Name: Thomas Ruitenbeek Date: 15-08-2016
Student number: 6054102 E-mail: thomazzzrtbk@yahoo.co.uk
First reader: Hans Abbing Course: Master thesis
Second reader: Alex van Venrooij Study: MSc Cultural Sociology Word count: 40718 University: University of Amsterdam
Video Games: A Matter of Taste
‘A Quantitative Study on Distinction and Taste Hierarchies in the Art
World of Video Games’
Table of contents
Chapter Page
1. Introduction 4
2. Theoretical framework 5
2.1 Defining culture and art 6
2.2 Cultural fields and art worlds 9
2.3 Cultural distinction 13
2.4 Subcultural capital and genres 17
2.5 The art world and the (sub)culture of video games 20
3. Methods 24
3.1 Operationalization of main research concepts 25
3.2 The research design and methods 26
3.3 The sample and its distribution 29
4. Results 32
4.2 Cultural distinction between different kinds of video games 37
4.2.1 Distinction and cultural capital 38
4.2.2 Distinction and subcultural capital 41
4.2.3 Distinction and gender 51
4.3 Genres and taste in the art world of video games 54
4.3.1 Video game taste and cultural capital 54
4.3.2 Video game taste and subcultural capital 59
4.3.3 Video game taste and gender 75
5. Conclusion 80
6. Discussion 86
7. References 88
8. Appendix 92
8.1 Appendix 1 - Survey 92
8.2 Appendix 2 - Analytical framework 110
1. Introduction
The study of art worlds is a well developed, broad, and highly diverse field of research in
contemporary cultural sociology. Distinct art worlds exist relatively autonomous from each other, have different structures, and have independent though sometimes shared sets of rules (Becker 1982). The cultural products that are created within these art worlds usually share some degree of coherence, which characterizes the art worlds they are created as distinct fields of cultural
production (e.g. Bourdieu 1995; Peterson & Anand 2004). While most art worlds have been given quite a large amount of attention by cultural sociologists, like those of music (e.g. Eijck 2001; Venrooij 2015), film (e.g. Baumann 2001), and comedy (e.g. Friedman & Kuipers 2013; Kuipers 2006), the art world of video games seems relatively neglected. An explanation for this might be the sheer novelty of this particular field of cultural production. Another explanation could be that video games are not yet legitimated as art worlds or proper fields of cultural production (Baumann 2007) in academic discourse and contemporary society in general. Even though video games’ status as art is contested, perhaps even controversial, some theorists do conceptualize them as such (e.g. Gee 2006). In this respect, one theorist implies the relevance of researching the different ways in which video games are socially constructed to cultural sociology: “The legacy of cultural studies on which video game studies should draw is not to study the culture in games, though that is useful as well, but to investigate how video game culture is constructed” (Shaw 2010: 418).
One aspect researchers of art worlds have focused on is the way in which people distinguish between higher and lower forms of art within the specific art world or cultural field. These studies range from the classical approach of Bourdieu in his famous book Distinction. A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste (1984) to more recent theories on cultural omnivorousness (e.g. Eijck 2000), and symbolic exclusion (Bryson 1996). These theories are all concerned with cultural distinctions, taste differentiations, and taste hierarchies that are structured by cultural capital. The ways these are influenced and structured by cultural capital vary amongst art worlds, cultural fields, and even nations. For instance, Friedman and Kuipers (2013) show that cultural distinctions, taste
differentiations, and symbolic boundaries of comedy and humor are structured by cultural capital, and that the actual workings of these structures vary slightly between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Some studies examine the notion that cultural capital structures cultural taste in other ways than is sometimes assumed, like Holt’s (1998) study which questions the way cultural capital structures American consumption. Again, despite the broad range of studies that have been conducted in the field, the art world that seems relatively neglected is that of video games.
In this thesis, cultural distinction and taste hierarchies within the art world of video games will be studied. The research question of the thesis is: ‘How is the cultural taste of consumers of video games structured, and how is this cultural taste positioned in taste hierarchies?’. Several sub-questions will be posed in order to structure the study and to support answering the main research question. The first sub-question is: ‘How do consumers construct mainstream and subcultural video game taste cultures?’. This question will help to provide a more clear picture on how consumers of video games view the more mainstream video game taste cultures, as opposed to the more
subcultural taste cultures. The second sub-question is: ‘How do consumers distinguish between different kinds of video games?’. This question will provide a view of the grounds on which consumers of video games distinguish between what they think a good game entails, as opposed to a bad game. The final sub-question is: ‘How is the cultural taste of consumers of video games structured in taste hierarchies by cultural and subcultural capital?’. This question resembles the main research question and will help answering it by showing how the cultural taste of consumers of video games is structured by cultural and subcultural capital, and how this cultural taste is positioned in taste hierarchies. The main research question and corresponding sub-questions listed above will be researched by using a quantitative method that uses the instrument of a structured self-completion questionnaire or survey (Bryman 2008: 216-229). The research design of this study is cross-sectional (ibid.: 44-49). In this thesis, the aforementioned method will be applied to the study of cultural distinction and taste hierarchies within the art world of video games.
2. Theoretical framework
In the following theoretical framework of the thesis, several theories that are relevant for the study of art worlds, subcultures, and cultural distinction will be outlined. Firstly, several theories that are concerned with the problem of defining culture and art will be discussed. Secondly, several readings on cultural field theory and art worlds will be examined. Thirdly, theories on cultural distinction, cultural omnivorousness, and those that question the way these concepts are studied will be examined. Fourthly, several articles on taste, genres, subcultures, subcultural capital, and subcultures based on the consumption of a specific set of cultural products will be discussed. Finally, several studies that have already been conducted on the art world of video games will be outlined. These include those on video games as an art form, artistic legitimation of video games, and video game culture.
