Lani

= Lani's Research Journal =

Term 1

Week 1: Start of course. Our class went through the SACE outline and research methods, i.e. Six thinking hats and DSLOPE. I doubt either will be very useful to me, especially with regards to the thinking hats.... Anyway, I have decided to the effect of violent video games on individuals, more specifically do they have an impact on the level of aggression of an individual. There is lot of research in this area, however from what I gather, most of it is inconclusive or not supported.This topic has been largely debated for a very long time. In my opinion, it's just an easy way for conservative individuals to slander video games (coughMichaelAtkinsoncough). I don't think that violent video games increase a gamers aggression but is rather an output for it, like catharsis.

Week 2: Did a quick search on Google and on EBSCO for information. I saved a few reports written by universities. I read three of them so far, and it's very clear that there is a lot of bias within this area of research. One report said yes video game violence does increase aggression while another said the opposite. But I'm willing to wade through the information and actually have a closer look at how they measure aggression in studies. From what I've read it's a lot of statistical jargon which I have no idea what it means.

Week 3: Started and completed my research proposal which is at the bottom of this page.

Week 4: Started watching video on ethics in research. The speaker was very annoying, however did give some useful information on the four principles of ethics. I have also read through and highlighted key points in the studies I have found and added a few annotations.

Week 5: I've found a study done by Harvard researchers Olson and Kutner, researching video game's influence on today's youth. They have released a book titled //Grand Theft Childhood// which I hope to get a copy of. They also have a dedicated [|website] to the book, which looks like it has a lot of information but looks like a child designed the website. Probably to make it easier for parents to understand. Because they are researchers from a university, their information is likely to be very credible, however I actually have to read their findings before I make a conclusion. Here's a pdf of their [|research]

I have also found some more information on the Entertainment Software Association [|here], an American institute established for serving the public and business affairs needs of companies that publish video games on a variety of platforms. They have a section for video games and violence, however it's clearly against the link between violent video games and aggression amongst players. But it does cite multiple studies, which I can use for my research.

Week 6: On Monday I talked to Ms. Bond about the statistics I had found in a particular aggression/gaming report. She clarified a few questions I had about the methods used to collect the data and the fancy words used. She also suggested rather than taking an in-depth look at the way the statistics are gathered, rather look a few credible/well-respected studies and compare the results. I definitely agree with her method, since all the statistics/experiments are //very// dense and hard to comprehend without prior mathematical and statistical knowledge.

I've also submitted a electronic version via Facebook, however that was to test the waters so to speak. The demographics I want to survey aren't all in my friend's list unfortunately.

Week 7: The past few weeks I've been reminding my friend to talk to her about my research project. Her mother works at UniSA, so I thought she may have a few contacts in the Psychology department. She finally got back to me, and told me one of her friends, Lisa, is a registered psychologist. The next time she meets up with her, I will be able to interview her. I've begun writing up my interview questions and will probably draft them during my discussion.

I was sick during my double lesson, and that was when I planned to hand out my surveys. This has delayed me in my progress slightly, however I'm not depending on these surveys for information.

Week 8: Mr Tengdahl checked my survey and told me to give a better classification of what violence in video games. He suggested that used specfic games to explain these ratings. Also, it has been clarified that when surveying children under 18, their parents must give consent in line with SACE's ethical guidelines. This is a serious chanllenge as my sample which very likely be reduced from 50 to maybe 15. This data will not be sufficient enough to draw conclusions.

Week 9: I have begun writing the draft of the final outcome. From what information I have gathered from psychological studies, I have decided to make my research question more specific 'Does violent video games increase aggression among adolescents?'. Most research has delved into the effect on children and adolescents as they are much more vulnerable to extraneous factors which affect brain and social development. This is where most controversy over violent video games stem from - the fact children and adolescents play them.

Week 10: I have decided not to hand out my survey due to the limited amount of responses I will get in return. Also, I don't think surveying the students will gather information relevant to my project which I can already find in studies. All I really wanted out of the surveys was to add a primary source of information to my research.

Week 11: In my research outcome, I have included a section on the video game classification and video game controversy can be prevented by adjusting the classification system. If there were stricter controls on who can purchase video games of mature content perhaps there would be less finger-pointing.

Holidays: I've asked Lisa a few questions over email in place of an interview as I was not able to organise one in person. While I may not have gotten the same depth as talking with her in person she gave me insightful answers.

Term 2

Week 1: I have handed my very rough draft for my teacher to read through. He suggested to use an argumentative essay format in which I state my position in the introduction and look at both sides of the argument throughout the main body.

**HERES MY DRAFT! It's very rough so far, and some areas haven't fully been written and the analysis hasn't been integrated in yet. Also not all in-text references have been put in yet either.**
 * 1) 1. Hand up a draft of your outcome to me. I need this because firstly, I need to see your work in progress to verify that it is YOUR OWN WORK, and secondly, I want to check that you are on track and offer you some timely feedback.


 * 1) 2. Answer these questions on your own wiki page. They will help you prepare for your second discussion:

In your journal/ research development page this week, comment on the following: 1. What was the highlight of your research so far that you have enjoyed the most? Reading articles of crazed individuals who kill people over video games. Like the mother who killed their baby because the interrupted their game of farmville. 2. What were some of your challenges or difficult situations/ problems that you have encountered in your research and how did you overcome them? There is an overhwleming amount of information and studies on this topic that I had to read through. I selected the studies to use for my project on the basis of credibility and bias and how plausible the conclusions of the study were. 3. What did you find interesting that you did not know so far?