it impossible (and difficult to the point of strongly interfering with my thinking, especial regarding verbal interactions) to "read" facial expressions. Every time I tried, it was terribly confusing. After a year with FA, I started to look at furry facial expressions - and started to understand them! After 7 years, I now naturally look at the character's expressions, and understand them without conscious effort. Much to my delight and amazement, that is leaking over into IRL. It is still confusing for me to look at human faces during a conversation, but it is no longer utterly impossible. Even old fox/horse/human hybrids can learn new tricks.

High performing Aspers are a minute and widely misunderstood minority, being roughly two orders of magnitude less frequent than gays in society. Furry has been a boon for me. I have noted other high performing furry Aspers on FA that have succeeded in forming many friendships. Hurrah for furry!

You are truly onto something big! Your work does mean a lot to me!! Please let me know if I can help beyond responding to your questionnaires and publicizing them on FA.

Thank you very much!!!

FA's URL parser blew the first link. Here it is in TinyURL form - even a caveman could parse this...
http://tinyurl.com/l87htew

"We think that by spending time as one's ideal self by roleplaying as them, taking on the identity, and interacting with others as that self, people come to internalize aspects of that ideal self and ultimately develop a stable, positive sense of identity. =) "

I can wholeheartedly agree with this - I'm physical proof it works. ;) One just has to want it enough. That's the real trick - wanting the change enough to make it happen.

K Fox

Wow! That's amazing! Congratulations to you and your team!

Make furry science progress now!

Congrats

*chuckles*

Man I love being Canadian. We do things.

wowwie!

Congratulations!

Oh man, congratulations - I don't quite know how you swung that one, but I'm very keen to hear!

Hopefully that level of funding helps the project get its research published in some higher-impact journals, too.

Thanks! As I mentioned in a reply above, it's technically part of a broader study on identity formation for members of stigmatized recreational groups =)

*nods* The idea of the funding is to first take some of the pressure off of us, the researchers, financially. I've been paying for this research, up until now, out of my own pocket, as have my colleagues. All the prizes we give out, all the travel costs and costs of renting tables at cons and stuff: that's all largely paid for on our part. As a grad student on a limited budget to begin with, it's pretty expensive to be paying for your own research =P

It also allows us, as you say, to get published in higher impact journals because we'll be able to conduct bigger and better studies =D For example, we're doing a large-scale study at an anime convention next year with over 25,000 attendees! Now THAT's data collection!

A grant's a grant - that's pretty awesome. I know much quicker it goes away when you're dealing with group projects or more corporate-like spending, but still, that's gotta take a good load off since you said you've pretty much been funding it all yourselves. I really hope it's able to help get the research into bigger named magazines. I won't forget what you said at Furry Fiesta this year about the one-line response you were given before from one of them :/

Real excited to hear about the anime convention, though. 25000 people? That's gonna be some really, really insightful data. I wish you guys the best of luck for next year over there - particularly in digging through and analyzing it all once it's collected!

Bad FA, I did -not- hit reply to that comment. Well, I did, but then I re-navigated to the page with no indication I was responding here. Bad code, bad!

Ouch! Thank you very much! I had no idea that you and your partners were doing all this with your own personal resources.

I guess half the budget goes for beer and pizza (Just kidding)

=P Sadly not. We DO have to account for every cent of the money. As a libertarian, I'm always dubious about the government giving taxpayer money to people, so I intend to make every cent count ^^; But I know you're joking =P

I'm not worried about libertarians studying me.

NSA is an entirely different matter.

Im now highly susupicious of why the canadian government wants to study us ¬¬
Congrats on the grant btw ^^ , I'll be happy to be a guineapig in your study :3

*laughs* Nothing malicious =P The government doesn't want to study us, per se; they see value and worth in our research on furries, and are supporting it financially.

They want to have someone to communicate with the beavers so that they can peacefully ask them to move their dams elsewhere.

XD That actually made me spit-take. Well done *wipes monitor*

Impressive. Congrats!

Canada's epic if u need interview babyfur just drop me a line I know we're ya live * stalks ur house*

Wow!
Nicely proven that knowledge, even 'seemingly' esoteric, is worth the effort!

