Psychological study of video game addiction and communicatio

[DanielL]

Hi All,

My name is Daniel Loton, and i'm currently completing an honours thesis as part of a Psychology degree at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia. For my thesis, I've decided to conduct an online, international study of adult gamers, looking at whether there is a relationship between gaming and communication styles, self esteem and video game addiction (or problem video game playing, as it is yet unknown if video game 'addiction' exists per se).

Gaming is massively popular now, and particular kinds of games have become a new avenue for communication. I've chosen to look at whether elements of video gaming can predict a measure of communcation styles (including verbal and non-verbal expressivity and sensitivity), self esteem and signs of problem video game playing.

Have you ever wondered if MMORPG players communicate differently, perhaps due to the social nature of the game, compared to simulation players? Or if people can actually be addicted to video games? Or if video game playing is reflected in a measure of communication and social styles? The study will hopefully be able to point to whether video gaming is related to communication, self esteem and elements of problem video game playing.

If you have 15-20 minutes to participate in the survey, or are interested in the topic, please visit
www.computergameresearch.com
The survey is COMPLETELY anonymous, and the information you could provide can contribute to a relatively infantile branch of research, particularly in comparison to the popularity of the actual topic (gaming). Note you do not have to be a gamer to participate, as this allows even more interesting comparisons!

Thanks very much, and if you have questions please don't hesitate to reply, pm me or email me.

Regards, Daniel Loton.

 

[TheNesMan]

I filled it out.

 

[Krowsnose]

excellent study, I'm definitely a believer in a correlation between a person's gaming life and their social life, but the question is whether or not one caused the other....

 

[DanielL]

Yes, and this can only be answered through lots of studies on the topic, and generally using experimental designs to control for as many variables as possible, and account for time, and thresh out the etiology behind the r/ship.
I'm hoping that by at least looking at a broad view of social skills i can help to point research in the right direction as to what is actually related to gaming and gaming addiction. No causation in my study though, only correlation!

Cheers, Dan.

 

[Simsy]

Just a question out of curiousity, as I`m very interested by your study. Do you have a method of screening out people who take this test and purposefully fill it out randomly, or as idiotically as possible, only to ruin the results? This is the internet after all.

As well, to you have a way to separate those with existing conditions which prevent "normal" social functioning? I'm mainly thinking about those who are mute or deaf, or who have some kind of social anxiety disorder.

Good luck with the study!

 

[DanielL]

The communication style scale has built in reverse-scored questions, too add validity the questions are asked from a self-referential standpoint, (i.e. I am, or I often), and a feedback standpoint (i've often been told that); and then reverse scored, so that if someone is fatigued and just filling out anything then the two questions will cancel each other out when the score is computed. Or i can actually look at the data and see that if within one record the questions are totally in opposition to each and make no sense whatsoever I can consider removing them, but this is unlikely. I considered asking for an email address to confirm in these cases, and for possible follow up longitudinal studies on gaming, but this would make it so much harder for poeple to be honest, and to get ethical approval for the study. I'm hoping that people don't just skip through the questionnaires, and that they have no reason to ile as well.

Ta, Dan.

 

[Ted Wolff]

His study is a type of sampling that is called convenience sampling, since he's making a post and just asking people to reply at random. As such, it is naturally to include some biases such as non-response and will be more influenced by those more inclined to reply. It is also unable to determine specific biases, such as whether someone took the the study seriously or not.

As he said, there's a method called interitem reliability. This is often seen in questionnaires where you're asked similar questions multiple times. The gist is that if the answers are similar, then they're likely more reliable than if they're contrasting.

[/end informational rant]

I will fill out your survey.

 

[Nefro]

I think it's a very interesting thesis and I wish you look on collecting your data!

I completed said survey.

 

[TheNesMan]

I was wondering why questions were re-arranged many times...

 

[Ted Wolff]

I wondered that for the longest, Nes Man. This year I learned why!