University of Derby

Faculty Member, Faculty of Education, Health and Sciences

Lecturer in Psychology

About

I graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Psychology with Social Sciences from the Nottingham Trent University. I then went onto study MSc Research Methods and a PhD in Psychology at the Nottingham Trent University.

I worked as a Researcher in Psychology at the Nottingham Trent University from 2006 to 2010. During my time at the Nottingham Trent University I was a member of the International Gaming Research Unit (IGRU). Whilst working within the IGRU I worked with Professor Mark Griffiths, Dr Monica Whitty and Professor Thomas Baguley, instantly developing an effective and productive research relationship that has resulted in some high-impact peer-reviewed journal publications (see publications below). I am still a member of the IGRU and continue collaborate on research projects with other members of the IGRU.

I have also worked for Masterfoods and the University of Paris Descartes as a Research Assistant. This work involved the evaluation of television advertisements. More specifically the work involved the use of social and cognitive psychology in order to provide information about the persuasive nature of advertisements.

I am currently a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Derby. My main teaching commitments are on a number of modules including Psychology in Practice, Social Psychology, Research Methods and Analysis, Animal Learning and Cognition and Individual Differences. I also supervise final year undergraduate research projects.

My research interests focus on the areas of Cyber-Psychology and Social Psychology. However, my research interests are generally broad. I’m interested in the psychology of the Internet, online virtual environments, social networking, e-commerce, addiction, mental health, attitude change and inter-group conflict. I have made use of interviews and questionnaires to gather data and as such, I have skills in the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. I have expertise in self-report methods (questionnaires, interviews) and online data collection.

I also provide independent research and consultancy services to help better understand gaming behaviour. This is done by applying up-to-date knowledge about the psychology of gaming and interactive technology to develop effective responsible gaming strategies. I investigate problem behaviours that are linked to video games, online gaming and any other types of interactive technologies and how they can best be avoided or treated.   


Qualifications

PhD in Psychology. Thesis title: Online Gaming and Addiction: A Psychosocial Investigation using Mixed Methods 

MSc Social Sciences Research Methods

BSc (Hons) Psychology with Social Sciences

Post-Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE)


Memberships

CyberPsychology Research Group

Higher Education Academy

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) Research Group

The Postgraduates who Teach Psychology Network (PGwT) representative


Main research collaborators

Professor Mark Griffiths (Nottingham Trent University)
Professor Thomas Baguley (Nottingham Trent University)
Professor Monica Whitty (University of Leicester)
Professor Tanya Byron (Edge Hill University)
Dr Simon Bignell (University of Derby)


Current Projects

Teaching Informed by Research Grant (£2500): Sustainability Web Videos: Evaluating Virtual World Content for Sustainability and Pro-environmental Behaviour in the Curriculum


Publications

Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M.D. (2008). Gender Swapping and Socializing in Cyberspace: An Exploratory Study. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11, (1), 47-53.

Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M.D. (2008). Online Virtual Environments and the Psychology of Gender Swapping. In: Building Bridges in Social Science Research. pp. 291-301. Plymouth: University of Plymouth (ISSN 1753-7061).

Meredith, A., Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M.D. (2009). Online gaming: A scoping study of Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Games. Electronic Commerce Research, 9, 3-26.

Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M.D. (2009). Excessive use of Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games: A pilot study. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 7, 563-571.

Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M.D. (2009). The Attitudes, Feelings and Experiences of Online Gamers: A Qualitative Analysis. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12, (6), 747-753.

Griffiths, M.D., Hussain, Z., Grusser, S.M., Thalemann, R., Cole, H., Davies, M.N.O. & Chappell, D. (2011). Social interactions in online gaming. International Journal of Games-Based Learning, 1(4),20-36.

Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M.D. (2012). The psychosocial effects of online role-playing games. MMOG-Fest Conference Proceedings. Stafford: The Staffordshire University (in press).

Hussain, Z., Griffiths, M.D. & Baguley, T. (2012). Online gaming addiction: classification, prediction and associated risk factors. Addiction Research & Theory (in press).



News articles about my research

The Derby Evening Telegraph (10 January 2012). Gaming addiction more common than previously thought.

Asktheexperts.org.uk (10 January 2012). Online Role-Playing Games: Hobby or Addiction? Article written by Kate Marchant.

The Guardian (5 March 2008). Online gamers play at swapping gender. Article written by Bobbie Johnson.