Indeed! And we were able to make a pretty convincing pitch that this was a worthwhile endeavor. We have our colleague Dr. Roberts to thank for that - she's very good at framing the research to show the inherent value of it, and why people should care =)

Thats awesome! I knew canada was better for some reason lol.

Congrats! Let's just hope the media doesn't decide this is 'unnecessary spending' and drag it (and us) out into the mud...

Either way, good luck! I look forward to seeing the results some day ^.^

Thanks! Given that the grant isn't necessarily a "furry grant" (officially, it's a grant on how participation in stigmatized recreational groups can contribute to identity development and well-being), I hope that's not likely to happen. Plus, we won't be using the money in scandalous ways =P We're not running out and buying a fursuit or furry art with it or anything like that. It'll be paying for participants, recruitment, logistics, travel, etc...

Victory scretchhhhh!

Um.
I honestly don't know whether to laugh my ass off at the sheer goofiness of this, cheer because the fandom-despite some of its more negative aspects-has played an immensely positive role in my life, or cry because why can't somebody give ME $75k to do a study, I talk to furries all the TIME. Is it possible to do all three at once?

Just..ok no offense but...whhhhhy? With all the other things that need money..why a furry study? Again, no offense meant, man, but that's a lot of money just to study a bunch of weirdo's who like cartoons a little too much.

Is there money in studying Trekkies? Sports fans? Racing fans? Sorry, I hate to be that guy, especially since I really respect you a bunch but I think this whole furry study thing is getting a bit much when you get $75k in government money to study a fandom when there are preexisting fandoms that have been around for a much longer time (Trekkies) that I'm pretty sure aren't really all that different from the furry fandom.

I guess I'm jealous. I can't help but fixate on the amount and think 'Wow, wish someone would give me a bunch of money just so I can turn around and say 'some people like cartoons a whole lot'"

*laughs* Trust me, I COMPLETELY understand your point, no worries =) I'm a libertarian and, as such, am staunchly opposed to government spending. It's put me in conflict to, because at some level I do disagree with research grants =P

To respond to your concerns, I'll say that first off, if all we were doing was saying "hey, here's some facts about this group of people you've probably never heard of before", then yes, it would probably be a waste of taxpayer money and really not contribute at all to broader knowledge that people can use.

However, that's not what we do =P Sometimes it may seem that way, because of the data we put up on our research website and the talks we give at furry conventions. What we do, in those cases, is present the data that furries care a lot about. Furries are interested in questions like "what are the most popular species" or "how popular is porn?". That's why we present that data to furries - because it's what's most relevant to them.

However, we also ask a LOT of other questions on our surveys, most of which never make it onto our website, oftentimes because it's boring psychology gobbledygook. That's what the grant is actually about =P

So, the reason we got grant money is because we managed to make a case that our research has significant importance to the general population. What we're researching is whether members of stigmatized recreational groups get benefits from participating in those groups. To put it in a more readily recognizable example, imagine a gay person. Gay people are quite heavily stigmatized by society. So, if you're a gay person, what do you do? Well, one solution is to hide the fact that you're gay - if people don't know, you won't get judged by it. That was peoples' solution for a LONG time. However, research has shown that this is actually a bad thing: the stress that comes from trying to constantly hide the fact that you're gay from friends and co-workers can have long-term effects on your health (heart problems, chronic immune problems, etc...) So, that's a bad thing.

What if, instead, a gay person chose to come out and to associate with non-gay people? Well, that's a mixed bag. On the one hand, they no longer have to conceal their stigmatized identity. On the other hand, they may feel they don't have a lot in common with their straight friends. For a similar idea, imagine being the "only black guy" in a group of white friends, or being the only female in a group of male gamers. At some level, your identity is pretty limited to being "the black guy" or "the girl". It's not a great environment for you to "be you", because you're always reduced to this stigmatized label.

But what if you're in a group of like-minded others? On the one hand, you might think it's bad: if gays are stigmatized, why would it be beneficial to hang out in a GROUP of gay people? Doesn't that just make it worse? Well, research shows that you tend to be better off: in such conditions, you don't have to conceal your identity AND you're accepted for who you are. Additionally, we believe, in such contexts, you're freed up mental resources and are in a context where you're now free to develop a sense of identity. You're no longer "the gay guy", and as such, your identity can grow and develop.

