Would you like to help me with a scientific study of gaming?

[katrahn]

I am a gamer and a PhD student in psychology at the University of Cambridge, and I am studying the reasons people play games and the way games can affect mood and stress. Some of the most powerful experiences of my life have been while playing games (most recently SOMA, man that was intense), and I'm really lucky to be able to spend the next few years studying the psychology of games and the future of virtual reality!

Part of my study involves getting an idea of the most common reasons people decide to play games. If you would like to help out, you can take a quick survey that only takes about 5 minutes to complete: http://cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com//SE/?SID=SV_0pOknOGWB4hqsND

You do have to be over 18 to participate, but it's all completely anonymous, and I'm just trying to get a sense of the common reasons people play.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Good survey, though there were a lot of redundant questions like... Do you play games to:
Rest
Relax
Work out anger
Work out aggression
All of these being very similar with each other. I dunno if being that specific was the point though

 

[GrumbleGrump]

Nice, survey. I hope you're doing this in a lot of forums, in order to get large sample size. Yes, I know, you have a PhD, but it never hurts to remind oneself of this.

Hope you do well.

 

[Rabish Bini]

Completed. Best of luck to you!

 

[mojoismydog77]

Awesome survey, I hope I helped.

 

[K12]

Damn, I envy your area of research.

It's great to have psychologists who have a love of games being the people doing the research. It'll be good to have more nuanced research of the positives and negatives of video games that comes from a place of experience and affection rather than condescension and fear-mongering.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Nice. All done! May I add a little constructive criticism? Nothing major, but a few of the...

Good survey, though there were a lot of redundant questions like... Do you play games to:
Rest
Relax
Work out anger
Work out aggression
All of these being very similar with each other. I dunno if being that specific was the point though

Ah yes, that was pretty much what I was going to point out. There were a few reworded examples, most notably the playing games to relax example I think had 5 variations that meant the same thing. So I gave the same answer of course.

 

[Nazulu]

Yeah, some of those questions were very similar, but it's all good. A lot shorter than I thought it would be. Hope you discover something interesting ;-)

 

[FalloutJack]

Well, it performed better than an online job survey, so I guess Cambridge has alot to teach businesses about their employment surveys.

 

[freaper]

Good survey, though there were a lot of redundant questions like... Do you play games to:
Rest
Relax
Work out anger
Work out aggression
All of these being very similar with each other. I dunno if being that specific was the point though

Most (psychological) surveys have dud questions to check if the participants are consistent with themselves, afaik.

OP, it was on the nose, but hopefully you can do something with the data

Good luck.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

I am a gamer and a PhD student in psychology at the University of Cambridge, and I am studying the reasons people play games and the way games can affect mood and stress. (..)
Part of my study involves getting an idea of the most common reasons people decide to play games. If you would like to help out, you can take a quick survey that only takes about 5 minutes to complete:

Hell no. You psychology farts just need to get a real job. Why don't you go and be a coal miner? Or a lumberjack?

Besides, the data gathered this way is bound to not be any more reliable than the data you fake yourself in the night before the deadline. Judging from experience, your study is bound to be crippled and nigh useless, and every single flaw will live on forever, if it indeed manages to lead to other work, papers, etc.

So, that said, I hope you understand it is not at all meant to be demotivational when I tell you that I hate you, hate you, hate you. Aloha.