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Games Research Project, 1st Sortie

	Author: Brant Guillory Article Type: Editorial Publication Date: 9/21/2006 Publisher: GAMA Publisher: Ohio State University Related Categories: Background / Research Material

The Genesis

Readers may recall filling out a survey of gaming habits that was posted across the internet, including on The Wargamer, earlier this year. This was for a graduate school project (a PhD in gaming – what could be cooler?) that my team was working on for GAMA. We launched the games research project toward the end of 2005, with the intention of conducting some exploratory research into gamers and gaming. Very early in the process, we identified a few "big rocks": outside of a few studies on fantasy gaming and anti-social behavior, virtually no academic studies existed on effects of gaming (socialization, academic performance, academic knowledge, reality perception, etc.); no other published studies of other aspects of hobby gaming (board games, miniatures games) that focus on the games had been published; and lastly, [and perhaps most importantly – ed.] we needed a cooler name than "the games research project."

The Background

Since the early 1980s, several “studies” were conducted that attempted to link fantasy gaming (like Dungeons & Dragons) to anti-social behavior (Bromley, 1991; others summarized by Cardwell, 1994). These studies were not academically rigorous, did not go through a peer review process, and would not be considered truly scientific by trained evaluators. Later scientific studies showed no significant link between game-playing and behavior, other than higher intellect (Carroll and Carolin, 1989, Douse and McManus, 1993, Lancaster, 1994, Rosenthal et al, 1998).

The limited research that has been conducted has primarily been proprietary marketing research that focuses on demographics, not uses and gratifications. These studies are typically run by people with a marketing background, not a social science background. One notable exception was Brian King, the web editor from Armchair General magazine, who in 2005 conducted a survey focusing specifically on board wargame players and compared the self-reported Myers-Briggs Type Indicators of board wargame players to the overall population. This study was done in an attempt to draw some conclusions about the personality types drawn to board wargaming. While not a scientifically rigorous analysis, it stands out as a rare attempt to move beyond demographics in the study of game players.

Current research in the games world is focusing on video/computer games; the researchers are following the money, and there are many opportunities for funded research in this area. However, we still have a very limited understanding of hobby gamers as a group, and specific game players within the overall category. To give readers a frame of reference about the size of the hobby group: 15,000 attendees visited Origins 2005 (the last year for which hard numbers are available); and Jim Zabek, The Wargamer’s Editor-in-Chief, reports approximately 800,000 unique visitors each month to The Wargamer.

This project started as a partnership with The Wargamer to investigate playing preferences and motives of wargame players. Later we approached the Game Manufacturers’ Association, GAMA, (conveniently headquartered down the street from me here in Columbus) about a possible partnership. GAMA requested an expansion of the scope of the research from wargames to all hobby games. They were willing to offer a wide-ranging distribution of the survey and in return, they wanted to “mobilize the industry” behind the project, rather than fragment it into segments like "wargamers" or "role-players."

The survey was designed to take our knowledge beyond simple demographics and ask more detailed questions about why gamers make the choices they do. The scales assessing motivational factors were originally developed for a research project about video games, and needed to be adapted to a wider audience. Additionally, there were challenges trying to cover all the bases for all potential types of games and genres that could be considered "hobby games." The individual measures within the factors came from existing research on media uses and gratifications. With GAMA, the survey included some marketing-oriented questions for GAMA members. GAMA also helped flesh out some of the descriptors of the types and genres of games, and the entire survey was ‘beta-tested’ by a mixture of GAMA and Wargamer staffers, and some grad school classmates.

Once the survey was ready, it was unleashed upon a (mostly) unsuspecting world.