University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Science Science Research & Publications 2008 On Choosing Games And What Counts as a “Good” Game Becker, Katrin; Parker, J. R. IGI GLobal Publishing Katrin Becker and J.R.Parker, On Choosing Games And What Counts as a “Good” Game, Book Chapter, in Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education edited by Richard Ferdig, Information Science Reference, IGI GLobal Publishing, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/46738 book part Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca Choosing Games for Study 1 On Choosing Games And What Counts as a “Good” Game Katrin Becker, Ph.D. (ABD) Graduate Division of Educational Research, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 Email:
[email protected] 1-403-932-6322 Dr. James R. Parker Digital Media Lab University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 Email:
[email protected] 1-403-220-6784 Abstract This chapter will discuss the growing importance of applying considered rationales to which games are chosen for study, whether it be for ethnography, classroom use, or anything else. A brief overview of how games are currently bring chosen for study is presented through a meta analysis of studies with games that were published between 2003 and 2006 in order to demonstrate that most published games studies do not include a supported rationale for the games chosen. The chapter will then present various ways that game choices can be justified, and propose and explain a data fusion technique that can be applied to game reviews and other lists in order to facilitate representative and defensible game choices.