In other words, we're using furries as an analogue for a broad range of stigmatized groups. While we're studying furries, the data can apply to many other groups! The other interesting thing about furries is that they are a fantasy-based group, which allows us to test another hypothesis: does having a fursona that represents your "ideal self" contribute to more positive identity formation? The idea here is that if a person's fursona is "who I wish I could be", then to the extent that they are able to "be the person they want to be" in a social context (you get to interact with other furries as this "ideal self"), then, over time, you come to internalize those desired traits. To use a personal example: I was always a relatively shy, introverted person. My fursona, Nuka, was always really outgoing and playful. Over years of "being Nuka" in the fandom, "Nuka" started to bleed into "Courtney", and I noticed that even in non-furry contexts I was a happier, more outgoing, confident person. So this research suggests that having an idealized identity that you get to represent yourself as can be beneficial to identity formation as well. This means happier, healthier people and, if you want to be pragmatic, may mean less money spent on health care in the long run!

Now, if this was just furries, it might be "so what?" But think of how many groups of people have an "idealized self" they play as. World of Warcraft players, cosplayers, D&D players, gamers more generally, people who play Second Life... there's potential relevance for a LOT of people, and these are especially groups who, traditionally, might be predicted to have problems with identity formation and a lack of self-esteem to begin with!

So, yes, in a long-winded nutshell, that's the point of our research, and why the government cares enough to fund it =P "Furry Research" is just more concise to say =P

"the stress that comes from trying to constantly hide the fact that you're gay from friends and co-workers can have long-term effects on your health (heart problems, chronic immune problems, etc...) So, that's a bad thing."

Not to mention give them the impression that they "have/want" to "come out" to everyone. I don't know if this is just opposite to the "have to hide from everyone" belief they originally had, or some form of mind control by opposing groups to root out all the hiding gays so they can be 'judged', but I am constantly having to face people I care about (that isn't just people I know. I could meet a brand new person who's gay and has been hiding it but has an internal uncontrollable want to reveal it to 'everyone', and it makes me want to smack some sense into them. They don't have to reveal it to 'everyone', they 'should' only reveal it to people they know and trust can handle it properly. Example: close friends. If you believe your friends woulda handled it properly from the start and you only hid it from them cause you have been used to doing just that, then reveal it to them when the timing feels right. If you hid it because you think they'd react badly, chances are they WOULD react badly, and you've picked up on that from knowing them for a while. Revealing it those friends would be a pointless waste of time as you'd only be judged badly by them. It'd be like going to a random hobo and saying "hey, I'm gay." Think he'll be supportive? Doubtful, less he's homeless cause he revealed that he was gay and his landlord was strictly against that or something..

Point being, a lot of people who "hide" something about themselves end up having an uncontrollable urge to reveal the truths about themselves to the world (or at least 'their' world; those involved in their lives in some way). For someone like me who has no logical reason to hide something like being a furry from my close friends, I get annoyed at how the world has influenced these people making them hide and feel all stressed out. It's not right.

"makes me want to smack some sense into them" should be where the ")" is. My bad. Made it look like a run-on thought.

You DO have to be careful though Kraton, not to lump all members of stigmatized groups into one category.

To be sure, there are some folks who could perhaps use a bit more discretion in the time/place that they disclose their stigmatized identities. That said, however:

a) In a perfect world, they wouldn't have to. In a perfect world, saying "I'm gay" regardless of who they're saying it to, would be about as eventful as saying "I have blue eyes" or "I'm a hockey fan". Sadly, it's not.

b) The reality is that while some folks may perhaps be, as you're suggesting, "too open" about their identities, this is likely not the normal state of affairs. Our research on furries show that the much more common trend is to keep it to yourself or to a small circle of friends; a majority of furries keep it from their co-workers and their families.

