Today’s Plan:
- Analyzing Data
- Writing/Examining Methods
- Planting a Seed
- Before the Start of Break
Analyzing Data
Soon we should have all of our data collected/submitted. The Thursday class has until tomorrow to get their work done. Once completed I will (as usual) contact the race and gender team with their updated assignments. (LGBTQ+ team is on their own schedule).
I will update the Canvas assignment Thursday after all of the data has been submitted. You should be able to complete the data analysis assignment in under an hour (and, beyond that, there is no other homework assigned over break).
Writing a Methodology Section
One of the hardest parts of qualitative/quantitative research concerns writing up a methodology section. Methodology sections can grow quite long and detailed, such as this section for a PEW center survey on Gaming and Civic Engagement. This level of detail adds reliability and validity to the research and is what generally separates academic research from other forms of study.
Generally a methodology is divided into two sections:
- How did you collect the things you analyzed?
- How did you develop your method of analysis?
Your answers to these questions have to be detailed enough that someone unfamiliar with your project could recreate your research. And the purpose of these questions (especially the second one) is to demonstrate how you have worked to ensure the accuracy and integrity of your research.
Planting a Seed
Before we leave for break, I’d like to plant a seed regarding your final project. The final project is flexible, and offers you options. Here’s a few requirements.
- The final paper must involve academic research. This can be into other reads of a particular game, or research into video games/gaming in general
- The final paper must use APA formatting
That’s not a particularly long list! Generally, there’s a few ways to approach this paper:
- You can continue/further develop the Project 2 research project. This means building a more thorough literature review, collecting more data, and deepening your analysis
- You can “Sicart” another video game. This also involves doing a deeper lit review (on Sicart, on your game, etc).
- You can research and develop an “issue in gaming” paper. Here is a list of topics and research we compiled last semester
Before You Leave for Break
Complete the Week 9 Data Analysis and Methodology assignment in Canvas.
The first part of this assignment will be to draft a methodology section for your research team. Everyone will do this individually and we will work on this over break.
The second part of this assignment (which I will develop Thursday morning after everyone has submitted their research) will ask you to work with our collected data in order to produce a finding. Everyone will produce a finding (and, I imagine, folks will do different things with the data!). We will synthesize these findings and revise your methodology drafts when we return after break.