2.1 Defining culture and art
In this part of the theoretical framework, sociological definitions of culture and art will be looked at from various sociological perspectives. Firstly, several approaches on the sociological definition of art as theorized by Alexander (2003) will be outlined. These approaches are relevant to this thesis because it will be argued that the approach of interpretivism or social constructionism is adopted. Lastly, several theories that elaborate on the possibility and strength of cultural coherence will be examined. The more classical viewpoint of culture and its meanings as public (Geertz 1973) will be discussed, as well as more contemporary theories that focus on the relationship between culture and cognition (DiMaggio 1997; Strauss & Quinn 1997), that view culture as repertoires (Swidler 2000), and that more generally question classical assumptions of cultural coherence (Sewell 2005).
Defining culture and art, as well as exploring the possibility and strength of cultural coherence will provide a solid theoretical basis to proceed with more concrete theories on cultural fields and art worlds.
In her book Sociology of the arts. Exploring fine and popular forms, Victoria Alexander (2003) discusses a sociological definition of the arts that is inspired by the book Art Worlds by Howard Becker (1982). This definition is based on the notion that art cannot be abstractly or formally defined because it is defined socially. The definitions of art and culture, and their
meanings, are inextricably connected to social processes. Groups of people, organized in distinct art worlds, decide together what is and what is not art within their specific social or cultural context. Keeping the notion of the arts as socially defined in mind, Alexander does try to give a more concrete definition of art by listing a few characteristics that can be ascribed to most art forms. These shared characteristics are that there usually is a tangible, visible, and/or audible artistic product, that art is communicated publicly, that the arts are experienced for enjoyment, that it is an expressive form, and that art is defined by its physical and social context (Alexander 2003: 3).
The sociological definition of the arts that Alexander provides is not the only one, as there are many sociological definitions that slightly differ from, slightly nuance or even conflict with Alexander’s definition. These different sociological definitions of art, culture, and its meanings can be understood by taking into account four main sociological traditions or approaches (ibid.: 6-7). The first sociological approach Alexander mentions is positivism. This approach is considered to be the most scientific one, mainly because positivists treat sociology as if it were a natural science. Positivistic theorists tend to emphasize the importance of empirical data to verify or falsify abstract
or general theories, test hypotheses, make generalizations, and make scientific statements of causality (Alexander 2003: 8-9). The second sociological approach is interpretivism. This approach is most preoccupied with the ways in which people construct meaning. Interpretivistic theorists tend to emphasize the ways in which meaning is created and maintained, how people think about various meanings of art and culture, and how certain social and cultural backgrounds affect meaning-making processes (ibid.: 9-10). The third sociological approach Alexander mentions is that of critical sociology, conflict sociology, or Marxism. This approach is most concerned with
struggles of inequality. Marxist theorists tend to emphasize a critical view on society, the
importance of conflict, class struggles and inequality, and the elites’ control of the masses (ibid.: 11-12). The final sociological approach is postmodernism. This more novel approach stresses the societal transformation from modernism to postmodernism. Postmodernist theorists tend to emphasize a gradual shift from a capitalist, rational, and industrial society, the importance of reflexivity because sociological research is part of the social world, people’s identities and society in general as being overly fragmented and eclectic, and the idea that power and knowledge are inseparably linked (ibid.: 12-13). Alexander’s definition of the arts, cultures, and their meanings as inextricably linked to social processes is most closely related to and influenced by the sociological approach of interpretivism.
Several theorists have studied culture in relation to the question of the possibility and strength of cultural coherence. In his essay Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture, Geertz (1973) argues that the various meanings that are assigned to cultural phenomena are never solely private but can always be found in the public arena or in the social world. On the topic of cultural coherence Geertz is mainly critical towards other sociological approaches than
interpretivism, because these other approaches tend to treat cultures too easily as coherent cultural systems that have separate, distinct, and autonomous structures and rules. Geertz does not
completely deny the possibility of cultural coherence, but only questions the strength of this coherence that theorists of other approaches assign to it. To better understand the strength of cultural coherence in any particular cultural or social context, Geertz argues for a thick description of these various contexts and their socially constructed meanings.
Some theorists that focus on the relationship between culture and cognition stress that when people think about culture, or elements of it, they tend to draw upon different cognitive schemas that stem from past experiences, feelings, and thoughts. Strauss and Quinn (1997) argue in this respect that when people share common experiences, they develop similar cognitive schemas. This
allows people to share a culture, which in turn creates the possibility for cultural coherence. Strauss and Quinn question the strength that is sometimes assigned to cultural coherence as well. They find that cultures are not as easily bounded and separable because each individual is: “a junction point for an infinite number of partially overlapping cultures” (Strauss & Quinn 1997: 7). A theorist that downplays the notion of fully coherent and distinct cultural systems from a different perspective than that of cognitive science is Sewell (2005). He, like many other contemporary sociologists, refutes the classical idea of cultures as highly consistent, clearly bounded, and resistant to change. Instead, he argues that more contemporary studies show that culture is highly contradictory, loosely integrated, subject to constant processual change, and are weakly bounded (Sewell 2005: 168-172). DiMaggio (1997) adds to this that many contemporary sociologists have rejected the more classical view of culture as strongly coherent, because research in cognitive psychology is unsupportive of this view on culture, which instead strongly supports the cultural repertoires perspective.