The reason why it may seem like some folks just "tell everyone" may have something to do with something called the spotlight effect. In psychology, the spotlight effect is when you're convinced that everyone notices something. If, for example, you get a stain on your shirt, it's obvious to you. You're also quite convinced that EVERYONE ELSE notices it too. Why? Because we infer how others think by looking at how we think and transferring that over to others (this is putting it very crudely, for the purpose of this discussion). So, if the stain is very obvious to you, you're also pretty sure it's obvious to others. In reality - no one notices. People just don't pay THAT much attention to these things.

So, what if you're gay? If you're gay, you're quite aware that you're gay. You're also pretty aware of everything that you do that confirms the stereotype. The problem is, these things are really obvious to you. But to others, they really aren't that obvious. The pink belt you chose to wear that you think might "give you away"? No one bats an eye at it. A rainbow wristband you wear? No one notices it? A certain way of speaking or a mannerism that you think 'gives you away?' People just attribute it to your voice or to your personality.

So, here you have a person who goes through their daily experience thinking, with every interaction with people, "oh gosh, it must be SO obvious..." When that's your experience day after day, week after week, for months and years at a time... at some point, you may just want to make it a non-issue. You might just say "to heck with it, I'm tired of hiding it". Again, this certainly isn't the experience with everyone. But research does show that with other stigmatized identities (e.g. ethnic minorities, females in male-dominated fields), this is just what happens. If you want to read a well-written and thorough book on the subject, Claude Steele wrote a book called "Whistling Vivaldi", which is all about this sort of feeling and the effects it can have on a person =) I even have a copy of it, if you want to borrow it sometime! ^^;

Oh, obviously I'm not lumping everyone into that category. I meant simply those who are in that category, I feel sympathy to and anger towards the world that made them enter into that category.

I've got plenty of friends who fit into various "hide things about myself" categories that don't actually feel they have to hide or show anything to anyone that doesn't deserve it. Just it's sad when people do because whether they realize it or not, if they cannot rationalize why they are doing something, but can't stop themselves from doing that something, then they're not in control over themselves.

Also yes, I'd love to borrow that book some time! XD

You know...considering my fursona has helped me discover who I was all along by projecting the image of my better self onto him...

..man. Thank you, dude. This answer was so obvious, and makes complete sense, that I can't believe I didn't think of it yet I can see where I wouldn't. I don't know if that makes sense or not.


Nuka...I'm sorry I ever doubted you. My respect for you...man...ok this is gonna sound sappy and gushy but you really 'get' it..the good, the bad...what it's all about. Like...

Ok my question is..where do I donate MY money?

Meep! I'm glad I was able to help you come to such an epiphany! But money's not necessary ^^; That's what the grant is for! =P

Very well said!

Thank you! =^_^=

We can't even fund NASA.

Canada on the other hand will be sending furries into space at this rate.

So I'm late to the bandwagon here, at this journal, but does it count that I was asking for papers a year and a half ago when you were not international to help me write some essays?

But in all seriousness, this is really great to hear! Congratulations.

~Roderick

*laughs* I've actually had a few people ask for help finding sources for papers/ classes ^^; I'm always glad to help!

So which governing party is paying for this?

Neither; it's SSHRC, or the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. They allocate funding to different research projects in the social sciences that seem promising and worthwhile.

Ok, good. :)

Oh nice! Well done! Really interested to see how that goes :)

What you said up a bit to Zidders actually rather hit home for me. As a younger person I was low on the self-esteem (I have several mental health conditions and self harmed extensively). However, I've always worked to the aim of being as open and honest about who I am as possible (I realized pretty quickly that trying to be something else was only a method to further hurt myself). I'm part of a couple of groups which can face a lot of stigma - I'm queer, I'm kinky, I'm a goth, I'm an active activist, I have mental health problems, I'm a furry, so on. However being as outright honest about those things as I can be has meant I've built up a group of friends both online and off who accept me for who I am and I can finally say I'm pretty happy in my own skin right now.

Good luck with it!

I'm guessing you used some common sense though in being as honest and open as you can, deciding who best deserve that honesty and openness from you and those people becoming your closest friends?

To an extent. It's very much a lifestyle choice I follow with a certain amount of strictness as far as I'm concerned.

