Grand Poll Results, Part 3: Correlations #1

[Slawbug]

The Grand Spiderweb Poll Results

 

PART THREE: CORRELATIONS, FIRST SET

 

Please see all the info and disclaimers in the first results post.

 

This is the beginning of the posts that focus on correlations between different parts of the data set. This post focuses on the first half of the demographics data. Please remember that "correlation" doesn't tell you anything about the nature of the relationship, which may be neither causative nor direct, and that the small sample sizes involved in some of these correlations eliminate most of their statistical significance. It is likely that some of these correlations are in line with larger trends, and others are not. This is nonetheless an interesting snapshot of what our community is like.

 

I'm doing all my analysis in Excel, and there are a few cases where Excel has done some funky rounding as a result of repeated division. As far as I can tell, it is never off by more than one and a half percent; since there were only 60 responses to begin with, it shouldn't matter.

 

I'm not listing the most easily predictable correlations, such as teen members not having doctorates. If I don't list a correlation, there likely was not a significant one. Where I list two numbers (e.g., 50% vs 40%) the second number is the average for all members not in the named group.

 

OK, here we go!

 

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YEARS PRESENT HERE

 

— Members here longer were more likely to claim they had kept their sanity from being eaten (44% vs 26%)

— Members here for 10+ years made favourite game votes almost exclusively for Exile II, Avernum 2, or Blades of Exile.

— Members here for 0-2 years gave Avernum: EFTP notably lower ratings on average (3.2 vs 4.0)

— The 10+ group was the only group likely to have played BoE (75% vs 35%). However, the 0-2 group was more likely to have played BoE (36%) than BoA (18%).

 

 

MODS / ADMINS

 

On average, were:

— Older (32 vs 25)

— a member of the community for slightly longer (8+ years vs 6)

— more likely to live in an urban place (50% vs 23%)

— more likely to have an advanced degree (51% vs 10%)

— more likely to be unemployed and not in school (38% vs 13%)

— more in favor of servile equality (75% vs 48%)

— far less likely to prefer PCs (25% vs 63%)

— far more likely to prefer Sliths over Nephils (63%/13% vs 42%/42%)

— more likely to vote for Nethergate's story (38% vs 12%)

— more likely to cast a vote for Erika (63% vs 29%)

— likely to rate significantly more games (16.1 vs 11.1)

— gave higher ratings to Blades of Exile and both Nethergates

— gave lower ratings to Avernum 4 and Geneforge 2 and 3

 

 

AGE

 

I looked mainly at 3 groups: 13-20 (20), 21-27 (25), and 28+ (15). Groupings were based on the distribution of survey responses. For shorthand, I'll call these groups teens, 20's, and elders. These names are just shorthand.

 

— Elders were much less likely to be single (50% vs 82%). There is hope!

— Elders were much less likely to have given up their sanity (44% vs 74%)

— Teens were much more likely to live in the U.S. (84% vs 56%)

— Elders were more likely to live in an urban area (38% vs 23%)

— Teens were far more likely to be agnostic (37% vs 6%), and somewhat less likely to be atheist (26% vs 37%), but otherwise average in religion

 

— On ALL the political & Geneforge philosophy questions, elders were the least extreme, picking one of the middle answers in virtually all cases

— 20's were the biggest socialists (68% vs 44%)

— Elders were more likely to favor rock music (63% vs 39%)

— Teens were more likely to favor classical (26% vs 14%)

— 20's were the only ones who chose jazz or world music

— 20's were most likely to prefer PCs (72%) and teens least likely (42%)

— Teens wildly preferred Sliths (58% against 21%) while 20's were evenly split, and elders preferred Nephils (44% against 25%). 20's were, however, mostly likely to answer the question (96% vs 74%).

 

Age tracked with favourite series by theme and story:

— Geneforge was chosen by 63% of teens, 44% of 20's, and only 19% of elders.

— Exile/Avernum was chosen by 56% of elders and just 27% of the other groups.

 

— Teens were most likely to prefer E/A 3 (26% vs 7%) while elders were most likely to prefer E/A 1 (31% vs 4%).

— 20's and Elders were the most likely to vote for Exile and Nethergate games as their favourite. Geneforge 1 did receive high levels of support from each age group, however.

— Elders gave higher ratings on average (3.83 vs 3.54), most notably with the Exile series, Nethergate, Avadon, Avernum EFTP, and — surprisingly — the second Avernum trilogy (3.4 vs 2.8 for that trilogy).

