The authors of the paper “Popular Video Games: Quantifying the Presentation of Violence and its Context” (Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media [2003]: 58–76) investigated the relationship between video game rating—suitable for everyone (E), suitable for 13 years of age and older (T), and suitable for 17 years of age and older (M)—and the number of violent interactions per minute of play. The sample of games examined consisted of 60 video games—the 20 most popular (by sales) for each of three game systems. The researchers concluded that video games rated for older children had significantly more violent interactions per minute than did those games rated for more general audiences.
a. Do you think that the sample of 60 games was selected in a way that makes it reasonable to think it is representative of the population of all video games?
b. Is it reasonable to generalize the researchers’ conclusion to all video games? Explain why or why not.