Do video gamers tend to be conservative and have a large voter turnout?

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I found this pdf referencing a study done on video gamers. Among other claims it states that "80% of those survyed will vote in the 2016 election". It also has a piechart claiming the following distribution of gamers by political party:



48% conservative
38% liberal
14% other


I could not find the original study. I am somewhat skeptical of the claims, the skewing for conservative is higher then I would have guessed, especially considering games tend, on average, to be (somewhat) younger which would usually skew towards liberal. I also find the claim of 80% participation to be surprisingly high for any American demographic that doesn't have an obvious political affiliation.



Can anyone confirm the original study? Is the study a proper peer reviewed and controlled study who's results can be trusted?










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  • 2




    The gamer survey may have skewed heavily male, which could explain the tilt toward conservative.
    – kbelder
    1 hour ago










  • The ESA doesn't really have any particular motivation to fudge numbers politically towards either liberal or conservative, but without seeing the study it's obviously hard to tell how they came up with those numbers. It's unclear what their definition of "gamer" even is in this context. People who occasionally play video games? Regularly? People who call themselves gamers?
    – Cubic
    1 hour ago










  • It needs to be pointed out: the claim is "In this study, we got this particular result". The claim is not "this is representative of all gamers, everywhere.
    – MichaelK
    9 mins ago














up vote
2
down vote

favorite












I found this pdf referencing a study done on video gamers. Among other claims it states that "80% of those survyed will vote in the 2016 election". It also has a piechart claiming the following distribution of gamers by political party:



48% conservative
38% liberal
14% other


I could not find the original study. I am somewhat skeptical of the claims, the skewing for conservative is higher then I would have guessed, especially considering games tend, on average, to be (somewhat) younger which would usually skew towards liberal. I also find the claim of 80% participation to be surprisingly high for any American demographic that doesn't have an obvious political affiliation.



Can anyone confirm the original study? Is the study a proper peer reviewed and controlled study who's results can be trusted?










share|improve this question

















  • 2




    The gamer survey may have skewed heavily male, which could explain the tilt toward conservative.
    – kbelder
    1 hour ago










  • The ESA doesn't really have any particular motivation to fudge numbers politically towards either liberal or conservative, but without seeing the study it's obviously hard to tell how they came up with those numbers. It's unclear what their definition of "gamer" even is in this context. People who occasionally play video games? Regularly? People who call themselves gamers?
    – Cubic
    1 hour ago










  • It needs to be pointed out: the claim is "In this study, we got this particular result". The claim is not "this is representative of all gamers, everywhere.
    – MichaelK
    9 mins ago












up vote
2
down vote

favorite









up vote
2
down vote

favorite











I found this pdf referencing a study done on video gamers. Among other claims it states that "80% of those survyed will vote in the 2016 election". It also has a piechart claiming the following distribution of gamers by political party:



48% conservative
38% liberal
14% other


I could not find the original study. I am somewhat skeptical of the claims, the skewing for conservative is higher then I would have guessed, especially considering games tend, on average, to be (somewhat) younger which would usually skew towards liberal. I also find the claim of 80% participation to be surprisingly high for any American demographic that doesn't have an obvious political affiliation.



Can anyone confirm the original study? Is the study a proper peer reviewed and controlled study who's results can be trusted?










share|improve this question













I found this pdf referencing a study done on video gamers. Among other claims it states that "80% of those survyed will vote in the 2016 election". It also has a piechart claiming the following distribution of gamers by political party:



48% conservative
38% liberal
14% other


I could not find the original study. I am somewhat skeptical of the claims, the skewing for conservative is higher then I would have guessed, especially considering games tend, on average, to be (somewhat) younger which would usually skew towards liberal. I also find the claim of 80% participation to be surprisingly high for any American demographic that doesn't have an obvious political affiliation.



Can anyone confirm the original study? Is the study a proper peer reviewed and controlled study who's results can be trusted?







politics videogames






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asked 1 hour ago









dsollen

3,97972653




3,97972653







  • 2




    The gamer survey may have skewed heavily male, which could explain the tilt toward conservative.
    – kbelder
    1 hour ago










  • The ESA doesn't really have any particular motivation to fudge numbers politically towards either liberal or conservative, but without seeing the study it's obviously hard to tell how they came up with those numbers. It's unclear what their definition of "gamer" even is in this context. People who occasionally play video games? Regularly? People who call themselves gamers?
    – Cubic
    1 hour ago










  • It needs to be pointed out: the claim is "In this study, we got this particular result". The claim is not "this is representative of all gamers, everywhere.
    – MichaelK
    9 mins ago












  • 2




    The gamer survey may have skewed heavily male, which could explain the tilt toward conservative.
    – kbelder
    1 hour ago










  • The ESA doesn't really have any particular motivation to fudge numbers politically towards either liberal or conservative, but without seeing the study it's obviously hard to tell how they came up with those numbers. It's unclear what their definition of "gamer" even is in this context. People who occasionally play video games? Regularly? People who call themselves gamers?
    – Cubic
    1 hour ago










