Help me finish my thesis on gaming - online survey

[HBY]

Hey guys,

I already linked my survey before, but unfortunately my topic (and my account) were deleted because of the recent database issues. Anyways, good job getting the forum back up, Kerbal! It was a hell of a job if I understand correctly.

But here it is again:

My name is Huib, I study sciences of the arts at Tilburg University in the Netherlands (no I didn't know Diederik Stapel, different faculty etc.) and I'm currently working on my master's thesis on video gaming. To collect data I have set up an online survey and I would like you to fill it out, although a lot of you have already done so I believe. The survey is about video games (so no board games) and will take about 15 minutes to complete. As a thank you I will be giving away some games when it's all done, just check the website itself for details.

The survey is located at Videogameresearch.nl

Some information about data usage and the way your privacy is being handled:

The only people with access to the data itself are the professor supervising my thesis and myself. The data will just be used for statistical tests, that will *hopefully* lead to my conclusions.

The survey doesn't ask for your name, address or any other personal information like that. It does log your IP address, as a quick check for me to see if people have been filling it out more than once. Your IP address will not be exported to my statistics software.

If you would like to have a chance of winning a game, you will be asked to enter your e-mail address. This will be stored in a second database that doesn't log IP or date and time of entry. This way your e-mail address can no longer be linked to the answers you gave.

I would really appreciate it if you would fill it out, every single person helps. If you have done so already: thank you!

[slin3]

Hey!

I tried to do your survey but after I clicked "Next" on one of the pages it started to load endlessly and then gave me an error, which said that the site could not be reached. I don't know if this has happened to anybody else or just me so I thought I'd let you know.

The last page I completed before the error was about the amount of times I play with my friends in the same room etc. I think. The page it was trying to load seems to be http://videogameresearch.nl/survey/index.php/survey/index and I was able to load the page on a second try but it only says "No available surveys."

I don't know if this is the page that is supposed to load at that point in the survey and I have no idea if it saved my answers.

This issue might be an exception but maybe you should check it so that you get the data for your thesis

[HBY]

Thank you for telling me! I think the database went down. It happened 2 or 3 times before and the downtime never lasts longer than 20 seconds or so. Unfortunately 20 seconds is enough to really mess things up if people are filling out the survey. Since I'm not a company and don't employ any legal staff there's not much I can do about it. If I'd call the hosting company they'd say they're very sorry and then do nothing. So grrrrrrrrrr.

I'm sorry that I have wasted your time. I'm not really sure I can use data from incomplete surveys. There are some ethical issues: can I use data given to me by someone who never approved sending his answers by clicking the submit button?

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Done. I didn't have 10 games to put on the list. Is that good or bad?

[HBY]

Doesn't really matter People that play 1 game enter 1 title, people that play 50 games enter 10. It's just to give me some idea of the games you play. Thank you for your time!

[Grove]

So hey, I completed the survey, I am not sure if I filled all of the parts correctly, but I hope it helps!

[HBY]

Thank you very much! And hmmmm, why is my post count still 0. Does a reply to one's own topic not count as a post?

[rryy]

Off-topic posts don't count towards your post count.

[HBY]

Ah, okay. Makes sense

[Crush]

Are you sure that the people you reach on this forum are a representative sample group? I think that those people interested in KSP aren't really typical gamers.

[Warscribe]

Got it. filling out the games i played brings back memories of my Amiga..

[HBY]

Thank you!

Are you sure that the people you reach on this forum are a representative sample group? I think that those people interested in KSP aren't really typical gamers.

I agree, but I linked my survey in a lot of other places as well. Also I had some trouble determining what a typical gamer is. I found some research on usage of digital equipment and gaming, both Dutch and American. Unfortunately it wasn't really useful for determining typical gaming behaviour, for various reasons. Sometimes the numbers were a little outdated, and in research done by a large Dutch institution they made a separation between offline and online computer use, for some reason. I think this is very bad: nowadays you can't ask someone how long he uses the computer in an online way, and how long offline. I myself wouldn't be able to answer such a question and would probably just make things up.

To come to a point: I don't know exactly what a typical gamer is. I think the thesis itself will give some hints, since people playing all kinds of games have filled it out, but it won't be enough to draw any final conclusions on this matter. I have already addressed this problem in the theoretical part of my thesis, and in the discussion at the end I will recommend that my study (or something similar) should be repeated as soon as solid data on typical gaming behaviour are available.

