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Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

INTRODUCTION

The Level of Online Gaming Addiction among the Young People of Argao

The rise in the use of the internet has led to many changes in our daily life. In

particular, this rise has also led to the rise of online gaming. Online gaming can refer to

any type of game that someone can play through the internet or over a computer network.

Most of the time, online gaming refers to the video games played over the internet, where

multiple players are in different locations around the world. In most cases, online games

are freeware programs that can be used for an unlimited time and are available for free.

Most percentage of web games available nowadays is written in Flash, Shockwave and

Java languages. Because of that, they feature more primitive game play than

downloadable games.

Having an online gaming experience typically requires a high-speed internet

connection. Proper hardware will also be required whether it’s a computer or a gaming

console, such as Xbox or Play station that’s connected to the internet. Some online games

require a specific piece of controlling hardware such as a joystick or a game controller,

but these days, gaming technology has progressed to an amazing extent. Things like

streaming 3-D animation graphics with superb surround sound stereo now have the

ability to make all addicted to gaming. In terms of video games, online gaming is

growing in popularity for variety of reasons. Gamers can easily find opponents of a

similar skill level when playing a head-to-head game over the internet. Players also can
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compete in massively multiplayer games, where dozens of players play an ongoing game

in a virtual world. Some online games change a monthly fee for access to the video game

software.

Today, one can see the impact of computer and video games in politics,

television, popular music and Hollywood. A lot of research is conducted to study its

effect on lifestyle and behavior of the wow power leveling gamer especially kids. Online

game is the most sought leisure activity followed by kids nowadays. Computers play a

major role in shaping the future of the kids. Days are gone when children loved to

indulge in outdoor activities, rather than running or playing outside, children spend most

of their time playing online games. Online games surely have an impact on minds of kids.

Taking into consideration, it is positively a great mind exercise and helps kids explore

many new things. It includes improvement in recursive and proactive thinking, increased

sociability and improved interpretive skills. Some research shows that the children who

play online games are more active and have sharper minds than their other counterparts.

However, computers and video games also receive much more negative critics, because

games are often coined with issue such as mindless entertainment, enhanced social

recluse, sexism and consumerism. Research shows that kids who play violent video

games showed on increased in emotional arousal and a corresponding decrease of activity

in brain areas involving self-control, inhabitation and attention.

Computer games have become a very popular leisure activity among children and

adolescents in recent years. There are many benefits of the Internet as it not only acts as

an entertainment tool, but also an important professional resource for work,

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communication as well as education. However, despite all of its inherent advantages, the

Internet also has its drawbacks.

According to Griffiths, M et al. (2010),"There is a difference between "excessive

gaming" and "addictive gaming". Two gamers may play for an identical number of hours

each day, but their psychological motivation and the meaning that gaming has within

their lives can be very different. Gaming addiction should be defined by how much the

game negatively impacts others areas of life, not by how much time is spent playing".

Online gaming addiction should not be ignored and should be focused on because it can

bring many negative effects not only in our body but everything around us including our

whole lifestyle.

According to Wood (2008),"Video game addiction may be the result of

ineffective time management and a desire to avoid other difficulties (rather than

theoretical “addictive” qualities of the game)". Many teens nowadays are addicted to

online games because it is their way to find satisfaction in their free hours. But as time

goes by, they spent more a lot of time to play online games without thinking other

activities or their responsibilities in home or even in their studies. They are lacking time

management and just wasting their time playing online games. Another one is their

thinking that playing online games is their only way to escape their problems in real

world without thinking that it will only make their situation worst. They only think about

fun and satisfaction.

According to Chiu (2004), "Students addicted to video games have lower

academic grades than their non-addicted peers". Students who are addicted to online
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games spend most of their time playing without giving time to their studies. They

prioritized online games instead of their studies which is more important. They did not

think that they are developing bad habit and it can affect their future if they will continue

to think that way. As a result, they have lower grades because they are not focused with

their studies. They are distracted on playing online games.According to Mehroof (2010),

"People who have higher levels of trait anxiety, aggressive behavior, and neuroticism are

at a higher risk for video game addiction". Most of the people nowadays are having a

hard time dealing with their problem especially when they have no one to talk to or they

have no way in expressing their feelings. Then they find online gaming interesting

because for them when they are playing, the can freely express what they feel and they

find that online gaming a comfort zone for them causing them to more prone on online

gaming addiction.

Based on the reviews of related literature, most of the studies are about what is

online gaming, what are the effects of online gaming and how could it affect the lifestyle

of the gamers who are addicted to it. And then the researchers discovered that there is no

research about the levels of online gaming addiction towards the young Grade 10

students in Argao. The researchers would like to know and search about the levels of

online gaming addiction towards young people in Argao. The researchers want to explore

how they are addicted to online gaming. The researchers want also to find the possible

ways or solution to prevent from being addicted to it.