The cultural repertoires perspective, as theorized by Swidler (2000), is somewhat similar to the view of theorists that focus on the relationship between culture and cognition. Her theory distinguishes itself from cognitive science by viewing culture and its meanings as repertoires that people strategically draw upon in context-dependent situations. Swidler argues that cultural coherence stems from the partial overlap of an infinite possible amount of cultural repertoires, as opposed to partially overlapping cognitive schemas. She adds to this that culture and cultural meanings can be strategically, rationally, and consciously used in various context-dependent social situations, but drawing upon cultural repertoires that are available to an individual can oftentimes become involuntary or habitual as well.
In this thesis, Victoria Alexander’s (2003) definition of art and culture will be adopted. The method of a structured self-completion questionnaire that will be deployed in this study is most commonly affiliated with the sociological approach of positivism. Regardless, the study will be more closely related to the sociological approach of interpretivism. This is mainly because the study is concerned with how a specific group of people constructs specific cultural meanings, in this case how consumers of video games construct taste cultures, cultural distinctions, and taste hierarchies within their social and cultural context. Furthermore, the more contemporary view of culture as repertoires or cognitive schemas will be adopted in this thesis. It will be assumed that cultural coherence in the art world of video games is not as strong as was often ascribed to culture and its meanings by more classical sociologists. The social construction of video game taste cultures, cultural distinction, and taste hierarchies will thus be seen as highly dependent of social context,
highly subject to processual change, weakly bounded, contested, and influenced by different cultural repertoires or schemas that individual respondents draw upon. A more fruitful solution to the problem of cultural coherence, and how this is influenced by and dependent on context, will be explained by outlining theories on cultural fields and art worlds.
2.2 Cultural fields and art worlds
In this part of the theoretical framework, several theories on cultural fields and art worlds will be outlined. Bourdieu’s (1995), and Peterson and Anand’s (2004) theories on the study of cultural fields and fields of cultural production will be examined. Becker’s (1982) theory on art worlds will then be discussed. These theories are relevant to this thesis because it will be argued that the
cultural field of video games can be treated as a separate field of cultural production, and because it will be shown how the field of video games could be classified as an art world. The application of the concept art world to the cultural field of video games will be problematized and further
elaborated upon in the final part of the theoretical framework. Furthermore, Bourdieu’s (1984) concept cultural capital is relevant to this study and it will be argued that it can be operationalized by means of respondents’ level of education.
Pierre Bourdieu (1984; 1989; 1995) is a sociologist who is well-known for his work on cultural field theory. However, he is also known for several other influential social theories. Many important works of his were inspired by attempts to build metaphorical bridges between the individual and society: “the most steadfast (and, in my eyes, the most important) intention guiding my work has been to overcome the opposition between objectivism and subjectivism” (Bourdieu 1989: 15). This opposition between the individual and society, objectivism and subjectivism, or the sociological approaches of positivism and interpretivism, was considered to be a false opposition by Bourdieu because he thought they were inextricably linked to each other. One could simply not exist without the other, according to him. Overcoming the opposition between objectivism and subjectivism was central to Bourdieu’s works. He linked these approaches by using the concepts habitus, field, and capital (Ritzer 2011: 530).
Bourdieu (1984; 1989; 1995) used the concept ‘habitus’ to deal with sociological thought about the individual, or to account for subjectivism. Habitus are cognitive schemas or mental structures that people have internalized through socialization. With these cognitive schemas people: “perceive, understand, appreciate, and evaluate the social world” (Ritzer 2011: 531). Bourdieu links these highly individual cognitive schemas to social structures by showing that habitus are in fact:
“internalized, ‘embodied’ social structures” (Bourdieu 1984: 468). He further states that people’s habitus are often related to certain positions they occupy within the social world or any particular social or cultural field. According to Bourdieu, people who occupy similar positions in a field or in the social world will tend to have similar habitus (Ritzer 2011).
Bourdieu (1984; 1989; 1995) created the concept ‘field’ to deal with sociological thought about society, or to account for objectivism. A field can be viewed as an overarching network of relations, which exist independently from individuals, between objective positions within the field. Fields tend to exist autonomously from each other, and have different structures with different corresponding logics and rules: “There are a number of semiautonomous fields in the social world [...], all with their own specific logics and all generating among actors a belief about the things that are at stake in a field” (Ritzer 2011: 532). Examples of fields are cultural fields, like those of music, film, and literature. These cultural fields all contain distinctive theoretical and objective positions, and are all structured in their own unique, though sometimes partially overlapping, ways. Within any social field, actors that dwell within them deploy various strategies to secure or improve their position within the field. These strategies are usually related to various kinds of capital that individuals in the field can employ (ibid.).
The concept ‘capital’ deals with the interaction between individuals and the particular field they are trying to position themselves in, or trying to secure or improve their position in. Four types of capital can be strategically employed and deployed by actors in the field. The first form of capital is economic capital. Economic capital is the amount of money, or goods with exchange value, individuals have. The second form of capital is cultural capital. Cultural capital consists of an individual’s familiarity with cultural forms, and an individual’s collection of cultural objects that are meaningful within the specific field. The former type of cultural capital, sometimes called
embodied cultural capital, is institutionalized through schools and universities. Because of this, cultural capital is usually strongly related to an individual’s level of education. The third form of capital is social capital. Social capital consists of the various social relations an individual has. The final form of capital is symbolic capital, which usually stems from an individual’s prestige (Ritzer 2011: 533). The concepts of habitus, field, and capital are all strongly interdependent and can only be studied in relation to each other (ibid.: 534). Bourdieu created these concepts by questioning the opposition between objectivism and subjectivism, and in turn started what would later be known as cultural field theory.