  • It needs to be pointed out: the claim is "In this study, we got this particular result". The claim is not "this is representative of all gamers, everywhere.
    – MichaelK
    9 mins ago







2




2




The gamer survey may have skewed heavily male, which could explain the tilt toward conservative.
– kbelder
1 hour ago




The gamer survey may have skewed heavily male, which could explain the tilt toward conservative.
– kbelder
1 hour ago












The ESA doesn't really have any particular motivation to fudge numbers politically towards either liberal or conservative, but without seeing the study it's obviously hard to tell how they came up with those numbers. It's unclear what their definition of "gamer" even is in this context. People who occasionally play video games? Regularly? People who call themselves gamers?
– Cubic
1 hour ago




The ESA doesn't really have any particular motivation to fudge numbers politically towards either liberal or conservative, but without seeing the study it's obviously hard to tell how they came up with those numbers. It's unclear what their definition of "gamer" even is in this context. People who occasionally play video games? Regularly? People who call themselves gamers?
– Cubic
1 hour ago












It needs to be pointed out: the claim is "In this study, we got this particular result". The claim is not "this is representative of all gamers, everywhere.
– MichaelK
9 mins ago




It needs to be pointed out: the claim is "In this study, we got this particular result". The claim is not "this is representative of all gamers, everywhere.
– MichaelK
9 mins ago










1 Answer
1






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4
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The small print on the pdf declares that it was from an online survey targeting american adults who play video games. Online surveys have pretty bad self-selection issues. ESA looks like it's not particularly entangled with any one political side, but it is still (among other things) a lobbying group (in this case, a pro-gamer and pro-gaming lobbying group). As such, it is certainly not opposed to anything that would conclude that gamers vote more often than normal, and if they provided any links or encouragement towards taking the survey, or attached their name to it in some other fashion, it seems reasonably likely that the participants might have self-selected for being more political. Self-selecting for one direction or other on the political spectrum is somewhat less predictable, but still quite plausible.



ESA seems to be pretty serious/establishment, as such things go. (They run E3.) As such, it is probable that they are not lying. Most likely, the survey did occur, and provided the results that they claim it provided. On the other hand, all they claim about it is that it "provides insights". As a web survey, it is highly unlikely that this was strongly representative of gamers as a whole.






share|improve this answer











Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.









  • 1




    It might be worth pointing out that the survey took place in 2015, which was right after the gamergate harassment campaign (which in turn was tied up in the rise of the so called alt right / white supremacism). This energized people (on both sides) and might have increased the percentage of those who claimed that they are going to vote in the next election. I would assume that the numbers would have looked quite different before 2014.
    – tim
    40 mins ago










  • There is a lot of supposition in this answer about how you think it might be, and not a lot of empirical evidence that that is the way it is.
    – Oddthinking♦
    19 mins ago


















1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes








up vote
4
down vote













The small print on the pdf declares that it was from an online survey targeting american adults who play video games. Online surveys have pretty bad self-selection issues. ESA looks like it's not particularly entangled with any one political side, but it is still (among other things) a lobbying group (in this case, a pro-gamer and pro-gaming lobbying group). As such, it is certainly not opposed to anything that would conclude that gamers vote more often than normal, and if they provided any links or encouragement towards taking the survey, or attached their name to it in some other fashion, it seems reasonably likely that the participants might have self-selected for being more political. Self-selecting for one direction or other on the political spectrum is somewhat less predictable, but still quite plausible.



ESA seems to be pretty serious/establishment, as such things go. (They run E3.) As such, it is probable that they are not lying. Most likely, the survey did occur, and provided the results that they claim it provided. On the other hand, all they claim about it is that it "provides insights". As a web survey, it is highly unlikely that this was strongly representative of gamers as a whole.






share|improve this answer











Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.









  • 1




    It might be worth pointing out that the survey took place in 2015, which was right after the gamergate harassment campaign (which in turn was tied up in the rise of the so called alt right / white supremacism). This energized people (on both sides) and might have increased the percentage of those who claimed that they are going to vote in the next election. I would assume that the numbers would have looked quite different before 2014.
    – tim
    40 mins ago










  • There is a lot of supposition in this answer about how you think it might be, and not a lot of empirical evidence that that is the way it is.
    – Oddthinking♦
    19 mins ago














up vote
4
down vote













The small print on the pdf declares that it was from an online survey targeting american adults who play video games. Online surveys have pretty bad self-selection issues. ESA looks like it's not particularly entangled with any one political side, but it is still (among other things) a lobbying group (in this case, a pro-gamer and pro-gaming lobbying group). As such, it is certainly not opposed to anything that would conclude that gamers vote more often than normal, and if they provided any links or encouragement towards taking the survey, or attached their name to it in some other fashion, it seems reasonably likely that the participants might have self-selected for being more political. Self-selecting for one direction or other on the political spectrum is somewhat less predictable, but still quite plausible.