In order to address the gap, the researchers would like to use quantitative method

to determine the levels of online gaming addiction among Grade 10 students in Argao. .

This study aims to determine the online gaming addiction towards young people in
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Argao. One way to determine the levels of online gaming addiction is to ask the

respondents the frequency of hours playing online games a day, days in a week and the

time range by the use of survey method. In other way, we will use a Likert Scale to

determine the levels of online gaming addiction towards the young people in Argao and

to find ways to prevent or lessen from being completely addicted to online games.
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Triple J’s Conceptual Framework

Computer game addiction generally refers to an excessive, unhealthy amount of

playing computer games. According to Conrad (2011), "Rather than engaging in the real

world, an addicted user devotes the majority of his or her time to gaming". The issue of

game addiction is getting spread widely and uncontrollable. Online games have many

different kinds and platforms but we only choose five platforms that are commonly

played and addicted by gamers nowadays. These are the League of Legends, Crossfire,

DOTA2, CS-GO, and Rules of Survival. There are many factors that can affect the levels

of online gaming addiction but the researchers only identified three factors namely the

time, frequency and money. The researchers believe that these factors can determine the

levels of online gaming addiction among the Grade 10 students in Argao. After

determining the levels of addiction, the researchers come up an intervention plan which is

school and family-based intervention program to prevent gaming addiction among Grade

10 students in Argao. The program the researchers would like to propose is about online

gaming addiction prevention/awareness to lessen or prevent young gamers from

addiction.
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Online Gaming Platforms

League of Legend

DOTA 2 CS_GO Cross-Fire ROS

Factor Affecting
Time Frequency Money

Level of Online Gaming Addiction

Intervention Plan
School and Family-Base Intervention

Program to prevent gaming addiction among Grade-10

Student in Argao

Program

Figure 1. Organization Chart of the Theoretical Background

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The Problem

This study aims to find the level of online gaming addiction among the grade 10

students in Argao

1. What is the profile of the respondents as to:

1.1 age; and

1.2 Gender

2. What is their level of addiction to online gaming in terms of:

2.1 Online gaming platforms used;

2.2 length of time spent;

2.3 frequency; and

2.4 Money

3. Is there a significant difference in the level of addiction to social media between males

and females?

4. What proposed plan can be formulated to address the level of online gaming addiction?
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Null Hypothesis

Ho: There is no statistically significant difference between online gaming addiction

levels according to gender.

Significance of the Study

The findings of the study are significant and beneficial to students, parents, school

administrators, and future researchers.

Students. Knowing the levels of online gaming addiction so that it can help

them avoid playing and getting addicted to online games.

Parents. This study will benefit the parents to enable them to ascertain their

great role in shaping and disciplining their children so that they can prevent them from

getting addicted to online games.

School Administrators. Through this study, the School Administrators will be

informed to the levels of online gaming addiction. They can address a solution to this

problem that can prevent online gaming addiction.

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Future Researchers. This study can give future researchers insights and

directions in undertaking their own studies in the future. They can use this study as their

bases in order for them not to encounter difficulties. They can also use this study as a

related research.
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Definition of the Terms

For clearer understanding of the work, the following terms were defined:

Addiction. Addiction is a condition in which a person engages in the use of a substance

or in a behavior for which the rewarding effects provide a compelling incentive to
repeatedly pursue the behavior despite detrimental consequences. In this study the term
addiction refers to an effect that affects human health and behavior because of online
gaming addiction.

Levels. a position on a real or imaginary scale of amount, quantity, extent, or quality. The
term levels in this study refers on how much the person get addicted to online games.

Online game. Game that can be run from an Internet browser and requires the internet
connection. The term online games in this study refers to specific online games: CS GO,
DOTA 2, League of Legends, Crossfire and ROS.

Technology. The practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area. In

this study this refers to the technology that students used to play online games.

Impact. The powerful or dramatic effect that something or somebody has. The term
impact in this study refers to the effect among a person who gets addicted to online
games.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter explains the methods used by the researchers in doing this

quantitative research study as they conduct a researching ‘’The Levels of Online Gaming

Addiction among Grade 10 students of Argao National High School’’. In this chapter,

you will be able to determine the Design, Environment/Locale, Participants

(Respondents), Instruments used, Data – Gathering procedures, Data Analysis, and

Ethical Considerations of this quantitative research study.

Research Design

This Quantitative study utilized a Descriptive – Evaluative design. According to

Hubbard (2015), this research design aims to appraise carefully the worthiness of a

certain study. Accordingly, the design is most appropriate in determining the levels of

addiction of online gaming among the young teens and students. This will be done

through an evaluation process which aims to measure the levels of online gaming

addiction among Grade 10 young teen students in Argao National High School.