In his book The Rules of Art, Bourdieu (1995) argues for a three-step process when conducting the analysis of any given field. The first step is to position the field within the overarching field of political power, and to analyze its historical progress. The second step is to analyze the internal structure of the field. The analysis of this structure consists of researching the relations, rules, groups, and individuals within the field. The final step is to analyze the habitus of the individuals that occupy the various objective positions within the field. Peterson and Anand (2004) make this three-step process a bit more concrete by conceptualizing a six-facet model of cultural production. This six-facet model of cultural production outlines six facets to take into consideration when studying cultural fields. These facets are the technologies, laws and regulations, industry structures, organizational structures, occupational careers, and markets that make up the particular field. The cultural field of video games could for instance be analyzed by looking at these six facets of cultural production. The model Peterson and Anand propose incorporates both the individual and society, accounts for subjectivism and objectivism, and entails both habitus and field, much like Bourdieu’s (1995) theory.
Howard Becker is a sociologist who is well-know for his book Art Worlds (1982), among others. The way art worlds are conceptualized by Becker is a lot like Bourdieu’s (1984; 1989; 1995) way of defining fields. Unlike Bourdieu, Becker focuses mainly on cultural fields that are related to the production of art forms. Any possible art form is embedded in structures that Becker calls art worlds. Becker defines an art world as a: “network of people whose cooperative activity, organized via their joint knowledge of conventional means of doing things, produces the kind of art works that the art world is noted for” (Becker 1982: x). Art worlds allow for certain sets of resources and constraints for making art works within it. These constraints do not necessarily mean that individual artists are completely controlled by them. Artistic autonomy or artistic freedom can still be
accounted for in Becker’s theory because the constraints an art world provides also allows for possibilities: “Available resources make some things possible, some easy, and others harder; every pattern of availability reflects the workings of some kind of social organization and becomes part of the pattern of constraints and possibilities that shapes the art produced” (ibid.: 92). The way
available resources are mobilized by artists is central to Becker’s notion that art worlds shape the art that is produced. Other facets of art worlds that influence how and what kind of art works are
produced are the division of labor within the art world, constraints from conflict between core and support personnel, artistic conventions within the art world, and available distribution systems for the artistic or cultural products (Alexander 2003: 68-75). The main point is that the cultural
products that are created within the art world depend both on the individual artist, as well as the overarching social structure.
Becker’s (1982) theory is similar to Bourdieu’s field theory (1984; 1989; 1995) in several ways. Firstly, both theories aim to overcome the false opposition between objectivism and subjectivism by incorporating both concepts in their theoretical framework. Becker does this by conceptualizing both overarching social structures, or art worlds, and consciously acting
individuals, or artists. Bourdieu does this by using the concepts field and habitus. Secondly, the theories are similar in that they account for cultural coherence by closely studying specific social structures, art worlds, or cultural fields. In these structures, both theorists view similarities within them as creating a possibility for cultural coherence. Becker does this by studying resources, constraints, and conventional means of doing things in the specific art world, while Bourdieu does this by studying theoretical positions in a field, as well as studying the habitus of people that occupy similar positions. Finally, both theories stress that the particular social structure, art world, or
cultural field shapes and constrains the type of cultural product that is created within it. Despite the similarities, the two theories also have several important differences. Firstly, Becker’s theory on art worlds is a lot less focused on competition or on objective relations of power than Bourdieu’s theory, which is focused on actors strategically trying to maintain or improve their position within their field. Secondly, Becker’s theory deals with concrete relations and groups of people that interact and do things together, rather than dealing with objective or abstract relations and theoretical positions within a field as Bourdieu does. Finally, even though both theorists do not believe in an opposition between subjectivism and objectivism, Becker’s theoretical approach is more affiliated with social constructionism, interpretivism, or symbolic interactionism. Bourdieu’s theory, on the other hand, is more closely affiliated to positivism, or structuralism.
In this thesis, video games will be treated as a cultural product, or an art form. Video games, like other cultural products or art forms, are embedded in a social structure that can be called a cultural field or an art world. In this thesis the concept of art worlds will be used, because firstly this study is not focused on objective relations of power and will not consist of a field analysis
(Bourdieu 1995) or an analysis of the six-facets that influence the field of cultural production (Peterson & Anand 2004). Secondly, the concept of art worlds is also a better suit for this study because it deals with concrete relations of groups of people. Thirdly, the concept of art worlds will be adopted because this study is more concerned with how taste cultures, cultural distinctions, and taste hierarchies are socially constructed, and is thus more closely affiliated to interpretivism.
Finally, although the concept of art worlds will be applied to video games in this thesis, there exists prominent literature on how art worlds are developed (e.g. Baumann 2001; 2007) which could raise questions about the validity of the application of the concept to video games. This will be
elaborated upon in the final section of the theoretical framework. Furthermore, Bourdieu’s (1984; 1989; 1995) concept cultural capital will be adopted in this thesis, but will be defined less broadly. Cultural capital is narrowly operationalized solely by means of the respondents’ level of education, and will be linked to theories on cultural distinction.
