Research Page

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This page will provide a summary of the research I have been doing throughout
the semester for the research portfolio that is due.

My Research question is "What is Internet Addiction Disorder, and why should or
shouldn't it be a recognized disease."

Essentially, this question deals with the topic of people who spend excessive amounts
of time on the internet, and the problems that come with such behavior. I am interested
in this topic because it is a contemporary issue that is still in the infancy stages of being
understood, and perhaps even recognized. I have also been in contact with individuals
who spend a very large amount of time playing online video games, and it lead me to
want to understand more about the issue.

I learned a little bit about the research process while doing the research for this project,
though I had already had a good deal of experience using the library's electronic resources
before. The things that I learned the most about were little tools that can be used to help
refine and better fulfill the searches that I made. I had never made use of the e-books page
or the SourceAid program before, and both of these proved very helpful. One of the best
and also most simplest things that I learned was how to refine search engines and
directories to find only domain-specific websites, specifically .edu pages.

Here is a list of some of the resources that I found, which includes books, periodicals and websites:

Works Cited

Gwinnel, Esther and Christine A. Adamec. The Encyclopedia of Addictions and Addictive Behaviors. New York: Facts on FIle, 2006.

Chebbi, Prasanna, Kai Koong, Lai Liu, et al. Some Observations On Internet Addiction Disorder Research. 2000. Journal of Information Systems Education at Appalachian State University. 27 Nov. 2006 <http://www.jise.appstate.edu/11/097.pdf>.

Chuang, Yao-Chung. “Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game-Induced Seizures: A Neglected Health Problem in Internet Addiction.” CyberPsychology and Behavior 9.4 Aug. 2006: 451-456.

Ferris, Jennifer R. Internet Addiction Disorder: Causes, Symptoms,and Consequences. 2001. Virginia Tech Department of Chemistry. 27 Nov. 2006 <http://www.chem.vt.edu/chem-dept/dessy/honors/papers/ferris.html>.

McMasters, Paul K. “Inside the First Amendment: Free speech suffers a case of the ’cyber shakes’.” Gannett News Service 3 July 2006: ARC.

Moon, Ihlwan and Steve Jacobs. “ONLINE GAMING: KOREA’S GOTTA HAVE IT.” Business Week 4000 11 Sept. 2006: 42-42.

Suler, John. The Psychology of Cyberspace: Computer and Cyberspace Addiction. Mar. 1999. Rider University. 27 Nov. 2006 <http://www.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/cybaddict.html>.

Thomas, Clayton L. Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary. Philadelphia, Pa.: F. A. Davis Company, 1974.

Wallace, Patricia. The Psychology of the Internet. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University press, 2001.

Here are evaluations about some of the sources within the list above:

Periodical Evaluation for “Online Gaming, Korea’s Gotta have it”

This article essentially details the extent to which internet addiction, specifically within the gaming world, has taken a toll in Korea. The article goes into vivid examples of the effects of internet addiction and the effects it has on those who are addicted. Essentially, the article was written with the purpose of informing the public of a not very well-known problem, and to bring the problem into the spotlight. The article collected data from direct interviews, using quotes from those who have been addicted, as well as using statistics from government funded surveys and support organizations for those addicted. This article is extremely useful in portraying the staggering effect that internet addiction has, and just how severe the problem really is. There really isn’t much to gain in falsifying any of the claims made in the article, and the article represents a fairly objective viewpoint on the issue rather than pointing the blame in any one direction, so it seems pretty reliable. The authors of the article can be contacted through Business Week if any further information about the article is needed, thus giving more credibility to the article. It can be assumed that the two authors are simply journalists attempting to report factual information to the public, and as such, they probably are not experts in the field, but reported information from those who were. The article is only two months old, and as such, it is very up to date. The article is a typical periodical article, as it details a wide array of general information with some specific examples that help portray the situation as a whole. As such, it doesn’t delve very much into very scientific explanations, or into related issues. The article is divided into two pieces, the first part details the issue of internet addiction, and the second part goes into information on various organizations and efforts trying to alleviate the problem. As this is a typical news article, the information is easily digestible by the average audience and yet it still has potential for scholarly research.

Book Evaluation for “The Encyclopedia of Addictions and Addictive Behaviors.”

This e-book is an in depth medical encyclopedia of addictions and related concepts. The book is for professional and scholarly use, specifically within the medical field, it is not intended to be read by the average public. The book compiles data from many medical sources, including experts in the field, generally using well-known, agreed upon medical knowledge. This book is extremely useful for research into my subject area because it covers several different topics, including internet addiction, and addiction in general, and it covers the different topics on different levels, both general information and in depth medical knowledge. This information is very reliable as all of it is widely accepted, up to date medical knowledge, accepted by experts in the field. The book is compiled with the help of many specialists most of whom have Ph.Ds, and experience in the field. The book was published in 2006, thus being up to date. As mentioned above, this book covers information on both general and specific levels, the only holdback may be that it is almost entirely objective in a topic where some level of subjectivity would help lend a helpful understanding of expert perceptions of the problem. The book is arranged alphabetically, with different subject areas listed non-alphabetically beneath major focus areas. Even though the book delves into some scientific details, the information is generally not above a general college level student, thus making the information very useful.

Website evaluation for “The Psychology of Cyberspace: Computer and Cyberspace Addiction”
This web page pretty much gives a wide arching overview of electronic addiction and offers a different approach to thought about the subject that what is usually taken. The content on the page is taken somewhat from the author’s book The Psychology of Cyberspace. The original intent of this piece was to serve as an electronic article giving the author’s understanding of the subject matter, it has been reproduced in periodicals and it contains themes that would promote the reading of the author’s book. Apparently the author had done a good bit of research in the area of addictions and specifically what he calls “cyberspace addiction” rather than internet addiction disorder. He makes references to other studies done as well as notable figures in the field. Out of all of the sources I found, this is the only one to give this particular insight into “cyberspace addiction” and it seems as though it would be very useful in portraying a different take on things, as well as leading to other sources. The author makes mostly point of view claims that cannot be directly linked to other credible sources, as such, there is little scientific value to the article, yet much philosophical value, which may lead to better scientific understanding. The author has a Ph.D. and is involved in the psychology department at Rider University, and has devoted much of his study to what he calls “cyberspace life”. The article was originally published in 1999, which would put it pretty out of date in this contemporary field, but it has been published many times since and as late as 2004. It can be assumed that these versions as well as the version on the site are updated from the original 1999 publishing. The main article deals with an atypical approach to understanding electronic addiction and does not deal with very much concrete understanding of the problem. The page does link to other portions of his book that seem to deal with these issues more in depth, so this may not be a setback. The page begins with an overview about how to look at electronic addiction and then delves into some past understandings of the issue. The page is very easy to use, and most of the language is not above the average reader.

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First complete version: 11-27-06