Reading Controlled Studies with Video Games

 Controlled Studies with Video Games

As you progress through your courses here at MCC and at whatever four-year institution you choose, you will be asked to find research related to your major or other field of interest.  Often, your instructor will give you specific articles to read and analyze.  But as you progress through your program of study, you’ll be required to find sources for research papers or for analyses.  The more adept you get at navigating library databases, the more successful you’ll be at narrowing your search and finding sources that are applicable to whatever area you are researching.  This database search is going to have you find articles that are found in professional academic journals.  These journals are written by experts for experts in their field of study.  The articles tend to be long and difficult to read, but if you know where to look and what to look for by skimming and scanning the article, valuable information can be found.  Please note how you find the information and be thinking about how you can apply these researching skills to other classes you are taking. 

1.  Go to ‘Library Resources’ on the Canvas Course Menu at the top.

2.  Click ‘eResources‘ in blue on the left

3. Scroll down and under ‘General Magazines and Journals’, click ‘Academic OneFile’ in blue

4. Login using your MEID and Password.

5.  Click on ‘Advanced Search’ on the tabs at the top of the page.

6.  Under ‘Advanced Search’ and next to ‘keyword’ type ‘video games’

7.  Next to the second ‘keyword’ box type ‘controlled study’.

8.  Under ‘more options’, click on the boxes next to ‘to documents with full text’ and ‘to peer reviewed publications’.
     Note:  This is going to get you to articles that are specifically found in academic journals.  It’s important to hit these boxes when looking for journal articles in your program of study.

9.  Hit ‘Search’ at the bottom of the screen.

************************** I gave you the article so you do not have to do from  1 to 9 ******************************

   Note:  If all went according to plan, you’ll see ‘academic journals’ highlighted on the left hand side of the page.  You should have around nineteen articles come up in this search.  If this isn’t the case, you may want to do the steps over again.

Observe the word count for most of these articles.  They are almost all clearly over 1,000 words; some are over 7,000 words. This tells us that we are looking at true journal articles that more than likely are going to go in depth in their research.  Most research is going to contain certain subheadings.  They are as follows, or something close:

•   Abstract, then Full Text
•   Background
•   Sample or Participants
•   Procedure or Methods
•   Analysis or Results
•   Discussion 
•   Implications or Conclusions

***When looking at the article, skim through the abstract and/or background to give you an idea of what the article is about and why the research was conducted in the first place.  Focus on the participants and how they were chosen.  When looking at the methods, some of the language may be technical.  Skim through this area to get an idea of how the study was completed.  Look at the discussion and/or conclusion.  This will give you a good idea about what was good about the study and further studies that may need to be done.  The important thing to remember is that you can skim over parts that aren’t important to what you are looking for and spend time reading the areas that are.

For this assignment, pretend you are doing a research paper on video games and their effects and you must cite at least one research study.  You have started your search above, and have come to you the thirteen articles listed.  Scroll through the articles, making note of the ones that are specifically controlled studies.  If it’s not a controlled study, don’t use the article.***

Choose one article and complete the following.  You may copy and paste the questions in your word document:

1. What is the title of the article? 
2. Identify authors of the article.  You don’t have to write their names, instead, give a 2-3 sentence explanation on their credibility in writing this article.  You’ll find their credentials at the end of the article: 
3. What is the journal the article is written in?  
4. Copy and paste the MLA source citation found at the end of the article.
5. Evaluate the study’s methodology. Who is the target population for this study?
6. How did the author/authors select the sample? Consider size, randomness, and representativeness.
7. What was the author’s/authors’ method for conducting the study?
8. What were the main findings/conclusions?
9. In what way is the study responsible/well-done?
10. What is a concern or weakness or question you have about the study?
11. Based on your analysis, is this study credible enough to support the conclusions made by the authors? Explain.
12. Could you use this article for your research paper on video games?  Why or why not?
13. Think of another course where you could use this library database.  Share the course and how you may use this database in a short paragraph.
14. Upload your document in Canvas in this assignment.

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