2.3 Cultural distinction
In this part of the theoretical framework, several theories on cultural distinction will be discussed. The classical approach of Bourdieu (1984) involving the consumption of highbrow and lowbrow culture linked to cultural capital will first be outlined. A more contemporary theory that is
supportive of Bourdieu’s findings will also be discussed (Friedman & Kuipers 2013). The
contemporary view of cultural omnivorousness linked to cultural capital will then be outlined (Eijck 2000; 2001; Eijck, Haan & Knulst 2002). A theory on symbolic exclusion of specific cultural
products will also be examined (Bryson 1996), as well as a critique on the way cultural capital and cultural consumption are studied by academics in the United States (Holt 1998). These theories are relevant to this thesis because cultural distinction in the art world of video games is studied in relation to them. The theories help in answering the second and third research questions, which are ‘How do consumers distinguish between different kinds of video games?’ and ‘How is the cultural taste of consumers of video games structured in taste hierarchies by cultural and subcultural capital?’. Furthermore, Holt’s theory is relevant because it questions the usefulness of the concept cultural capital when studying cultural consumption and taste cultures.
In his book Distinction. A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, Bourdieu (1984) demonstrates that cultural taste is not as highly personal and subjective as is sometimes assumed. An individual’s taste, besides being personal and subjective, is actually influenced by overarching cultural systems. The strength of these cultural systems relies mostly on: “structural invariants, namely field and habitus, [which influence] the cultural preferences of the various groups within society” (Ritzer 2011: 534). The groups Bourdieu (1984) was most concerned with when studying cultural taste were social classes, or the higher and lower classes within society. Social classes are made up of individuals that share similar positions within any given field. These individuals
social class is in turn influenced by that class: “There is a strong correlation between social positions and the dispositions of the agents who occupy them” (Bourdieu 1984: 110).
Cultural taste, according to Bourdieu (ibid.), is used by the higher classes or elites in society to maintain a boundary between them and the lower classes, and to preserve class distinctions. The boundaries between the higher and lower classes are maintained by the higher classes’ ability to identify other members from their class according to their cultural taste. The class distinctions are preserved because of the higher classes’ ability to structure social institutions to their advantage (Alexander 2003). For example, members from the higher class have more means than members from the lower class to influence what is taught in schools because they occupy more powerful positions within the field of political power. This means that a person’s level of education, or the amount of cultural capital that is transferred to an individual in schools, can be an indicator of his or her cultural taste.
Social classes vary in the amount of economic, cultural, social, and symbolic capital that actors within them can deploy. According to Bourdieu (1984), an individual’s cultural taste, cultural preference, or cultural disposition is highly dependent on the amount of cultural capital, that is meaningful within the specific field, he or she is able to employ and deploy. Cultural capital is strongly related to taste because: “It involves knowledge about high art and culture, a high degree of sophistication and of know-how, and an appreciation of knowledge in general and of speaking knowledgeably” (Alexander 2003: 229). Cultural capital, which is strongly tied to a person’s upbringing, education, or habitus in general according to Bourdieu (1984), influences people’s cultural consumption. Bourdieu’s main focus is on how different degrees of cultural capital create or reinforce taste hierarchies. In other words, Bourdieu focuses on how the consumption of
highbrow and lowbrow culture, or fine and popular arts, is structured by cultural capital. Highbrow culture consists of, but is not limited to, the visual arts, opera, classical music, drama, theater, and literature. Lowbrow culture consists of, but is not limited to, Hollywood movies, popular music, television drama, club performances, and best-selling fiction (Alexander 2003: 3-5). The higher classes, or individuals with a large amount of cultural capital, tend to consume mostly highbrow culture, while the lower classes, or people with a small amount of cultural capital, tend to consume mostly lowbrow culture.
A more contemporary article that supports Bourdieu’s findings is The divisive power of humour: Comedy, taste and symbolic boundaries by Friedman and Kuipers (2013). The article is concerned with the art world of comedy. It is interesting to note that this art world, like the art world
of video games, produces cultural products that are not commonly defined as established art forms. The authors argue that highbrow and lowbrow taste distinctions are becoming progressively visible within the popular arts. This is notable when certain sub-genres within popular arts, like alternative rock in the art world of music, are gradually attaining higher statuses and elite audiences. British and Dutch consumers of comedy tend to draw strong symbolic boundaries concerning their taste in comedy. The kinds of symbolic boundaries that are drawn are strongly linked to social class:
“the upper middle classes, possessing higher education and more cultural capital, generally exhibited tastes for highbrow comedy and rejected anything lowbrow, whereas the working and lower middle classes preferred more lowbrow comedy and were ambivalent about highbrow comedy”
(Friedman & Kuipers 2013: 182)
Friedman and Kuipers’ findings show that cultural distinction within the art world of comedy in Britain and the Netherlands is characterized by strong symbolic boundaries that are influenced by cultural capital. The findings are supportive to Bourdieu’s (1984) classical distinction theory, and question the prevailing contemporary sociological theory of cultural omnivorousness.
