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Abstract
two categories; violent games and nonviolent games. After playing those games
Aggressive.”
Ripa Pandit
ec09570@dcs.qmul.ac.uk
Exam No: 090447172
Queen Mary University of London
27 November 2009
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Introduction
The purpose of this research is to design an experiment to find out “Playing Computer Games
Causes People to Be More Aggressive”. We are going to consider the hypothesis that
Little research has been carried out into non-arcade electronic game playing as this was
originally perceived as a harmless and enjoyable pastime. However, with the increasing
popularity of computer games and participation of young people in this activity, much concern
Since the late 1970s when computer game playing joined television as a preferred
childhood leisure activity, one of the main concerns that has constantly been raised is
that most games feature some kind of aggression. This has led some to believe that
children become more aggressive after playing such games (Koop, 1982; Zimbardo,
1982).
Psychologists Dr Craig Anderson, from Iowa State University of Science and Technology, and
The first showed that young men who are habitually aggressive may be particularly vulnerable to
The second showed that everybody can become temporarily more aggressive after even a brief
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To find whether computer games cause people more aggressive or not, we have design an
games into two categories and assigned these games randomly to different groups of people ages
from 7 to 22 years for a period of 2 months. This experiment has been carried out in school and
college laboratories, so that the participant will feel free during the process. After each session
we have collected raw data and processed using Deconstruction analysis techniques.
“Independent Two Sample T-test” method is used to analyze these data to draw a conclusion of
the research.
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Method
Experimental design is a process in which we are concerned with the analysis of data generated
from an experiment. We have design this experiment in such a way to ensure that the right type
of data, and enough of it, is available to answer the questions of the interest as clearly and
efficiently as possible.
Our Choice of experimental design is Between-Subjects because we are going to treat two
experimental units with two different types of game and then compare the result.
To prove our hypothesis that “Playing Violence Computer Games Cause’s People To Be More
techniques to overcome the nuisance factors like age range, Gender, nature of participant which
In this techniques participant are grouped into homogenous block based on age range, Gender,
created two experimental units each with 12 participants. Type of the game is used as a treatment
which is our independent variable. In our experiment aggression rate is dependent variable.
This experiment was conducted for a period of two months. Raw Data collected from this
experiment has been corrected, analyzed and tested to prove the hypothesis.
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Participants:
Participants in this research are aged between 7 to 22 years. Computer games are extremely
popular among young people and they are also more vulnerable. While selecting participants we
also considered their ethnicity and their current behaviors. Gender selection also played a vital
rule.
Research has indicated gender differences in computer game playing habits, with males
playing more frequently than females (Kaplan, 1983; Griffiths, 1991a).
Materials:
To perform this experiment we have used schools and colleges laboratories. This will minimize
their anxiety and change in behavior due to environment change. We have selected two types of
games violent and nonviolent. For violent games we have selected Resident Evil, Wolfenstein
3D, Doom, Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt. For non violent games Tony Hawk Pro Skater,
Roller Coaster Tycoon and The Longest Journey has been selected. Different types of noise
Procedure:
We have used randomized block technique. Here participants are first divided into homogeneous
blocks before they are assigned into experimental units. Homogeneous blocks are created based
on nuisance factors age range, gender and nature of participant that is aggressive or non-
aggressive. Participants are divided into homogeneous blocks to reduce the error created by
nuisance factors.
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Table 1
Participant distribution
Now from these homogeneous blocks we have created two experimental units by picking
randomly one participant from each block. Each experimental unit will have identical
In this method computer games are categorized into two groups violent and nonviolent. Here
through out the experiment violent games have been assigned to experimental unit 1 and
nonviolent games assigned to experimental unit 2. This exercise was carried out for period of
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Instructions carried out for both the method are as follows
1. If they cannot cope with the experiment then they can quit the experiment at any time
2. During one hour if any participant feel boring playing the game then they can take a
3. If they fell to excited or nervous then they should take a short break
After completing a session we also ask them to do some exercises like to punish opponent by
After each session we have collected data for heart beat, blood pressure, and also observed their
Summarization.
• Taken specific data from the observation and creating general statement of rules
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Result
Based on the following statistical Criteria we are going choose our Statistical analysis
To analyze and draw a conclusion from the data collected during our experiment, we have used
In our experiment types of games used as Independent variable and aggression rate used as
dependent variable. To make conclusion that playing violent computer games causes people to
In alternative hypothesis “playing violent computer games causes people to be more aggressive”
That is aggression rate of experimental unit 1 > aggression rate of experimental unit 2
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Here experimental unit 1 played violent games and experimental unit 2 played non violent
games.
Data collected during experiment refined, organized and presented in the following table
Table 2
Collected data
Mean values obtain from the table above shows that experimental unit 1 has greater aggressive
rate than experimental unit 2. This result rejects null hypothesis and provide a strong support to
our hypothesis.
From the data collected during our experiment we can draw a conclusion that “Playing Violent
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Reference
Web Pages:
Dr Craig Anderson, Iowa State University of Science and Technology and Dr Karen Dill,
from Lenoir-Rhyne College, 2000. Web. Retried November 10, 2009 from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/720707.stm
Koop, 1982; Zimbardo, 1982. Web. Retrieved November 07, 2009 from
http://www.sciencedirect.com
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