530 Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-040-2.ch031 Chapter 31 Methods for the Measurement and Visualization of Social Networks in Multi- User Virtual Worlds Devan Rosen Ithaca College, USA INTRODUCTION Although the graphical quality of MUVWs has been increasing in quality, and variety of appli- cations that these worlds have been used for is rapidly expanding, the interaction within these virtual worlds has remained primarily Internet relay chat (IRC). There has been an increase in the use of Voice over IP (VoIP) in MUVWs, but the larger, community oriented MUVWs still use mainly IRC. Users generally appear as avatars (visual representation of an individual in-world) in the virtual worlds along with communicative fields, such as a text box where they can post comments and track the discussion of other users. Text boxes displaying IRC has been a successful tool at allowing for communicative interaction. However, IRC poses a difficulty for researchers seeking to analyze and interpret the communica- tive interaction since data is stored in the form of chatlogs that can often be in the thousands of pages. The current chapter discusses and applies methodological procedures for the representation and analysis of chat interaction in MUVWs as ABSTRACT Virtual communities that allow many users to interact in a virtual world, often called multi-user virtual worlds (MUVWs), allow users to explore and navigate the virtual world as well as interact with other users. The communicative interaction within these virtual worlds is often text-based using Internet relay chat (IRC) and related systems. IRC has posed a diffculty for researchers looking to evaluate the interac- tion by analyzing and interpreting the communication since data is stored in the form of chatlogs. The current chapter explicates methodological procedures for the measurement and visualization of chat-based communicative interaction in MUVWs as social networks. A case study on an educational MUVW, the SciCentr programs sponsored by Cornell University, is used to elaborate methods and related fndings.