Scholarly Critique - Research Paper Example

Purpose of the Study Williams (2005) found that the recent estimate reveals that children spend an average of 7 hours per week in video games. This is remarkable information because this finally leads him to find if violent content or frustration may be linked to a significant effect or impact. The study seeks to find out if there is potential impact of violent content and frustration with gameplay. In addition, the proponent wants to know if the interaction of violent content and frustration creates impact on aggressive personality of the players.

The study therefore has a relevant purpose of investigating the effect of video games on the subjects’ personality primarily on how the violent content or frustration may provide an influence. This study is important because it will stand as a vital addition to the body of knowledge linked to the potential impact of videogame to its players. Main Hypotheses There are five hypotheses that the proponent identified in the research study. The first hypothesis states that there must be higher scores of state hostility measure for violent game compared to its nonviolent counterpart.

The second hypothesis asserts that there must be higher scores of state hostility measure for frustrating game compared to low or non-frustrating game. The other hypothesis is about having certainty of higher scores on hostility measure if the participants will be exposed to both violent content and frustration. The fourth hypothesis suggests that participants who are having high trait in hostility should therefore score higher on a state hostility measure when they have to play violent game compared to those with low trait in hostility.

The last hypothesis states that participants with high trait hostility should have a higher score in state hostility measure than those with low trait hostility during the actual play of a violent game. These are the essential hypotheses that Williams considered as vital points to consider prior to meeting the actual purpose or research problem of the study. In line with this, we can therefore detect the independent variable and it is the actual score in state hostility measure. The dependent variables are therefore the level of violence and frustration linked to the videogame.

In addition, all of these are therefore directional hypotheses because they try to emphasize the use of a comparison term ‘higher’, which is an indication that there must be a remarkable difference between the groups that will be compared and how specifically they will differ. Design and Measurement There were one hundred fifty male college undergraduates at a large southeastern university coming from a psychology and mass communication courses who were employed in the research study. In the actual study, each of the participants was given the opportunity to play one of the four video games, which include violent and frustrating, violent and low/non-frustrating, nonviolent but frustrating, and nonviolent and low/non-frustrating.

The participants were asked for their consent to participate in the study, which took place in more than one phase. This is to ensure that all of the respondents will turn out not forced to join in the research, but they have their consent to participate. To test the hypothesis, the proponent of the study relied on the response of the subjects on the given questionnaires and the use of statistical analysis like the analysis of covariance