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Call for Participation in Study on Online Video Games
Hi, my name is Jeannette Shaffer and I am a graduate student at George Mason University in Virginia. As a gamer, I have become interested in how gamers help one another, challenge one another, and work collaboratively to complete a mission when playing video games online. I began wondering why doesnât this happen in school with learning and especially with educational games?
As part of my studies, I am doing research to learn more about the tools high school students use to communicate when playing online and offline video games. Through this research, I hope to gather information that will help with the design of educational games, to make these more interesting and useful for high school students.
I have developed a survey to gather information about studentsâ use of these online and offline tools. To participate in this survey, you must be 13 â" 18 years old, enrolled in high school, and an Xbox Live subscriber. The survey is anonymous so no personal identifying information is collected from you, and will only take about 15 minutes to complete. To access the survey click here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7T2R59W
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
Jeannette Shaffer
- 10 Replies
Xbox...
Live...
No fair. However I wish you all the best with your research.
Might I inquire as to why you are only accepting Xbox live users? I can understand the 13-18, but excluding it to one game system - which you have to additionally pay for- is going to cut out a lot of potential surveys. It also might influence the data in that particular personality types might be drawn to the market which is produced by Microsoft and thus give misleading results.
Good question Kasic. In the beginning of my research and study, I felt the collaborative play capabilities were interesting and I liked the international connections my friends were making playing Xbox Live. Since then (since I've been working on this for about 3-4 years), I realize there are other gaming systems and platforms doing the same thing. However, I don't think I could change what I submitted for my research. I also wanted to get feedback from this market because of the depth of collaborative game play. What do you think the differences are in the personality types? That's interesting alone.
Pazx, I've expanded my survey to include all high school students that game online no matter the platform. Please revisit my survey if you are still interested in helping me out with my research. Thank you very much! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7T2R59W
What do you think the differences are in the personality types? That's interesting alone.
Well, I've noticed for one that people who own/play an Xbox usually do so for the trademark games and also for the "graphics". That's a different mind-set than someone who is playing a game to simply have fun, regardless of whether or not it's a bloody, graphic intensive game.
Each company markets differently and thus will catch the eyes of different types of people. Xbox games revolve around action and graphics for their main selling games, which would lead to a possible conclusion that people who prefer realistic and fast paced games buy an Xbox.
I felt the collaborative play capabilities were interesting and I liked the international connections my friends were making playing Xbox Live.
Isn't this true with any online platform which allows speech to occur between players?
However, I don't think I could change what I submitted for my research.
Fair enough.
What do you think the differences are in the personality types? That's interesting alone.
Well as I said above, different companies are going to market different ways and have a target group. Xbox focuses on high-end graphics and action games, Wii on family/miscellaneous games, PlayStation on sports and vehicle games, there's an overall trend. Of course the Xbox will have family oriented games, or the Wii a bloody shooter, but that's not their main consumer group.
I wouldn't call it too out of the ballpark that different personality types are going to be more prone to certain types of games. Aggressive, competitive people will be drawn toward competitive, fast paced action games. Quiet, reserved people will be drawn toward more calm games, like strategy games. Now if we take this a step further, the response of these different personalities in a team situation will change, the aggressive, competitive player would be more likely to try and get the highest score and not care as much on whether the team as a whole does well.
I've expanded my survey to include all high school students
Whilst I understand you want to study the difference between entertainment and learning amongst teenagers, limiting your study is a bit short sighted.
There are generations of gamers who went through the school system as far back as 30 years ago who were and still are avid gamers. Arguably, given the fact that these gamers are able to reflect on their time at school rather than looking at it from the perspective of someone who is still in school would make their information invaluable to any study of this type.
Unless of course the limited age group is only in place because the study is designed for marketing purposes rather than real research that is.
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