The Scientific Research Potential of Virtual Worlds

@article{Bainbridge2007TheSR,
  title={The Scientific Research Potential of Virtual Worlds},
  author={William Sims Bainbridge},
  journal={Science},
  year={2007},
  volume={317},
  pages={472 - 476}
}
Online virtual worlds, electronic environments where people can work and interact in a somewhat realistic manner, have great potential as sites for research in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences, as well as in human-centered computer science. This article uses Second Life and World of Warcraft as two very different examples of current virtual worlds that foreshadow future developments, introducing a number of research methodologies that scientists are now exploring, including formal… 
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