RainierRadkowski Mrs.Noone EnglishComposition03 April13,2014 DearCraigAndersonandDouglasGentile, IamwritingyouinresponsetoarecentpublicationinIowaStateUniversitysnewsservice,in whichyouracademicstudywasreferenced.Videogamesandtheirrelationtoviolentbehaviorin Americasyouthisanimportanttopic,andIamthankfulthatindividualssuchasyourselveshave dedicatedtimetofurtherresearchingtheeffectsthatvideogamesmayhaveonAmericaschildren. Howeverafterreadingthisarticle,Ihavesomeconcernsovertheconclusionsyouhavereached,aswell astheresearchthemethodsemployed. Tobegin,Iwouldliketoquicklyreferencestudyone:KidsGamesStillHaveBehavioral Effect.Thisresearchwastrulyenlightening,asitclarifiedthatthegraphicsofthegamehavelittleeffect onthebehavioralinfluencethegamehasontheplayer.

r.Thisconclusionwasparticularlysurprisingtome, asIalwaysassumedthatinordertogenerateatemporaryincreaseinviolentbehavior,thegamein questionmustbesufficientlygraphic.Yourresearchhowever,provedthatideafalse.Whilefurther researchwilllikelyberequiredtoconfirmtheseclaims,thisnewdiscoveryisintriguingtosaytheleast. Inthesecondstudy:TheViolentVideoGameEffect,Ifeelasthoughsomeerrorsweremade. Tobegin,ImustadmitthatIhavenotreadtheexactacademicpublicationofthisstudy,butfromthe providedinformationImustpointoutsignificantflawsinexecutionofthestudy.Intheexperiment,a

surveywasgivento189highschoolstudents.Thesurveyaskedifthestudentplayedviolentvideo games,aswellastestedforaggressivebehavior.Italsonotedthatapersonwithhighlevelsof forgivenesswaslesslikelytobeaffectedbyvideogames. Ifeelasthoughtheexperimentfailedtosufficientlydeterminethecauseofthisbehavior.There aresimplytoomanyunaccountedvariablestomakethisexperimentmeaningful.Thesurveyisincapable ofdeterminingifthereisasignificantdifferenceintheupbringingofthechildren,ortheenvironmentthey areprovidedathome.Iarguethatasignificantamountofthebehavioraldifferencesbetweenthe studentsarisesfromdifferencesinparentingmethods.Thefactthatsomeparentsallowtheirchildto playviolentvideogamesispotentiallyreflectiveonthestudentshomelife.Ibelievethatadifferencein parenting,notvideogames,istheprimarycauseofthisbehavioraldifference.Themethodinthis experimentfailstoprovethecauseofthebehavioraldifferences.Instead,itsimplyprovesthe correlationbetweenviolentvideogamesandaggressivebehavior Additionally,thetermforgivenessisneverclarified.Forittobemeaningfultothereader,the meaningofthiswordincontexttoyourstudy,aswellashowitwasmeasured,butbeexplained.Ithad littlemeaninginthecontextofthearticle. Studythreemakesthesamecausationvscorrelationerrordisplayedinthesecondstudy.The teachersandpeersofthestudentinquestionratechangesinbehavior,yettheonlyinformationcollected topotentiallyexplainthesocialchangesiswhetherornotthestudentplaysviolentvideogames.This methodfailstoacknowledge,orevenaddressthepossibilitythatotherfactorsmayhaveexplainedthis behaviorchange.Infifthgrade,thegradesurveyed,instancesofADHDarenotuncommon,with approximately11%ofstudentssufferingfromthedisorder.Thisisjustoneexampleofapossible alternativeexplanationforthebehavioralchangesdisplayedbythestudents(Data&Statistics).

Itisimportanttounderstandthatyouarenotaloneinthisoversight.AccordingtoMr.Grimes articleMediaViolenceandaggression "Innearly80percentofthestudiesinvestigatedhere,themeasuresofaggressionwere paperandpencilreportsoftensimplecheckmarksonascaleThereareafew studiesthatinvestigatewhetherthepredicted[aggressive]behavioractuallyoccurs(and thosefewstudiesindicatethatitdoesnot). Thisoversightiscriticaltoacknowledge,asignoringitcanseriouslyswaytheresultofanotherwise soundstudy. Additionally,thereisaseriousdisconnectbetweensurveysandreallifesituations.Toassume thatapersonbehavesinthesamemannertheyclaimtobehaveisalargeassumption.Whenreviewing thenatureofvideogameviolenceduringBrownvEMA/ESASupremeCourtJusticeJusticeAntonin ScaliastatedthatPsychologicalstudiespurportingtoshowaconnectionbetweenexposuretoviolent videogamesandharmfuleffectsonchildrendonotprovethatsuchexposurecausesminorstoact aggressively(VideoGame). WhileIhavebeenhighlycriticalofsomeofyourresearch,ImustconcedethatIamnotan academicresearcher,andyouareundoubtedlymorequalifiedtoconductworkinthisarea.Iamsimply attemptingtopointouterrorsthatyoumayhavemade,aswellaswhytheyareimportant.Ialso concedethattheremaybenoclearsuperioralternativetothetypeofresearchyouareconducting.In ordertoaccountforallthevariablesinaparticularperson'slife,youwouldneedbothtimeandfunding thatisunreasonabletoexpectfrommostresearchers,especiallyinthisparticularfield. Asstatedearlier,Iviewyourworkwiththeutmostrespect.WhileIfeelsomeerrorshavebeen made,yourcontributiontothisfieldofresearchisstillimportant,especiallyseeingthegrowing

significanceofthistopicinnationalconversationfollowingrecenttragedies.PerhapsthatiswhyIfeelso stronglyaboutitIcareaboutvideogames,andanyothertypeofmedia.Whateverconsensusscientist andresearcherssuchasyourselvesreachmayverywellbereflectedinnewlegislation.ThatiswhyIam concernedaboutyourresearch,andwhyIfeeltheneedtoexpressmyconcernoveritsaccuracy. Iwouldliketothankyoufortakingyourtimetoreadmyconcerns,andIgreatlylookforward tofurtherdialogueonthistopic,aswellasyourfutureresearch. Sincerely, RainierRadkowski WorksCited "Data&Statistics."CentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention.CentersforDiseaseControland Prevention,13Nov.2013.Web.08Apr.2014. Grimes,Thomas,JamesA.AndersonandLoriBergen.Mediaviolenceandaggression:Scienceand Ideology.ThousandOaks:SagePublications,Inc.,2008.Print.

"VideoGameVotersNetwork."Games&Violence.N.p.,n.d.Web.8Apr.2014.