In a social situation I'm not all "Hey I'm <me> and I'm <labels>". If the topic comes up fluidly in the conversation I'll mention it - I'm much less likely to tell someone I'm kinky first time I meet them (who wants to hear that from a stranger?), for example, and more likely to talk about activism. In terms of my mental health, however, I'm always upfront. I'm too ill to work (I'm also classed as "disabled" and requiring a lot of support in day to day life) and I figure the people around me need to be clued up in case something happens (I don't particularly want to subject someone unprepared to a manic episode or a panic attack). Up front honesty can also be a useful method for keeping people I don't want near me or who aren't going to understand at arms length if used right.

Most of the social circles I run in are people who appreciate that honesty and are reasonably intelligent, open minded people, so I do find it only serves to endear me to ("the right") people.

I think that was a long winded way to say "I'm a reasonably intelligent person and I try to be as socially appropriate as possible (though opinions differ depending on the social values people hold and how well they match with mine - it's a good way to keep people with non-matching ideologies away though), but I'm open and honest 24/7 regardless of my relationship with people I'm around"

That's good to hear. I'm the same way. A lot of people (ok maybe a few. not that many XD) know my dick size for instance, not that they WANTED to know or that I wanted THEM to know, but that if somehow sizes came up in conversation, I'm not opposed to saying something like "yeh, like mine's such and such a size, but looking at it doesn't look that big, even though society seems to make that size or larger out to be 'huge'." or something like that (that's similar to a conversation I had once with a local fur. they were like "o.o did he just tell me his dick size?"). But it's just a thing. it'd be like saying my arm span or my hair length. it's not something I think should matter. Sadly it is something that matters and makes people feel awkward in our society today, but logically it shouldn't.

Logically I wouldn't go around talking about something like dick size to a random stranger (whom obviously couldn't handle hearing such information) but if it's a friend that I know without them saying that it'd be fine and could be a conversation that they could handle gracefully, then I wouldn't feel the need to keep something like that back. That said, that does limit personal information to people I trust, but that can be a wide range of people among those I hang around. Obviously that excludes biological family cause they don't deserve to know personal information, it excludes people I work with (unless they fall into a category that makes them comfortable to talk to about anything, but only in situations that it's appropriate), and it excludes people that I don't know or have a personality that you can feel just being around them that you wouldn't trust them with information like that.

The thing I find similar between our two situations is that people who you feel deserve to be around you, those who are the "right" people to be with, are those who could handle hearing personal truths about you like a mature adult without having to avoid the subject or think differently about you.

I have been known to proudly tell people of my glow-in-the-dark nipple piercings. It's common knowledge with my friends :P

Lol really? Glow in the dark? That's awesome! XD

I'm not one for piercings but that does sound cool.

Yeah wow he really gave an awesome answer, I was blown away

Many thanks, first of all, for being so open in your story =)

I'm glad it resonates with you, and also glad to hear that you're in a much better place than you once were, from the sound of it =)

Thanks, as well, for the good luck! =^_^=

No worries :) you're doing good works, keep it up!

eek! that much for it, Nuka? *flops*

I know! I thought the same thing! O.O'

got that right

Holy Crap! that's a good bit just to do studies on us furries well I just hope that this will turn everyone's beliefs of what we do and how we act in public and give us furs a better reputation.

Why do I have to live in the US? :(

Well, whatever you think of socialism, this is at least the most positive sentiment for Furry any agency outside the fandom has ever shown. Still, $75k would have been a lot of money for research back in 1963; now it's not very much at all. You'll have to use it very efficiently! (I'm sure you will, too.) I take it this grant will fund the longitudinal survey?

Among other things, yes ^^; We've been able to make the research work on next to nothing so far, so we've already got the efficiency thing down to a science ;P

I'd expect nothing less from a scientist.

That's... very impressive! Admittedly, my initial reaction was "Wow, why would the government want to give out $75,000 for furry research?" -- but your response does make the point that it has implications on the general population as a whole.

It would just be nice to see something come of this for real when it comes to formation of public policy :P

Where do you anticipate the money would go? I assume travel to conventions and so forth, but anything else?

Thanks! ^^

Well, things we spend money on tend to look like this:

- Paying for travel to and from conventions (we do at least 3 major conventions per year: Anthrocon, Oklacon, and Furry Fiesta). Each of these requires transport to and from, plus hotels, plus convention registration (this is for all members traveling to the con; this can be anywhere from 4-8 people), plus table registration (for some cons).

