Video Games and Violence free essay sample

A Careful Analysis of a Research Study: Dr. Andersen’s Hypothesis The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical review of a recent study examining the effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior in young children. Let me first provide a brief summary of the study. (a) The hypothesis is that violent video games cause aggression in young children. (b) The target population is young children. c) The samples are young school age children and the sample sizes are sixty children separated into two groups with 30 children being in the experimental group and 30 children being in the control group. (d) The independent variable is violent video games and the dependent variable is aggression. (e) The result of the experiment were that there was a higher test score for aggression in the children who played violent video games for one (1) hour everyday after school. My analysis reveals that Dr. We will write a custom essay sample on Video Games and Violence or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Andersen’s study includes several important controls, but also has several flaws. (a) Dr. Andersen’s experiment failed to control many factors that needed to be consistent in order for his findings to be accurate. The research was not an entirely valid test of Dr. Andersen’s hypothesis because participants were not on an even playing level as far as consistency in exposure to violent video games. Dr. Anderson selected the non-violent and educational video for the control group but he did not select the violent video game for the experimental group, so his findings based on the effects of violent video games are not consistent. The music library will be selected so that everyone is listening to the same type of music regarding loudness and other pertinent factors. Depending on the volume levels that the teens normally listen to their iPods (as well as the frequency, which may be daily), the volume also needs to be consistent for each person in the group in order to accurately gauge which levels are affecting their absolute thresholds. Thus, iPods will be all set to the same maximum volume level. For this experiment, participants can only listen to music during the set time frame and for the frequency requirement of the experiment, to be sure that equal and consistent data is being collected regarding the effects of noise and music on absolute thresholds. The noise level in certain subway lines varies greatly and because of this, participants will be instructed to ride only specific subway lines during the duration of the experiment so that exposure to noise levels will be consistent. The frequency of the subway lines will also vary during different parts of the day such as during rush hours or late nights and this also needs to be monitored so that all participants are exposed to the same levels of noise at the given times. The length of the experiment is for two months, an hour a day, 5 days during morning rush hour between the times of 8 – 10am and Saturday at noon. Participants in the control group will be instructed with the same conditions but they will wear their earplugs while the experiment is being conducted. (e) Dr. Andersen’s hypothesis will be accepted or rejected based on the data of absolute threshold hearing tests results obtained at the end of the experiment. If the group of teenagers which was exposed to high levels of sounds – high decibel music and noise, have higher absolute threshold than the group that had hearing protection after the experiment has been conducted, I will accept Dr. Andersen’s hypothesis. (f) It is likely that Dr. Andersen’s new hypothesis is right, based on participants experiencing noise-induced loss of hearing. These participants will have a much higher absolute threshold for sound because they have been exposed to high decibel music and noise and this will cause damage to their hearing eventually and continually.