As I will be requiring data from the general public, I will need to do a survey. I will be conducting quantitative data in order to gather data that fits my project goals. My method is going to be giving league of legends players on the NA server a survey, modeled after the Barratt impulsivity scale and measuring their scores before and after playing a game in order to determine if video game play has any effect on a person’s impulsivity levels. This is suited for my research design because it will allow me to see whether or not playing video games is the cause for an increase/decrease in impulsivity levels. It’ll help me with the inquiry process by giving me an idea/example of what to ask by modeling my questions after the already established Barratt impulsivity scale.
Likert Scale- used to measure impulsivity
I drew inspiration from psychologist Douglas A. Gentile of Iowa State University. He employed a survey questionnaire and distributed it to 3,034 children aged 8 to 17 in Singapore. Participants were asked to measure how closely they related to the questions, which were all designed in order to measure impulsivity. However, their survey was conducted as a two year longitudinal study study, in which participants were tracked over time in order to assess the long term changes and effects of video game usage and how it related to impulsivity. As my research is heavily time gated the survey instrument of a survey was brought about by the need to gather data in an effective, quick, manner. Other options included the galvanic skin-response and recording of responses to violent media used by Bartholow & Englehardt and Carnagie, however I do not have access to galvanic skin response tests and showing violent media to teenagers would be a breach of the ethical guidelines. As such, a survey method that was similar to the one employed by Gentile was used. The Barratt Impulsivity Scale was utilized as it is a widely used and established valid measure of scale for conducting surveys revolving around impulsivity. Survey style was chosen for ease of execution and distribution, and quantative data was taken in order to give numerical meaning to the statistics from the results which could then be used to answer my research question of whether playing LoL increased impulsivity levels or not.
My survey was constructed on google forms. My questions were formatted like a likert scale, where in which respondents answered how closely they agreed with a particular question, on a scale of 1-4. The survey was distributed online through google forms and quantative data was collected. I first asked participants to complete a consent form, then asked if they played league of legends in the last year, and then had them answer the questions. Afterwards, I calculated and interpreted the data to come to my conclusions.
1.) Have you played League of Legends in the last year?
2.) I concentrate easily
3.) I do not pay attention
4.) I am a steady thinker
5.) I change hobbies often
6.) I often have extraneous thoughts when thinking
7.) I do things without thinking
8.) I make up my mind quickly
9.) I consider myself happy-go-lucky
10.) I act on impulse. I do not hold back
11.) I act on the spur of the moment, if an opportunity comes up I will take it. I do not think before I act.
12.) I buy things on impulse
13.) I spend or charge more than I earn
14.) I can only think about one thing at a time
15.) I am future/goal orientated
16.) I plan tasks carefully
17.) I plan trips ahead of time
18.) I have my emotions and feelings under control
19.) I am a careful thinker
20.) I plan for job security
21.) I say things without thinking
22.) I save most of my money I earn in a week
23.) I like to think about complex problems
24.) I am easily bored solving problems which take a long time to complete (ex: hw)
25.) I like puzzles
26.) I am easily bored without solving thoughtful or complex problems
27.) I am more in the present than in the future.
Demographics
1.) 12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 (Age)
2.) Yes, No (Have you played LoL in past year?)
3.) 1-4 (Likert Scale)
Likert Scale Grading
1= rarely/never
2=occasionally
3= always/almost always
Barrat Impulsivity Scale; Barratt, E. S. (2021, September 24). Barratt impulsiveness - society for research on impulsivity. ISRI. Retrieved April 26, 2022, from https://www.impulsivity.org/measurement/bis11/
Gentile: Gentile, D. A. (2012, January). Video game playing, attention problems, and impulsiveness ... Video Game Playing, Attention Problems, and Impulsiveness: Evidence of Bidirectional Causalty. Retrieved April 26, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/ppm-1-1-62.pdf
Cooper: Cooper, J. (2022, January 23). Impulsive behavior: When is it an issue? WebMD. Retrieved April 26, 2022, from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-is-impulsivity