Third-year female student excellently defended her thesis on games

Thuy Linh, a third-year student majoring in Public Relations at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, defended her thesis on May 27.
Linh's research topic is: "Communication of multinational culture in a new world action role-playing game (ARPG) environment", through analysis of the game Genshin Impact, achieving 9.5/10 points.
Linh said she learned about and played this game three years ago when she accidentally saw the character's design. This is a role-playing game, players will explore the map, geography, nature, people and culture in 5 lands, including China, Japan, ancient Europe, France, the Middle East and South Asia.
Besides her love for the game, another reason Linh chose to analyze Genshin Impact in her thesis is because the game has 60 million players worldwide and reached the fastest revenue of 5 billion USD in 40 months, according to Data.ai, a game statistics site. In addition to the three dubbed languages ​​of English, Japanese, and Chinese, the game also has 18 languages, including Vietnamese.
"It is a worthy example for my chosen topic of multinational culture," Linh said.Nguyen Thuy Linh during her graduation thesis defense in May. Photo: Provided by the character

The female student said she likes to choose new topics for her thesis. Because of that, she has difficulty finding documents. Linh has to read many foreign sources or ask friends in China to help her find them.

"There was some research on this game but in terms of storytelling or communication, it was different from the way I wanted to exploit it," Linh said.

Linh’s thesis did not use basic research methods such as surveys or Google Forms, but in-depth interviews. The female student prepared questions and contacted 10 players, aged 14 to 25, over a period of about two weeks. Most of them said they recognized the interwoven cultures in the game.

"That shows the game is successful in conveying culture," Linh explained.

This method is highly appreciated by Dr. Pham Chien Thang, Head of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication, University of Science - Thai Nguyen University. Linh is the first student he guided to do a thesis related to online games.

"This is a qualitative study, so the author's assessment and experience are especially important when analyzing the data, helping to avoid biased views," said Dr. Thang.
Linh has the advantage of having played this game for three years, so she has experience and knowledge with the game. However, Dr. Thang said that his students also encountered difficulties in contacting players from many countries for in-depth interviews. He appreciated his students' risk-taking and efforts, scoring the thesis 9.8 points.
Linh said that her mother is a university lecturer, so she was inspired to study and research. From the day she entered university, she planned to graduate early to pursue a master's degree. The female student spent nearly two years studying general subjects, starting to study specialized subjects from the second semester of her second year onwards. Last year, Linh registered for 26-28 credits per semester, while normally it is around 20. According to the school's regulations, when accumulating enough 110 credits, the female student is allowed to defend her thesis, even though she is only in her third year.
In addition to studying at the University of Humanities, Linh also studies at night at a school that trains graphic designers. She also works part-time in marketing and communications for businesses. According to the female student, the important thing is to organize work scientifically.
Linh has a list of subjects, and she marks them off as she finishes them. Each semester, she only chooses 1-2 difficult subjects to avoid having her semester results dragged down if her scores are low. During exam time, Linh doesn't work extra but focuses on studying to get high scores.
"I want to learn as much as possible in three years of university," Linh said.
The female student has received many scholarships to encourage her studies, and her current average score is 3.6/4. Linh only has one subject and an internship left to complete her university program.
Linh is preparing documents to study abroad in Australia.
"I want to work in the media field and look for research and teaching opportunities at university," Linh said.