As mentioned above, it's not our by our choice, honestly x.x' Our own research shows that the vast majority of furries got into furry before they were 18, and we are DYING to know more about the things that get people into the fandom, especially when they're first getting into it. We want, more than anything, to be able to study people under 18, and the only thing holding us back is an ethics board that prohibits it. It has nothing to do with us thinking that people under 18 "can't handle" the content of the survey, or anything like that!
Unfortunately, it's not a matter of anonymity that's the problem. An ethics board (not us!) believes that minors need adult consent to participate in nearly all forms of psychological research. It's nothing against furries, or nothing against minors, and has nothing to do with the content of the survey. We've struggled to try and find a practical way to get around this constraint so that we can include those under the age of 18. Nothing practical has come up thus far (nothing that will allow us to do it online, at very least). This is the unfortunate reality of conducting scientific research: our hands are sometimes tied by ethics. Know, however, that we wish, more than anything, to be able to include all furries in our research - it would be silly and counterproductive of us to WANT to not include minors.
As mentioned above, it's not our by our choice, honestly x.x' Our own research shows that the vast majority of furries got into furry before they were 18, and we are DYING to know more about the things that get people into the fandom, especially when they're first getting into it. We want, more than anything, to be able to study people under 18, and the only thing holding us back is an ethics board that prohibits it. It has nothing to do with us thinking that people under 18 "can't handle" the content of the survey, or anything like that!
Unfortunately, it's not a matter of anonymity that's the problem. An ethics board (not us!) believes that minors need adult consent to participate in nearly all forms of psychological research. It's nothing against furries, or nothing against minors, and has nothing to do with the content of the survey. We've struggled to try and find a practical way to get around this constraint so that we can include those under the age of 18. Nothing practical has come up thus far (nothing that will allow us to do it online, at very least). This is the unfortunate reality of conducting scientific research: our hands are sometimes tied by ethics. Know, however, that we wish, more than anything, to be able to include all furries in our research - it would be silly and counterproductive of us to WANT to not include minors.