Sue-
This is part of my dissertation research, and I confirm that there
isn't much out there on this aspect of game play. Almost everything is
about children or teenagers, or the ubiquitous college sophomore
subject pool. But ditto Nancy's comments on Avatars Offline, and
Jason's on Digiplay as a good resource.
Try the IDSA web site (http://www.idsa.com/) for some facts and stats
on age and use in the US. I think their numbers are too high, but that
shouldn't surprise you from a trade group.
Pew Internet also has asked some game-related questions, and was kind
enough to recently give me this eye-opening data from a 2002 survey
(Keep in mind that this is probably anything from Bridge to Everquest):
0000,0000,0000Q. Ever play a game online
All users 37%
Men 37%
Women 38%
Whites 34%
Blacks 48%
Hispanics 54%
18-29 52%
30-49 34%
50-64 28%
65+ 38%
I should have some family-based data on the game I'm studying
(Asheron's Call 2) in the next few weeks, and you're welcome to mail
me off-list.
Here's what else I have for cites:
Marriage & Family review, Vol 8 #1 & 2 are all on computers and
families, but is from 1985.
Sneed & Runco, 1992 (I think), Journal of Psychology V 120: The
Beliefs Adults and Children Hold About Television and Video Games
Let me know if you come across anything else good. I'd like to have
more information myself.
Cheers,
Dmitri
****************
Dmitri Williams
Ph.D. Candidate
University of Michigan
Department of Communication Studies
dcwillia@umich.edu
http://www.umich.edu/~dcwillia
On Thursday, April 3, 2003, at 12:01 PM, air-l-request@aoir.org wrote:
From: "Sue Cranmer"
<<1999,1999,FFFFsue@jcranmer.freeserve.co.uk>
Date: Thu Apr 3, 2003 3:26:05 AM US/Eastern
To:
<<1999,1999,FFFFair-l@aoir.org>
Subject: [Air-l] Adult Gamers within the Family
Reply-To:
1999,1999,FFFFair-l@aoir.org
Hi
Can anyone help me with references about adults playing computer games
as
part of the family, for instance, parents who use the computer for work
which blurs into entertainment through gaming.
Thanks
Sue