The theory of cultural omnivorousness is coined by Richard A. Peterson (Eijck 2000). The theory states that members from high and upper middle classes, or people with a large amount of cultural capital, tend to be more omnivorous in their cultural consumption than members from lower classes. People with a large amount of cultural capital tend to consume both highbrow and lowbrow culture, and tend to look down on cultural snobbishness (Eijck, Haan & Knulst 2002). People with a small amount of cultural capital tend to consume solely lowbrow culture, and tend to look down on highbrow culture because it is seen as too elitist (Eijck 2000). Research on the art world of music has empirically grounded the theory of cultural omnivorousness. For instance, in his article Social Differentiation in Musical Taste Patterns, Koen van Eijck (2001) argues that the consumption of music in the Netherlands is influenced by cultural capital, but that the actual taste patterns are structured more along the lines of Peterson’s theory of cultural omnivorousness than along the lines of Bourdieu’s (1984) classical theory of cultural distinction.
Some theorists nuance the theories of cultural distinction and cultural omnivorousness, or question the way cultural capital structures taste in general. For example, in her article “Anything But Heavy Metal”: Symbolic Exclusion and Musical Dislikes, Bethany Bryson (1996) argues that the notion of cultural exclusion or dislike is relatively lacking in academic discourse. She shows
that education decreases the amount of symbolic exclusion people tend to express towards various kinds of music, and that people with high levels of education are more tolerant towards different musical tastes than people with low levels of education. Furthermore, she shows that symbolic exclusion of certain types of culture is related to political intolerance, and: “that negative attitudes toward social groups result in negative attitudes toward the types of music associated with that group” (Bryson 1996: 895). Bryson’s findings support the theory of cultural omnivorousness
regarding cultural capital or education, but adds to this that taste patterns are also related to political tolerance and group conflict.
An example of a theory that questions the way cultural capital structures cultural consumption is Does Cultural Capital Structure American Consumption? (Holt 1998). In this article, Holt argues that Bourdieu’s (1984) classical distinction theory should be reformulated when studying taste patterns in the contemporary United States. He shows that cultural capital is still a very important concept that structures taste patterns in the United States, but that researchers should consider that there are other possible structuring factors to cultural taste in any specific cultural field or art world. Holt (1998) and Bryson (1996) both question the importance that is ascribed to cultural capital as a structuring factor to cultural taste by academics, and show that other possible factors that structure cultural taste should be taken into consideration as well.
In this thesis, cultural distinction in the art world of video games will be studied. It will be shown how, and on what grounds, respondents distinguish between different kinds of video games. The concept cultural capital, which will be operationalized by means of respondents’ level of education, will be studied in relation to the taste of consumers of video games. It will be argued how cultural taste is structured in taste hierarchies by cultural capital in the art world of video games. This will then be related to Bourdieu’s (1984) classical distinction theory, as well as Peterson’s (Eijck 2000) theory of cultural omnivorousness. As was mentioned earlier, cultural capital is not the only structuring factor to cultural taste, as there are other possible factors to consider, in addition to cultural capital. Thornton (1997) argues that subcultural capital is a structuring factor that is of vital importance when studying subcultural phenomena. Therefore, cultural taste in the art world of video games will be studied in this thesis by taking respondents’ subcultural capital into account as well.
2.4 Subcultural capital and genres
In this part of the theoretical framework, theories on subcultural capital and genres will be outlined. Firstly, the definition of subcultures as opposed to mainstream culture will be examined (Jasper 2004). Secondly, the concept subcultural capital will be explained (Thornton 1997). Thirdly, it will be argued that subcultures can emerge around distinct consumption activities (Schouten &
McAlexander 1995). A theory on genres, and how they emerge and progress will then be outlined (Lieberson 2000). Finally, it will be argued how internal and external taste mechanisms are of importance to subcultures of consumption and genres, and that a process of legitimation relates to the study of social movements, art, and art worlds (Koopmans 2004; Venrooij 2015). These theories are relevant to this thesis because the concept subcultural capital is taken into account when
analyzing distinction and taste hierarchies within the art world of video games, and because genres within the field are be linked to distinction and taste hierarchies. The theories will help in answering the first and third research questions, which are ‘How do consumers construct mainstream and subcultural video game taste cultures?’ and ‘How is the cultural taste of consumers of video games structured in taste hierarchies by cultural and subcultural capital?’.
In her article ‘I am not a goth!’ The Unspoken Morale of Authenticity within the Dutch Gothic Subculture, Agnes Jasper (2004) argues that subcultures are usually defined in opposition to the the dominant or mainstream culture in which they reside. Subcultures were usually studied by the Chicago School and the Birmingham School. The former focused on small groups of outsiders that experienced difficulties with belonging to the more dominant or mainstream culture because of their cultural, economic, or social differences. The latter focused primarily on the specific study of youth subcultures. Subcultures are defined by labeling certain groups as ‘others’, or as different from the dominant, mainstream, commercial, or capitalist culture. Subcultures are also defined by the idea that within them, different distinctive behavior is practiced than within mainstream culture. Jasper finds that members of the Dutch gothic subculture respond negatively when labeled goth:
“Gothic insiders emphasize that they are not goths, but that they identify with what they describe as gothic, only to explain later that that is not authentic gothic. [...] [T]his denial is a subcultural strategy, a way to ‘ward off’ classificatory strategies of dominant, non-subcultural culture. Namely, as soon as criteria for sub-cultural identity are conceptualised, they can be copied by outsiders, and this should preferably be avoided”
The strategy of denying a subcultural label is meant to preserve the subculture’s authenticity and to point out that members of the subculture do not participate in the dominant or mainstream culture. Basically, the strategy is employed to label mainstream culture as ‘other’ culture, and to show that subcultural practice differs from the ways mainstream culture conceptualizes this practice.
