Milestone 1
The class research project challenges you to plan a content analysis, collect data, and report the findings in collaboration with your peers. You and your group will approximate (i.e., I’m not asking you to do everything that usually is done in research) academic research related to a specific games and society topic. The project will unfold in three milestones and each milestone will require individuals to contribute concrete work towards the final project. The final deliverable for the project will be submitted in Milestone 3 as a presentation that summarizes the group’s research.
For Milestone 1, every person in the class will pitch an idea for a content analysis project on one of two general themes. The topic you select will establish the group we place you in and will serve as the foundation for subsequent milestones. Choose the topic you find more interesting, but also one that you can commit to learning more about within the context of video games (i.e., if you cannot tolerate viewing violent content in video games whatsoever, it’s probably better for you to opt for the other topic).
For Milestone 1, you will propose an idea for a content analysis based on an article you read and your current level of understanding about content analysis as a method. You may find it helpful to return to the lecture on content analysis in Week 2’s materials for this assignment. Be sure to ask questions on the discussion boards! You will also submit responses to a brief series of questions that will help your instructors identify 2-3 team leaders for each group who will have a few additional (primarily organizational) responsibilities.
Milestone 1 Steps
Your first step will be to identify the specific topic to focus on for the research project: you must choose between sexualization and objectification or violence and aggression.
Your second step will be to read a chapter that contains a summary of studies and ideas related to your topic so that you begin to have a sense of what problematic outcomes may be related to specific types of content.
If you selected sexualization and objectification, read Fox & Tang (2017) Download Fox & Tang (2017)
If you selected violence and aggression, read Hartmann (2011) Download Hartmann (2011)
Your third step will be to submit a proposal as a discussion post that details your ideas for a content analysis project. In the report you should:
Declare your chosen topic
Provide two reasons why you think studying the topic you chose (i.e., sexualization/objectification in video games or violence/aggression in video games) is an important topic to consider. Using ideas you learned from the reading, justify each of your reasons in 2-3 sentences.
Pose 2 questions you now have that relate to the theme of the reading you did. Then, offer a connection of how the content (e.g., characters, levels, actions, etc.) of video games might relate to each question.
Propose one subset of video game types (i.e., a population) you think would be interesting and informative to study in this project (e.g., games made between 2000-2010; best selling games last year; games of a specific genre; games featuring male protagonists; etc.) and offer 1-2 bullet points explaining why you proposed these types of games
Propose one unit of analysis (i.e., the form of content) within the games you think would be interesting and informative to analyze (e.g., characters, actions, levels, conversations between characters; game characteristics, etc.)
Provide one video example that you think illustrates why your specific pitch makes sense (include the video game name, year of release, publisher, and URL that links to the video) and explain how you see the example relating to your pitch
Your final step will be to answer the questions in a brief survey (Links to an external site.) from your instructors