Gamespot UK (5 March 2008). Study uncovers MMORPG gender-swapping epidemic. Article written by Thom Scom.

Virtual World News (5 March 2008). Most online world users swap gender.     


Publications under review or in preparation

Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M.D. (2011). The Motivations and Derived Experiences of Users of Online Virtual Environments (in preparation).

Hussain, Z., Griffiths, M.D. & Baguley, T. (2011). Measuring Addiction to Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games (in preparation).

Hussain, Z. (2011). Methodological issues in online research (in preparation).

Hussain, Z. (2011). Web experiments: visualising cognitive designs and procedures (in preparation).

Hussain, Z. (2011). Using online virtual environments to teach health education (in preparation).

Hussain, Z. & Bignell, S. (2011). Using 3D virtual worlds for the development of web-based educational vignettes in Higher Education (in preparation).

Bignell, S. & Hussain, Z. (2011). Can observation of Virtual World avatars influence Attitudes, Beliefs and Behaviours about Sustainability in the real world? (in preparation).


Conference Presentations

Hussain, Z. (July, 2011). The use of new technologies to improve health: Exergaming and excessive use. Paper presented at the 16th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science. Liverpool, UK.

Hussain, Z. (June, 2011). Video Games and Social Networking. Paper presented at The Times Cheltenham Science Festival. Cheltenham, UK.   

Hussain, Z. (December 2009). Social Networking and the Small World Project. Paper presented at The Nottingham Trent University Graduate School Winter Conference, Nottingham, UK.

Hussain, Z. (September 2009). Excessive Online Gaming. Paper presented at the Annual British Psychological Society Social Psychology Conference 2009, Sheffield, UK.   

Hussain, Z. (June 2009). Excessive use of Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games: A pilot study. Paper presented at the NTU Postgraduate Psychology Conference, Nottingham, UK.     

Hussain, Z. (May 2009). Using Online Research Methods to Explore the Internet, Multi-Media and Virtual Reality. Paper presented at the Pedagogy, Blended and E-learning Education Research Seminar, Nottingham, UK. 

Hussain, Z. (December 2008). Researching Online Worlds: The Methodological Issues. Paper presented at The Nottingham Trent University Graduate School Winter Conference, Nottingham, UK.

Hussain, Z. (November 2008). Online Research Methods: Investigating Online Video Gaming. Paper presented at the Social Sciences Seminar Series, Nottingham, UK.

Hussain, Z. (October 2008). Gender Swapping in Online Virtual Worlds. Poster presented at the GameArt Conference, Nottingham, UK.

Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M.D. (August 2008). An Examination of Massively Multi-User Online Graphical Environments. Paper presented at the PSYPAG 23rd Annual Conference, Manchester, UK.

Hussain, Z. (July 2008). Gender Swapping in Online Virtual Worlds. Poster presented at the UKGRAD PhD Poster Competition Final, Keele, UK.

Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M.D. (June 2008). The Psychosocial Effects of Online Role-Playing Games. Paper presented at The MMOG-Fest Conference, Stafford, UK.

Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M.D. (May 2008). Socialising and Gender Swapping in Online Virtual Environments. Paper presented at The Plymouth Postgraduate Symposium: Building Bridges in Social Science Research, Plymouth, UK.

Hussain, Z. (Dec 2007). Excessive Online Video Gaming and Addiction: The Scoping Study. Paper presented at The Nottingham Trent University Graduate School Winter Conference, Nottingham, UK.

Hussain, Z. (May 2007). Excessive Online Video Gaming and Addiction. Paper presented at The Nottingham Trent University Graduate School Summer Conference, Nottingham, UK.


Peer Review Duties

Reviewer for the following journals, research organisations and publishers:
• CyberPsychology & Behavior
• Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
• Electronic Commerce Research
• Computers in Human Behavior
• American Journal of Preventive Medicine
• Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
• Wiley-Blackwell
• Palgrave Macmillan


Media Experience

Invited speaker, discussant for the following media organisations:

• The Press Association
• The BBC
• www.newstalk.ie, 106 – 108 fm
• La Press, Canada
• BBC Radio Lincolnshire


The following media organisations have written about my research:

• Channel 4 News
• The Times Higher Education
• BBC World Service – Brazil
• MSN News
• The Daily Guide, Ghana
• Eurograduate.com

Contact Information