ESA seems to be pretty serious/establishment, as such things go. (They run E3.) As such, it is probable that they are not lying. Most likely, the survey did occur, and provided the results that they claim it provided. On the other hand, all they claim about it is that it "provides insights". As a web survey, it is highly unlikely that this was strongly representative of gamers as a whole.






share|improve this answer











Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.









  • 1




    It might be worth pointing out that the survey took place in 2015, which was right after the gamergate harassment campaign (which in turn was tied up in the rise of the so called alt right / white supremacism). This energized people (on both sides) and might have increased the percentage of those who claimed that they are going to vote in the next election. I would assume that the numbers would have looked quite different before 2014.
    – tim
    40 mins ago










  • There is a lot of supposition in this answer about how you think it might be, and not a lot of empirical evidence that that is the way it is.
    – Oddthinking♦
    19 mins ago












up vote
4
down vote










up vote
4
down vote









The small print on the pdf declares that it was from an online survey targeting american adults who play video games. Online surveys have pretty bad self-selection issues. ESA looks like it's not particularly entangled with any one political side, but it is still (among other things) a lobbying group (in this case, a pro-gamer and pro-gaming lobbying group). As such, it is certainly not opposed to anything that would conclude that gamers vote more often than normal, and if they provided any links or encouragement towards taking the survey, or attached their name to it in some other fashion, it seems reasonably likely that the participants might have self-selected for being more political. Self-selecting for one direction or other on the political spectrum is somewhat less predictable, but still quite plausible.



ESA seems to be pretty serious/establishment, as such things go. (They run E3.) As such, it is probable that they are not lying. Most likely, the survey did occur, and provided the results that they claim it provided. On the other hand, all they claim about it is that it "provides insights". As a web survey, it is highly unlikely that this was strongly representative of gamers as a whole.






share|improve this answer












The small print on the pdf declares that it was from an online survey targeting american adults who play video games. Online surveys have pretty bad self-selection issues. ESA looks like it's not particularly entangled with any one political side, but it is still (among other things) a lobbying group (in this case, a pro-gamer and pro-gaming lobbying group). As such, it is certainly not opposed to anything that would conclude that gamers vote more often than normal, and if they provided any links or encouragement towards taking the survey, or attached their name to it in some other fashion, it seems reasonably likely that the participants might have self-selected for being more political. Self-selecting for one direction or other on the political spectrum is somewhat less predictable, but still quite plausible.



ESA seems to be pretty serious/establishment, as such things go. (They run E3.) As such, it is probable that they are not lying. Most likely, the survey did occur, and provided the results that they claim it provided. On the other hand, all they claim about it is that it "provides insights". As a web survey, it is highly unlikely that this was strongly representative of gamers as a whole.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 1 hour ago









Ben Barden

2,0021411




2,0021411



Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.




Some of the information contained in this post requires additional references. Please edit to add citations to reliable sources that support the assertions made here. Unsourced material may be disputed or deleted.








  • 1




    It might be worth pointing out that the survey took place in 2015, which was right after the gamergate harassment campaign (which in turn was tied up in the rise of the so called alt right / white supremacism). This energized people (on both sides) and might have increased the percentage of those who claimed that they are going to vote in the next election. I would assume that the numbers would have looked quite different before 2014.
    – tim
    40 mins ago










  • There is a lot of supposition in this answer about how you think it might be, and not a lot of empirical evidence that that is the way it is.
    – Oddthinking♦
    19 mins ago












  • 1




    It might be worth pointing out that the survey took place in 2015, which was right after the gamergate harassment campaign (which in turn was tied up in the rise of the so called alt right / white supremacism). This energized people (on both sides) and might have increased the percentage of those who claimed that they are going to vote in the next election. I would assume that the numbers would have looked quite different before 2014.
    – tim
    40 mins ago










  • There is a lot of supposition in this answer about how you think it might be, and not a lot of empirical evidence that that is the way it is.
    – Oddthinking♦
    19 mins ago







1




1




It might be worth pointing out that the survey took place in 2015, which was right after the gamergate harassment campaign (which in turn was tied up in the rise of the so called alt right / white supremacism). This energized people (on both sides) and might have increased the percentage of those who claimed that they are going to vote in the next election. I would assume that the numbers would have looked quite different before 2014.
– tim
40 mins ago




It might be worth pointing out that the survey took place in 2015, which was right after the gamergate harassment campaign (which in turn was tied up in the rise of the so called alt right / white supremacism). This energized people (on both sides) and might have increased the percentage of those who claimed that they are going to vote in the next election. I would assume that the numbers would have looked quite different before 2014.
– tim
40 mins ago












There is a lot of supposition in this answer about how you think it might be, and not a lot of empirical evidence that that is the way it is.
– Oddthinking♦
19 mins ago




There is a lot of supposition in this answer about how you think it might be, and not a lot of empirical evidence that that is the way it is.
– Oddthinking♦
19 mins ago


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