[Warscribe]

Is this just about computer/gaming use or do you draw conclusions to social behaviour too?

The other week i read an article that said, statistically the average gamer is about 30 years old. That just says alot about how gaming behaviour has changed over the years.

And, well you could always say "active" online use - Not in a DRM way, but really engaging in multiplayer. Or actually require internet use while on a site (i.e. Having facebook open the whole day but looking at it every other hour).

[Crush]

The other week i read an article that said, statistically the average gamer is about 30 years old.

The question is: how do you actually define gamer? Is a gamer anyone who touched a video game in the last year? Someone who spends every wake moment playing video games? Something in between? Is it a label of self-identification, a lifestyle or a state of mind?

[Warscribe]

back in my day (i cant believe i can say this and be serious about it), a gamer was first of all a lifestyle. They had their, although cliche'd, attributes. While it was perfectly normal for kids to be hooked to the gameboy, gaming above the age of, say, 18, was weirdly looked at. back then, games were for lonely and socially incapable people. Nowadays, Gamer is a state of mind that can be furiously discussed about..there is always the gap between casual gamers and core gamers and so on. The gamer did not only become socially acceptable, but a new social structure in itself. gaming has evolved beyond simple pastime, it is now art and sport. It has also become valueable work. the question that should be asked is: What type of gamer are you?

[HBY]

Maybe I should use "someone who plays a video game" instead of "gamer" . "Gamer" has all kinds of connotations and different meanings to it, while "someone who plays a video game" can be someone who plays every single day, or every once in a while.

Is this just about computer/gaming use or do you draw conclusions to social behaviour too?

The other week i read an article that said, statistically the average gamer is about 30 years old. That just says alot about how gaming behaviour has changed over the years.

And, well you could always say "active" online use - Not in a DRM way, but really engaging in multiplayer. Or actually require internet use while on a site (i.e. Having facebook open the whole day but looking at it every other hour).

I wasn't planning on going too deep into current social behaviour, since my primary research goal is to map out the socialising factors behind gaming. However, if it indeed turns out that 30 year olds play significantly more games than other age groups it would be hard to ignore. In that case I would be very curious to see if they all started playing around the same age, which would mean they started gaming in the same time period. That would suggest that the explanation for average gamers (there's that word again) being around 30 years old would lie in the past, although it's hard to be sure.

I think it has become increasingly difficult to really separate online and offline computer use by asking people about it instead of measuring it, also because of the different meanings these words can have. For example: is playing a single player game on steam offline or online? And having facebook open all day long, like you said? This is quite complicated and people will interpret it in different ways when asked about it. Also, I think people switch between online and offline a lot, sometimes every few minutes. I don't think people really keep track of that, let alone are able to answer questions about it.

the question that should be asked is: What type of gamer are you?

Kallio et al. have written a very interesting article on that. According to them one person can be many different types of gamer, it depends on the context and motivations to play. Here you can at least read the abstract, I don't think the article itself is available for free: http://gac.sagepub.com/content/6/4/327.abstract

[Warscribe]

Ah. Cool abstract. It sums up exactly what i experienced.

In that case I would be very curious to see if they all started playing around the same age, which would mean they started gaming in the same time period

The late 80ies / early 90ies had a big gaming boom which resulted in more "people who play games", and 20 years later, what would you expect - these people have aged but the majority are still into "playing games", some even became "gamers", we could go on and talk about the definition of both quoted demographics, but i think it's pretty clear what those are - It's about commitment and dedication.

On another side note, would KSP be considered an educational game?

[HBY]

On another side note, would KSP be considered an educational game?

I wouldn't say so, since the primary goal is still entertainment. I think there are very few games that don't teach you anything, even tetris "teaches" motor skills and trains one's reflexes. However, the primary objective is to give you a good time. I would say games specifically designed to teach you for example math in a playful way are educational games.

[Grove]

Sorry to necro-bump this thread, but has the survey ended?

[HBY]

Not yet. I will shut it down on may 14th.

[lobsterbark]

The question is: how do you actually define gamer? Is a gamer anyone who touched a video game in the last year? Someone who spends every wake moment playing video games? Something in between? Is it a label of self-identification, a lifestyle or a state of mind?

I would define a gamer as a person who plays games at least several times a week, as their primary means of entertainment, and actually knows what they are doing when playing games.

[Holo]

Just finished the survey. Hope I win me some Civ V!

[HBY]

If you do you'll get an e-mail from me next week