Musa Awais

7.Violent Video Games Don't Influence Kids' BehaviorIt's the amount of time spent gaming that has a greater impact, researchers contend(http://www.webmd.com/children/news/20150403/violent-video-games-dont-influence-kids-behavior-study)

This study found that kids are slightly more likely to get into fights and be more hyperactive if they tend to spend more time playing video games (compared to those who dont play as much or dont play at all). It was also concluded that there are no effects on behaviour (of the kids) if the video games are violent. In general, it was said that kids who played video games less than an hour per day were the ones who were likely to be better rated as well-behaved by their teachers, and be less aggressive. Overall, the correlation observed between the behaviour of the kids and the violent nature of the video games played was very minor (if that), thus it was concluded that violent video games dont really influence kids behaviour.

In the study, 107 girls and 110 boys (a total of 217 teens), and their personalities as judged by their teachers, as well as their video game-playing habits were examined. It was found that 13% of the boys had never played video games, and a little over 50% of the girls had never played video games. Furthermore, it was found that 3% of the girls played video games for more than 3 hours per day, and 16% of the boys played video games for more than 3 hours per day. Another thing noted was that the 22 kids who played video games the most (in the study) were the ones who were more likely to have behavioural problems. A relationship was also found between positive behaviour and the amount of time spent playing video games per day. Those who played video games for less than an hour per day were rated better by their teachers, and were found to be less likely to engage in fights (and other troubles) with their peers (as compared to those who spent more time playing video games). On the other hand, those who played video games for longer periods of time were found to engage in more troubles. Thus, it was concluded that the amount of time spent playing video games had a greater impact on behavioural issues rather than the violent nature of the video games played.

A major bias found in the study is sampling bias. Sampling bias is a bias in which a sample is collected in such a way that some members of the intended population are less likely to be included than others, or in other words this is when a sample or sampling frame does not reflect the characteristics of the population (thus the sampling method itself is the cause of the problem). This is exactly what happened in this study. The group of teens (girls and boys) selected for the study were composed of both non-gamers and gamers, thus the intended population (gamers) of the study is affected. The study was to examine the impact of violent video games played and the amount of time spent playing video games on kids, so the intended population for this study was only gamers (those who play video games). Those who dont play video games obviously couldnt have any input in the study as they would have no say. This defeats the purpose of the entire study. In fact, in the study itself it stated that 13% of the boys (part of the study) never played video games, and that a little over 50% of the girls (part of the study) also never played video games. Considering that the study is aimed for gamers, the sample group consisted of a fairly high number of non-gamers, thus the likeliness of gamers (intended population) being included in the study was negatively affected. This is how sampling bias is portrayed in this study.

This bias affected the results of the study, because the mixture of gamers and non-gamers in the sample group affects the results. The reason being, the study could be thought as having some sort of truth to it as the sample group was a mixture of both boys and girls (random sample), and that over 200 (217) kids were involved in the study. This may lead the person reading the study to believe that the study holds some truth (the results of the study), as it involved a fairly high number of kids (217). However, as we previously declared that a good portion of these 217 kids were non-gamers, that changes the whole idea. Now instead of the study being based off of the previously thought to be 217 kids, the study is actually technically based off of a less number of students. This is because non-gamers dont really have any input in the study, so non-gamers dont really affect the results of the study. Thus, when looking at the results, it is to be noted that of the 217 students, the non-gamers (of the sample group), should not be considered or hold any significant value as they barely had any input. So, in reality, the studys results were based off of less than the sample group of 217 students (as the non-gamers should not be considered). This definitely had an impact on the results of the study, because the results were based off of a lesser sample group (not including non-gamers) than the 217 kids. Since only a portion of the actual sample group (217 kids) were technically part of the study (only gamers; not non-gamers), this means the results of the study are not very authentic. This is because the study, in reality, was not based off of a larger sample group. As we know, studies are likely to be more authentic when they are based off of a larger sample group. This is the opposite case. Therefore, it is fair to say that the study was skewed.

This study could have eliminated the bias when it came to the sample selection. Instead of randomly selecting boys and girls from a random environment (which resulted in a fair number of non-gamers being part of the study), the boys and girls could have been selected from a gaming environment (which would definitely result in most if not all kids part of the study being gamers). Of course, the selection would still be random, but it would be from a gaming environment (such as gaming fairs, gaming events, gaming shops, etc.). This would eliminate a fair number of non-gamers being part of the study. Thus, the sample group would be almost only consisting of gamers, and no non-gamers. In this way, sampling bias would be eliminated from the study.