JunWeiZhen Draft 1

Research Topic 

• I wanted to research something about video games as it is something I am really fond about. Usually the common stereotype is that people who play video games are typically really unhealthy and I wanna look into that. Why is this happening and maybe there will be a way to fix it.

 

Research Questions

• How has video games affected the physical health of video game addiction?

 

Entry 1

Zamani, E., Chashmi, M., & Hedayati, N. (2009). Effect of addiction to computer games on physical and mental health of female and male students of guidance school in city of isfahan. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3905489/

Summary

This was a study that sampled 564 students in Iran about how video games might correlate with abilities of a normal human being. They collected data based on their “physical health, anxiety and sleeplessness and impaired social functioning” using a questionnaire. They selected one random girl and boy from each school from 3 of the 5 districts within Isfahan Board of Education. The mean age of participants ended up to be 13. Through this they discovered that there was a positive correlation between student computer games and their “physical health, anxiety and sleeplessness”, while there was a negative correlation with “social functioning”. This study already enforces what is well known about the common world of gaming with the real world and tells us using statistics. Then they described how big video games were for the boys in Iran in their free time and how they do not notice their life passing. [This seems like a good source for your topic. You’ve also done a nice job summarizing the main ideas and adding some key details.]

Reflection

Even though this is a study within a different part of the world in the middle of Iran, I still think that this is useful to know. I chose this article because it showed statistics of correlations between some of the key points against playing video games. [Good reason to use this source] People who are addicted to video games usually end up being really socially awkward and physically unhealthy. I can relate to this as this has happened to me during my high school year and these statistics really show the correlation. Currently I am still struggling with sleeplessness as it is really common within people who play video games. They lose track of time and stay up longer than they think it is. The depression one is questionable but I still have seen examples of these from streamers who hate what they do streaming the same thing over and over again. [Is the depression questionable because you haven’t experienced it or because the research from your source didn’t do a good job of proving this correlation?] Like for example some numbers brought up is that the correlation is “level P ≤ 0.05” meaning the information is most accurate and making the relationship of the correlation more enforced. [Be careful presenting data out of context. What exactly does level P mean? Can you give a more detailed explanation about this data?]

Paraphrased section

“Most studies show that playing too many computer games cause physical damages and increase anxiety and depression in players. This goes to adults too, who usually have high heart beat and high blood pressure due to stress and excitement. The problem is that they forget time is passing and people forget to eat which causes a bad relationship within your body systems. There are various causes for the correlation between games and physical health. The first one is that addiction can cause disorder and increase anxiety and depression. Second is that a disorder might have caused the correlation. The third one is that they create each other, the addiction and the disorder.” [Is this the original or the paraphrase?]

I chose to paraphrase this section because it talks about where the possibility of gaming addictions come from. They also describe the effects of playing games and how it can affect a person.

Entry 2

Peter Grinspoon, M. (2020, December 22). The health effects of too much gaming. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-health-effects-of-too-much-gaming-2020122221645

Summary

This article tells us about the type of people playing video games and the effects. Contrary to popular beliefs, it isn’t just teens that play as only 21% of gamers are under 18. There are some good effects of gaming aside from being fun and entertaining. It can build a virtual community that helps each other and games can help people improve spatial reasoning. Not only that but it can help people with ADHD with thinking skills. But there can be side effects like inflammation of a nerve on the wrist as gamers use their wrist and arm a lot. Gaming usually also leads to obesity in both teens and adults which has multiple health conditions as people eat way more than they normally should. Another common issue is vision as you can get loads of screen time a day more than a regular person should be getting which can possibly lead to seizures. They have something called “internet gaming disorder (IGD)”, which is gaming addiction to a higher degree. This leads to a lot of social problems like education and job opportunity losses to even gaming withdrawal if they stop. They claim that gaming is associated with sleep deprivation, insomnia, anxiety, etc. They conclude by saying that “video games can be fun and a social activity when integrated into a healthy lifestyle”. [Generally, you should avoid using quotes in summary writing]

Reflection

I completely agree with this article. [Remember, we try to avoid “agree/disagree” when we are writing an analysis because our analysis should be objective] I chose this article because it had the name Harvard under it and Harvard is an extremely well known and powerful college. I found this article really interesting as it also mentions the benefits of gaming which is that it can build a community where you can help others. It also talks about negatives too and even brings up the issue of gaming addiction which is a really serious problem. There was also something called IGD which they bought up and the statistics is that 1-2% of all gamers are just addicted and this cause a lot of social problems within the person. Most of the time people who have video game addiction that are really competitive and play by themself usually end up becoming some of the most aggressive and egocentric people I meet. It also concluded with a really good message at the end saying that video games can be really useful if you integrate it within your lifestyle as it can help you be more fun and social. I agree with all of this as through my 8 years of playing games back to back and some years where I was addicted, I can relate to this article. 

Paraphrased section

Education can help to prevent injury and gamers need to know how to promote their thumbs, elbows and their body. Simply learning how to stretch eat healthier and rest better can address injuries early before they become serious. For the eyes, they can try the 20-20-20 rule where every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

I to paraphrase this as this is a really good piece of information to know. Learning to exercise can really help a person and the 20-20-20 rule is just really neat to learn too.

It looks like you are off to a good start. These two sources are clearly connected to your topic. Just make sure you start to think about how you are going to turn your topic into an argument-based essay. Are you going to take the stance that gaming does more harm than good? Or are you going to attempt to persuade your audience that there is much to be gain from playing games? We want to try to avoid an essay that simply presents two sides of the argument and/or your opinions about the issue.