Question: Instructions and Diary Questions

Welcome to the class! To help get your feet wet, we begin by asking (and hopefully answering!) a number of questions about the relationship between social science and video games. There are no video games that you play for this module, but there are a total of six lecture videos that you need to watch. Each video is about 80 minutes long (or about 8 hours total of content to watch). To access both the videos and associated readings, click on the "Introduction Module" part of D2L and you'll see six numbered topics. For each topic there is one video to watch and two readings to look at. I recommend that you watch the lecture video first before doing the readings. After doing the readings, then I suggest that you go and take the reading quiz for that sub-topic.

Reading Diary Questions

You will answer a total of three questions for this diary. Everyone needs to answer this first question about violence and the benefits of video games, which is worth 70 points:

(1) [Violence/Games Good] (Required!) The most controversial and important debate surrounding video games is whether they are ultimately "good" or "bad" for society. Researchers approach this question using both observational and experimental approaches to conducting their analyses. First, provide (roughly) one paragraph (5-8 sentences) that talks about the differences between observational and experimental research. Next, pick one study from the violence content and one study from the games good content (these can be ones from lecture or from the readings). For each of these studies, provide your own personal response to the main argument being made by the study. What do you find persuasive about the study? What do you think is not so persuasive? Try to be as specific as possible (pretend you're trying to explain why you do/do not agree with it to someone who has no knowledge of the study). Finally, spend at least 3-4 days being mindful of how you're feeling when you play video games and immediately afterwards. Spend about 2-3 paragraphs comparing those feelings with what the research says is good or not so good about video games.

Please then pick any 2 of the following 4 questions to answer (35 points each):

(2) [Who Plays] Both the Przyblylski et al. and De Grove et al. readings examine what motivates people to play video games. Briefly summarize, in your own words, the basic argument made by Przybylski et al.'s self determination theory and De Grove et al.'s social cognition theory (2-3 sentences per theory). Next, reflect upon your own experiences as a gamer. To do so, please keep a time diary for 4-5 days where you keep track of the circumstances surrounding your game playing. That is, when do you play, how do you play (solo, online, console, mobile, etc.), what do you play, and why do you play? After doing this for 4-5 days, take a look at the diary to see if any trends or patterns emerge. Write 3 or so paragraphs summarizing your overall findings (you do not need to include the time diary itself). In particular, make sure you are making comparisons between why you feel like you play video games as compared to what existing research on the topic says (like Olson 2010 from the lecture video, for example). Does anything about your behavior surprise you? To what extent do you feel like the results from this short period of time are representative of your overall gaming behavior?

(3) [Legal Status] Copyright and patent law are two of the commercial aspects of video game law. Briefly - and in your own words - summarize what both of these types of law are and what the difference is between them (approximately one paragraph total). As you go about your video gaming over the course of a few days, pay attention to the different game concepts and processes/playing mechanics you come across in your playing (or reading about video games). After you've completed your "data collection," review and reflect upon what you've observed. In particular, talk about the extent to which you see evidence of significant overlap among the various games you play? Do any of the overlaps seem particularly extreme to you (enough so that there could be a legal challenge)? Last, considering the examples that were discussed both in the lecture and one of the readings, do you agree with how the courts have (so far) addressed the commercial aspects of video game law? In particular make sure you talk about copyright, patent, and an individual's right to publicity. You do not need to talk about the freedom of speech aspect to earn full credit, but if you've got something to say about it that you want to get off of your chest, we're not going to stop you.

(4) [Addiction] Both of the assigned readings (Bean et al., Gray) and the lecture identify the nine proposed criteria for whether someone might be identified as having a "gaming disorder." For each of those nine areas, summarize (using your own words), what each of those nine criteria are. Then provide a few sentences of your reaction to whether each of those criteria seem to "make sense" to you and what you think problematic gaming might look like. Do you think any of those areas should be eliminated? Modified? Are there aspects missing of what you think might be problematic gaming that should be included? (Note: Although it would be appropriate to include your own experiences with "problematic gaming," it is not required if you do not feel comfortable sharing them; just make sure you provide an analysis of all nine even if you don't include your own experiences) Last, provide some general reactions to the idea that problematic gaming is even "a thing."

(5) [Politics and Economics] There are a number of academic journals devoted to the serious study of video games. They include: Game Studies, Journal of Games Criticism, Simulation and Gaming, Games and Culture, Computer Games Journal, and Loading... Pick two of these journals and access one article from each of them that looks interesting to you. That is, you'll read a total of two articles. In your diary response, provide a citation to the article as well as the abstract. Provide at least two paragraphs (≈ 8-12 sentences) per article where you respond to and reflect upon the argument of the article in light of your own experiences with video games. Pay particular attention to aspects of the author's argument or thesis that is inconsistent with your experiences (or that you simply disagree with). If possible, try to also incorporate into your response things you have read and learned about in the course so far from (all of) the assigned readings and lectures.