In the article The Social Logic of Subcultural Capital, Sarah Thornton (1997) proposes a different structuring factor to cultural taste, besides cultural capital. While cultural capital gives status to an individual in the eyes of the higher class, subcultural capital: “confers status on its owner in the eyes of the relevant beholder” (Thornton 1997: 186). A few characteristics of cultural capital are that it involves knowledge on high culture, and a person’s collection of highbrow cultural objects. Subcultural capital, on the other hand, involves knowledge on culture that is relevant within the subculture, and a person’s collection of objects that are relevant to the
subculture. Like cultural capital, subcultural capital can thus be embodied and objectified. Thornton adds to this that subcultural capital is oftentimes closely aligned with age and gender, rather than social class (ibid.: 187). The young tend to assign more value to subcultural capital, while the old tend to assign more value to cultural capital. Furthermore, males tend to spend more time on leisure activities and tend to be more invested in subcultures, while females tend to spend more time on school and tend to be more invested in mainstream culture.
Subcultures can emerge around many kinds of culture. Several theorists study the emergence of subcultures based on the consumption of a specific set of cultural products, like Harley Davidson motor bikes (Schouten & McAlexander 1995), or the emergence of subcultures based on specific genres, like club or dance music genres (Thornton 1995; Venrooij 2015). In their article Subcultures of Consumption: An Ethnography of the New Bikers, John Schouten and James McAlexander (1995) conceptualize subcultures based on the consumption of a specific set of cultural products as subcultures of consumption. The lives and identities of consumers are organized by subcultures of consumption, according to the authors. A subculture of consumption is:
“a distinctive subgroup of society that self-selects on the basis of a shared commitment to a particular product class, brand, or consumption activity. Other characteristics of a subculture of consumption include an identifiable, hierarchical social structure; a unique ethos, or set of shared beliefs and values; and unique jargons, rituals, and modes of symbolic expressions”
Subcultures can thus form around many types of consumption activities, brands, and products. Genres can be conceptualized as a particular form of consumption activity as well, and subcultures of consumption can therefore emerge around them.
Genres that emerge within a particular cultural field or art world can progress into distinct taste cultures when subcultures form around them, for instance club culture in the art world of music (Thornton 1995). In his book A Matter of Taste: How Names, Fashions, and Culture Change, Stanley Lieberson (2000) shows that taste cultures tend to emerge and change according to an internal taste mechanism that he calls the ratchet effect. The ratchet effect presupposes two main features of taste change. The first feature is that new tastes are usually based on tastes that already exist. Modest varieties of pre-existing tastes are usually the most appealing because newer tastes are seen through a framework which is based on existing taste practices. This means that changes in taste cultures are usually quite gradual. The second feature is that taste cultures usually move in one direction, instead of moving back and forth. This is because otherwise new taste cultures would be confused with older ones (Lieberson 2000). The ratchet effect explains how taste cultures or genres tend to change from within. However, there are external mechanisms that are crucial for the
emergence and progression of genres.
In his article Movements and media: Selection processes and evolutionary dynamics in the public sphere, Ruud Koopmans (2004) analyzes how social movements emerge and change according to three external mechanisms in the public sphere of mass media. These selection
mechanisms, which the author labels as discursive opportunities, are concerned with the amount of public attention social movements are able to mobilize, and determine the chance of a high degree of success for a social movement. The three mechanisms Koopmans mentions are: “visibility (the extent to which a message is covered by the mass media), resonance (the extent to which others [...] react to a message), and legitimacy (the degree to which such reactions are supportive)” (Koopmans 2004: 367). In his article A Community Ecology of Genres: Explaining the Emergence of New Genres in Electronic/Dance Music, 1985-1999, Alex van Venrooij (2015) shows that these
discursive opportunities are of importance to the emergence and progression of genres as well. The author argues that the emergence of genres in electronic and dance music in the United Kingdom is affected by Koopmans’ (2004) external mechanisms of visibility, resonance, and legitimacy: “[T]he importance of media attention is also evident, as well as the dynamic interplay between commercial and journalistic classifications in legitimating and codifying the characteristics of new
genres” (Venrooij 2015: 4). Genres, or taste cultures, are influenced by media competition and legitimacy in a way that is similar to the way in which social movements are influenced by them.
In this thesis, mainstream and subcultural taste cultures in the art world of video games will be researched. It will be shown how consumers of video games construct these taste cultures, and how respondents position themselves within the video game subculture. The concept subcultural capital, like cultural capital, will be taken into account when studying distinction and taste hierarchies within the art world of video games. As is explained in the first part of the methods section of this thesis, the concept will be operationalized by means of the amount of hours respondents spend on gaming per week, and by the degree in which respondents consider
themselves to be ‘real gamers’. Because of their alignment with the concept subcultural capital, the variables age and gender will be taken into account as well. Furthermore, taste cultures will be operationalized by means of distinct genres that have emerged within the art world of video games. These distinct genres will be studied in relation to cultural and subcultural capital to position them into taste hierarchies. As was mentioned earlier, highbrow and lowbrow taste differentiations are becoming progressively apparent in popular culture when certain genres attain more elite audiences (Friedman & Kuipers 2013). As was also mentioned earlier, the external mechanism of legitimacy is vital to the emergence and change of genres (Venrooij 2015). A process of legitimation is essential to the formation of an art world as well. This will be elaborated upon in the next and final part of the theoretical framework to ascertain if it is reasonable to refer to the cultural field of video games as an art world.