— 20's were much more likely to have played BoA (84% vs 51%).

 

 

ORIENTATION

 

People who did not identify as "straight" were:

— more likely to be single (94% vs 66%)

— more likely to have given up their sanity (81% vs 59%)

— more likely to not follow the religion of their family (63% vs 27%)

— more likely to identify as having no organized religion (88% vs 52%)

— but were about as likely to be religious overall

— more likely to study the formal sciences and humanities

— far more likely to be unemployed and not in school (38% vs 9%)

— more likely to hold liberal or libertarian views on social issues

— more likely to have chosen electronic music (19% vs 2%)

— far more likely to prefer PCs (81% vs 50%)

— gave lower ratings on average (3.34 vs 3.70)

 

 

RELATIONSHIP STATUS

 

— Married people were significantly wealthier, on average, with more answers of middle and upper class, and no answers at all of working class or poor. They were also more likely to come from a middle or upper class family.

— Married people were far more likely to vote for Nephils (67% vs 32%).

— Married people generally gave higher ratings, often substantially higher ones, to Geneforge 3 and 5; Avernum 4, 5 and 6; and Avadon. They generally gave lower ratings to Blades of Avernum.

 

 

WHO YOU LIVE WITH

 

— People who live alone or with unrelated roommates were much less likely to follow a religion (23% vs 46%) and much more likely to be atheists (55% vs 24%). Of the two groups, people with unrelated roommates were the less religious.

— People who live with a spouse were richest (all middle class or higher) and least likely to receive family support

— People who live with unrelated roommates were poorest (all middle class or lower) even when using family wealth as a stand-in for individual welath, for the many in that category who received family support

— People who live with unrelated roommates held social views far more on the libertarian side of the scale

— People who live alone or with unrelated roommates were far more likely to have played BoA (95% vs 52%) and BoE (77% vs 34%). Virtually no one who lives with their parents or their spouse has created scenarios for either game.

 

 

LOCATION

 

There was no significant age difference between urban, suburban, and rural respondents.

 

— People living in rural places were more likely to be religious (50% vs 34%), Christian (44% vs 23%), and to take their religion very seriously (25% vs 7%).

— Among those not in school, people living in rural places were most likely to have a job (63% vs 39%) despite being the least likely to have a college degree or higher (25% vs 50%).

— People living in urban places had the highest levels of education overall

— People living in urban places came from slightly wealthier families, on average. They were also the most likely to be less wealthy than their family had been growing up.

— Interestingly, almost all people who identified as poor, or as having come from a poor family, live in rural places.

— Predictably, people from rural places hold more conservative views and people from urban places hold more liberal views — but the effect is fairly small.

— Suburbanites were least likely to support servile equality (39% vs 57%) and most likely to support harsh treatment of serviles (11% vs 3%).

— Rural people were most likely to prefer hip hop (19%) while urban people were least likely (0%).

— Suburbanites were most likely to prefer PCs (68%) and urbanites least likely (44%).

— Rural people voted wildly in favor of Nephils (69%/13% vs 27%/57%).

— Suburbanites gave low ratings to the Nethergate games (3.2 vs 4.4).

[Dintiradan]

Quote:

However, the 0-2 group was more likely to have played BoE (36%) than BoA (18%).

I'm guessing this means that BoE and BoA are both considered sufficiently out of date, and so newer players are picking up BoE instead, since it's free and has the larger collection of scenarios.

The differences in the three age groups are also pretty interesting and surprising.

[A less presumptuous name.]

Quote:

— Teens were more likely to favor classical (26% vs 14%)

That bit surprised me. A number of other correlations were striking, but more often had less to do with strictly non-fiction questions.

[BMA]

Originally Posted By: The Poll

MODS / ADMINS.....— more in favor of servile equality (75% vs 48%)

For-servile-rights mentality is probably a requirement for modship. *grin*

[Triumph]

Just a thought: something that might be interesting to add to this poll in the future would how much people have played / like selected non-Spiderweb games (especially ones Jeff himself blogs about). For example, would there be a correlation between people who played and liked Dragon Age and people who like Avadon?

[Slawbug]

Good idea. I have a list running for the next incarnation and I'll add those.

[VCH]

Rural people voted wildly in favor of Nephils (69%/13% vs 27%/57%)

 

 

I wonder, are people from rural areas more likely to have a cat?

[Necris Omega]

While I would think that those in rural areas are apt to have larger, more active pets than cats, I would also assume they're not nearly as likely to have as exotic a pet as a lizard.