Research Flow

This research aims of exploring the levels of online gaming addiction among

young teens and students will be composed of three phases.

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The first phase, Input, includes the respondents' age, gender, grade, and an online game/s

they usually play.

The second phase of this study will be the Process, includes the collection of data

through survey questionnaires and the analysis and interpretation of the gathered data.

The third phase, Output, will be the designing of an instructional plan based from the

findings of the study.

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Input
Profile of the respondents as to:

 Age
 Gender
 Grade Section
 Online game/s usually play

Process
Descriptive- Evaluative Quantitative Survey Method

 Data Collection
 Analysis of Data
 Interpretation
 Drawing out conclusions
 Giving Recommendations

Output
INTERVENTION SCHEME PROGRAM ABOUT ONLINE
GAMING ADDICTION PREVENTION

Figure 2. Flow of the Study

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Environment

This study will be conducted at Argao National High School(ANHS). Argao

National High School (ANHS) is located at Canbanua, Argao, Cebu.

Argao National High School is a public secondary educational institution located

at the Municipality of Argao, Cebu. The school was just recently established in 2010 by

the passing of Republic Act 9924, and since then, the institution served as a venue for

innovative learning for the youth of Argao.

Currently, the school offers a general high school curriculum which is duly

recognized by DepEd. Also offered is a K-12 program open for students who can choose

different strands under its Academic and Technical-Vocational tracks. A strand in ABM

is open under its academic track, as well as the HUMSS strand. Moreover, its TVL track

offers a wide range of courses from Agri-fishery, Home Economics, and Information and

Communications Technology strands.

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Figure 3. Locale of the Research Environment

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Respondents

The respondents of this study will be the Grade 10 students of Argao National

High School. This study will take place within the second semester of academic year

2018-2019. They are chosen to be the respondents since they are influenced by the

technology and mostly of the young teen students are playing online games and it also

has enough number of male and female students to address the gender variable of this

study.

In conducting this survey, Quota Sampling Technique will be used in identifying

the respondents. We will select 10 respondents/students in every section of Grade 10 in

Argao National High School to participate in our survey. This is done in order to arrive in

a more reliable conclusion out of the gathered data from a large amount of respondents.

Instrument

In addressing the sub- problems of this study, the researcher adapted an

instrument that will serve as a tool in extracting and gathering data to answer specific

questions. The questionnaire is divided into two parts.

Appendix A- includes the consent for the respondents before taking survey and their

personal profile in terms of gender and age.

Appendix B- contains 25 questions with some sub- questions to be followed. The

respondents will check mark the answer based on the choices and some part uses Likert

Scale that will indicate their answers to each statement on a 5- point range from (5)
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Strongly Agree, (4) Agree, (3) Neutral, (2) Disagree and (1) Strongly Disagree that

corresponds levels of online gaming addiction among them.

Research Procedure

There will be two process in the procedure: the Dry Run Procedure (dry run

testing) where the researcher will test the process where the effect of a possible failure

are intentionally expected; the Data collection Process processing of gathering and

measuring information in variables of interest, in an establish systematic fashion that

enables one to answer research question, test, hypotheses, and evaluation outcomes.

Data Gathering Procedures

The researcher will ask permission by sending a transmittal letter to the Campus

Director of Cebu Technological University- Argao Campus before conducting the study.

With the approval of the administration, the researcher will distribute the research

questionnaires to the respondents in order to know the levels of online gaming addiction

among students. The respondents are the Grade 10 students who are enrolled in Argao

National High School in the second semester of the Academic Year 2018-2019. The

researcher will disseminate the questionnaires by batch. They will follow the date given

by the administration in distributing the questionnaires to the Grade 10 respondents.

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The questionnaires will be collected by the researchers themselves after the

respondents have thoroughly answered them on the same day that they have been

disseminated.

The responses will then be tallied to get the raw data which will be treated

statistically to generate empirical data.

Interpretation and analysis of data will be reflected in each matrix that will answer

the specific questions of the study.

The research survey will be administered in full accordance with the respective

schedules approved by the Campus Director of Cebu Technological University-Argao

Campus.

Statistical Treatment of Data

For quantitative interpretation of data, descriptive statistics such as percentage,

weighted mean, and the T-test of mean difference will be used in this study.

1. Weighted Mean

To determine accurately Level of Online gaming Addiction of the respondents,

the weighted mean will be utilized in this study.

2. T-test of mean Difference

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To examine if there is a significant difference between the Level of Online

Gaming Addiction of the respondents according to their gender, the data will be subjected

to t-test of mean difference.

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