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The researcher had several hypotheses at the start of this study. It was expected that the majority of respondents would answer that they had lied at least once in their online relationships. Additionally, it was predicted that lies told in CMC would be described as more recurrent and more serious than those told in real-life relationships. It was also hypothesized that the lies told by the male participants would fall into self-centered categories such as "physical characteristics," and "job/income," while it was expected that female lies might be more other-centered, or more likely to fall into a category such as "hobbies/interests." This prediction was made because a 1996 study by DePaulo et al. showed similar sex differences in lying. All information uncovered in this study was intended to uncover trends of lying in online relationships, serving as a base upon which other expreiments may build.

Surveys, continued . . . .

Method

Participants        Participants for this study included fifteen females and eleven males between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. All but one of them was a college student. These participants were recruited both on the basis of their being acquaintances of the researcher and on their involvement in a relationship that was formed through CMC. The volunteers received no compensation for their involvement in the study. Materials       The materials used in this study included a survey, which was designed by the researcher prior to the study (see Appendix). Several types of questions were included in this survey. The three principal categories of questions included broad demographic questions and inquiries about the participants' current habits of Internet usage, questions regarding the dynamics of their online relationships, and an examination of their habits of honesty both in CMC and in real life. Procedure        Surveys for this study were administered in one of two ways. Respondents that attend Randolph-Macon Woman's College, the researcher's university, were given a hard copy of the survey. They were asked to fill it out by hand and place it in a box outside of the researcher's door. Participants that attend a school other than Randolph-Macon Woman's College received the survey as an attachment over electronic mail. Tha attachment was sent with a set of instructions directing the participant to fill out the survey and send it back to the researcher in the same manner as it was received. Immediately after the researcher received these finished surveys, she removed the name of the sender for confidentiality. Only seven of the participants filled out the survey by hand; the other nineteen opted to use the electronic mail alternative.        Each survey was prefaced with an explanation of the topic, an assurance of confidentiality, and a reminder to the respondent that they could withdraw from the experiment at any time, no questions asked. Additonally, there was a reminder that all participants in the study must have taken part in a relationship that originated through CMC. Following these opening statements, each participant filled out all relevant parts of the survey, skipping over Section III if they had never been dishonest with their online acquaintances (see Appendix for complete survey). Once all of the surveys were turned in, the data was compiled and processed to expose existing trends.