2. Research Question &
Problems/Biases
 I wanted to see the effects videogames
can have on college students and their
schoolwork. Furthermore, see if
videogames effect youth behavior.
 Videogames are relatively new,
becoming popular in the 1990’s even
though they have been around for
decades.
 There has been little research on side
effects videogames may have on
people.
 Biases: I only interviewed my friends
and this was not a good representative
pool of “gamers.”

3. Methods
 I interviewed 5 friends: John Dieu, Nick
Saunders, Matt Savoca, Vibu Rajah and
Spenser Cote. All are avid gamers and I
observed them play after asking
questions.
 Each person played some offline games
and online games and I compared
observational results.

4. Interview Questions
 The questions I asked I came up with
beforehand and had some basic filler
questions, such as their favorite game, when
they first started playing videogames, and how
long they play in a typical week.
 I asked more in-depth questions such as if
they ever get angry or emotional when playing
games and notice behavior changes. I asked if
they ever think they are addicted to games
and if it has effected schoolwork.
 Main goal was to get truthful and complete
answers.

5. Field Site
 My townhouse in Copper Beech was the
location where all the interviews and
observations took place.
 This was a good site because our living
is very relaxed and has all the required
equipment needed for this experiment.

6. Results: Background of
videogames
 Generally mixed results: some started
playing really early in age and others in
high school.
 I found a correlation between the people
who said they have been playing
videogames for years and the amount of
hours they play in a week: the more
experience the more hours a week played
 People who played little did not own their
own system which is a big factor.

7. Online versus offline
 Matt and Nick, the people who play the
most like playing online more and the
others who play less did not have a
preference.
 Online play is more competitive and
engaging as you play with other people
across the world.

8. Behavioral Effects
 I notice more behavioral effects with nick
and matt than john or vibu who play
less. So People who play more and are
interested in games would be more
involved or care more.
 The people care more when playing
against friends or online and display
emotions when winning or losing.

9. Effect on Schoolwork
 This was the most surprising, because I
found no evidence to support
videogames effecting schoolwork.
 Nobody interviewed said school was
really effected, but study time could
have been made instead of playing
videogames.

10. Improvements
 I needed more time to interview and
observe over multiple occasions each of
my research subjects.
 I would have interviewed more people
from a much more diverse pool to get a
better reflection of our societies
videogame subculture.
 I also wanted to interview people in their
own home so they were more comfortable
and would maybe exhibit more behavior or
emotions I could record.

11. Improvements Cont.
 To test the effects on schoolwork I could
have people play videogames one week
and none the next week and record any
differences in their ability to do
schoolwork.
 Given more time I could ask better, in-
depth questions and really have more
valuable results to show.

12. Conclusion
 Overall, I learned a lot about people and
their videogame habits at USC
 I believe this is a topic worth further
investigating, and more research could
be had in this field of study
 I found little results on schoolwork being
effected but notice differences in
behavior between people who play a lot
and people who play little.