Traditional and Digital Game Preferences of Children: A CHAID Analysis on Middle School Students

Year 2018, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 90 - 110, 15.01.2018

Zeynep Tatli

Abstract

The
purpose of this study is to determine types of games that middle school
students play in their daily lives and analyze the effects of various variables
such as gender, available technology, grade in school and parents’ education
levels on their game preferences. The sample consisted of a total of 464
grade 5-8 students (212 girls and 252 boys). The study was conducted in Spring
2015 and the data were collected using a two-part survey. The first part of the
survey included questions about demographic information and the second
part asked students to draw a picture of their favorite games. The results of this study showed that
girls mostly preferred to play outdoor games whereas boys mostly preferred to
play digital games. Participant students preferred to play games with rules outdoors
and symbolic games indoors, and in digital environment, girls preferred to play
mini-games whereas boys preferred to play sports games. CHAID analysis was used
in determining the relationships between the variables and game preferences. Gender
was a prominent factor in identifying the preferences; that is, girls’ game
preferences were mainly influenced by having a computer and those of boys were
affected by having an available Internet connection. This study also found that
parents’ education level is not related to children’s game preferences. At the
end of the study, suggestions were made for gamification and digital game
design.

Keywords

Digital games, CHID analysis, Game motivation

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