- Additionally, we have things we give out at tables to compensate furries for their time. These are typically small things like ribbons, stickers, pens, etc... It may not seem like a lot to give out twenty-five cents worth of prizes to each participant, but if we're talking Anthrocon, where last year we got more than 1,000 surveys back, that's over $250 worth of stuff. That's NOT including the 3-5 $50 gift certificates and/or t-shirt prizes that we often try to give out as well.

- In addition to the three cons we attend to do research, we'd like to make it out to several more to give talks. This can include other large cons like Further Confusion and MFF, more cons on the west coast (which we never really get out to), or even cons as far away as Eurofurence!

- Advertising / administrative materials. It costs money to advertise for our survey using banner ads on FA (it's proven quite effective!) It also costs money to print business cards, print surveys, staple them together, and a million other little odds and ends you never really think about until you're actually doing it!

- It might be nice to get a proper domain name for our research rather than relying on a Google free site. It would add credibility to our research =)

- In addition to furry conferences, having money to attend academic conferences would also help =)

- Other equipment for conventions (including video / tape recorders, a few laptops for field experiments, and statistics software to analyze data)

- An account for the online survey-creation software that we use to make our surveys

These are just some of the costs that go into doing the research. We've found work-arounds in the past, often through the generosity of furries willing to help us out, or out of our own pockets =) It's nice to not have to worry about such things for the foreseeable future!

Thats awesome!

'Grats on finally getting properly funded!! This is a big step, and I for one am glad to see it. You guys may not realize how much you help some people, but you do, and there are a few furs who appreciate what you do. I'm also ecstatic that you're coming to Oaklacon again (I read the comments above) - I'm looking forward to hanging with y'all again and doing as many of your research/panels/activities as possible. One thing I'd like to suggest - try to set up to do guided interviews. I'm thinking Q&A sessions on film, with a researcher (maybe you Nuka - you think fast) so the questions can be tailored to the person being interviewed - different people may need different questions to open up, or you might find a 'goldmine' on a particular topic with one of the subjects. Just consider it - I think it'd be cool. And now that you're properly funded, you should be able to make it happen - if needed you can bring more manpower with you so you're not all stretched so thin. ;)

K Fox

*smiles* Thanks! It's nice to hear that our work means a lot to people!

Yup, definitely coming to Oklacon this year! Haven't had much of a chance to think about it yet, with all the preparations for Anthrocon. After Anthrocon winds down though, I'll start getting excited for Oklacon ^_~

As for what we're going to do at Oklacon, still up in the air. We have a few ideas though! Doing guided interviews is harder than you might think! =P I'm actually probably the least qualified to do it on our team, funny enough =P Dr. Roberts has actually studied up on how to properly conduct qualitative research! Myself, I'm a quantitative researcher: I like numbers and scaled responses that I can put into a stats program! And yup, if all goes well, we'll have another small army of RAs to come along with us! Though, that said, everyone was so friendly and helpful at Oklacon that it really wasn't all that much of a task to do research there! =^_^=

Excellent news, dude! Congratulations. :)

Congrats!

Congrats!

Awesome and congrats! I know I've really enjoyed seeing the results of some of your past studies; glad to know you'll be funded to carry on further with it.

Congrads Nuka, you might not remember me but the Furry Fiesta before last i gave you a copy of my senior thesis on the ideal self in online environments. It wasn't the best but hopefully it will hold a nugget of help or two. I can't wait to read your research.

Ah, indeed! I think it actually inspired a new line of research that I'm hoping to pursue in the next few months, actually! ^^;

Thanks Nuka, I am deeply honored to hear that. I feel that you are a huge inspiration for not only furries but also future and hopeful researchers. I also wanted to ask how do I go about getting another log in for the logitudinal study. I seem to have lost it, sorry

*laughs* No worries =P We actually expect that to happen ^^; (We don't really expect folks to hold onto/ remember their login for the survey for months or years at a time!)

Just e-mail me at furry.research[at]uwaterloo.ca and let me know the e-mail address you signed up for the study with, and I can re-send you your old login =)