Computer Games – Preferred Way of Using ICT by Grammar School Students

Abstract

The paper describes the results of a research study, which examined the degree of addiction in 18-year-old grammar school students in the Czech Republic to computer games. In the research the authors used a quantitative research approach based on the author’s own questionnaire to identify the degree of addictive behaviour in students in relation to computer games. The research sample consisted of 525 students in grade three of four-year grammar schools (or an equivalent grade of multi-year grammar schools) from 10 randomly selected schools. The author used a statistical analysis to identify the groups of 18-year-old students according to their addictive behaviour. In the research the following result processing methods were used: K-means cluster analysis, globalized cluster analysis, Student’s t-test and analysis of variance ANOVA; the analysis of nominal data was performed by means of the Chi-square test of independence. The research study suggested that 7.8 % of all grammar school students involved in the study showed addictive behaviour in relation to computer games. Their behaviour was affected by gender; male students showed a significantly higher degree of addictive behaviour compared with female students. An interesting finding is the effect of the school’s focus on addictive behaviour. In a Church grammar school the degree of addictive behaviour was significantly lower than in other types of schools. The results of the research study also suggested three basic groups of grammar school students according to their approach to computer games. In addition to other aspects, these groups showed a completely different degree of addiction.