Methodological Issues in Studying the Effects of Media Violence on Children

Methodological Issues in Studying the Effects of Media Violence on Children

There is and has been much debate on how much, if any effect media violence has on children and their development. There are many studies suggesting that it does have an effect, and even demonstrating these effects. The NIMH report (1982) went as far as to say, “In magnitude, television violence is as strongly correlated with aggressive behaviour as any other variable that has been measured” (pp. ????Hickey, 1995). Meanwhile, the makers of video games will argue that the statistics against media violence are dubious, and that the only aggression shown is good-natured fun (Reichhardt, 2003). In this essay I will look at the many ways of studying the effects of media violence, broadly encompassing films, video games and television violence, and the methodological issues surrounding each. The main methods of studying the effects of media violence on children are observations (in a laboratory and in...