2.5 The art world and the (sub)culture of video games
In the final part of the theoretical framework, several studies on art world formation and subcultures that have already been conducted on the cultural field of video games will be discussed. Firstly, Baumann’s theory on artistic legitimation (2007) will be outlined, as well as his theory on
intellectualization and art world development (2001). Secondly, an article by a cultural theorist that treats video games as a distinct form of art will be discussed (Gee 2006). Thirdly, the process of artistic legitimation that the field of video games is undergoing will be examined by reviewing a thesis from a Master’s student of the University of Amsterdam (Jacobi 2012). Finally, a theory on defining the culture and subculture of video games will be outlined (Shaw 2010). These theories are relevant to this thesis because they elaborate on artistic legitimation and intellectualization, because
they validate the use of the concept art world in the field of video games, and because they explore contemporary academic, critics’, and popular discourses concerning video game culture.
In his article A general theory of artistic legitimation: How art worlds are like social movements, Shyon Baumann (2007) outlines a general theory on how cultural products are legitimated as art, and on how cultural fields or fields of cultural production are legitimated as art worlds. He, like other cultural theorists (e.g. Venrooij 2015), argues that a cultural products’ recognition as art is much like the way social movements attain a certain degree of success. According to Baumann, art and art worlds are doubly concerned with legitimacy much like social movements are: “Not only do the claims about artistic status need to be justified, but the right to make claims, and the bases on which those claims are made, need to be justified as well” (Baumann 2007: 51). The author distinguishes between popular art and high art, but his theory actually
encompasses both types. For instance, the cultural field of video games could theoretically be legitimized as popular art, while at the same time claims of it being legitimized as high art could be less valid.
Cultural products are legitimated as art, and cultural fields are legitimated as art worlds, by means of three mechanisms. These mechanisms are political opportunity structures, resource mobilization, and framing processes (ibid.). The first mechanism of political opportunity structures is an external mechanism that is concerned with how the political space in which the cultural product or field is embedded is supportive of attaining legitimacy. The second mechanism of resource mobilization is an internal mechanism that is concerned with how the mobilization of resources of cultural products within the cultural field is supportive of attaining legitimacy. This mechanism is coined by Becker and thoroughly discussed in his book Art Worlds (1982). The final mechanism of framing processes is an external mechanism that is concerned with how discourse, ideology, and frames regarding the cultural product or field are supportive of attaining legitimacy. The way different media discourses and frames influence artistic legitimation is much like how Koopmans (2004) conceptualizes the influence of mass media on social movements. In his article Intellectualization and Art World Development: Film in the United States, Baumann (2001) adds to this that for a cultural product to be legitimized as art, or for a cultural field to be legitimized as an art world, the corresponding discourses, ideologies, and frames should undergo a process of
intellectualization. In the art world of film, this process started when writing of film critics became characterized by giving a serious amount of intellectual attention, analyses, and a specialized discourse to their writing on film. By intellectualizing the discourse and frames concerning the
cultural field of films: “critics, in conjunction with academics and other intellectuals in the film world, asserted that artistic value was possible in films” (Baumann 2001: 421). This process of intellectualization was crucial to the development of a legitimate art world of film.
Considering Baumann’s theory, the legitimation of video games as art would be highly dependent on intellectual, academic, and critics’ discourses concerning these cultural products. Although academic literature that defines video games as art is scarce, there is one theorist who does construct them as such. In his article Why Game Studies Now? Video Games: A New Art Form, James Paul Gee (2006) argues that, although in contemporary discourse his claim is highly
controversial, video games are a new art form. He firstly supports this claim by arguing that, besides games often being highly commercialized and focused on entertainment, the video game medium has the ability to combine: “abstract rule system[s] about shapes, movements, and combinations with story elements” (Gee 2006: 59). Players of video games have the ability to manipulate these shapes, movements, and combinations, and are thus able to influence and interact with story elements in a way that is crucially different to the way a story is experienced in literature or film. He secondly supports the claim of video games being a new art form by emphasizing that experiencing a video game differs from experiencing other art forms. Besides the visual aspect, the medium combines sounds, music, actions, decisions, and bodily senses that interact with the cultural product itself, as well as with the people experiencing it. The third and final argument for Gee’s claim is that the art form is both produced by the designers of video games, as well as by the people who play them. This is because both the former and the latter influence and interact with the art form or cultural product: “This proactive production by players of story elements, a visual-motoric-auditory-decision-making symphony, and a unique real-virtual story produces a new form of performance art coproduced by players and game designers” (ibid.: 61). Cultural studies, according to Gee, need to develop new analytical tools for studying this novel art form.
Just like the legitimation of video games as art, the legitimation of the cultural field of video games as an art world is highly dependent on public, media, critics’, and academic frames. Again, academic literature on this subject remains relatively rare. In her Master’s thesis Video Games and Artistic Legitimation: A Comparison Between the U.S.-based and Japan-based Gaming Scenes and Industries, Carina Jacobi (2012) studies artistic legitimation in the art world of video games by analyzing discourses of United States and Japan-based video game websites, blogs, and forums. Firstly, she finds that video games were traditionally rooted within popular culture and ‘nerd’ subculture, and were by no means considered art. This is slowly changing, according to Jacobi,
because of technological advancements which makes it possible to employ: “artistic conventions used by other recognized cultural forms” (Jacobi 2012: 38). Secondly, she finds that certain aspects of video games, mainly a stigma of violence, are hindering artistic legitimation of the field. Thirdly, she find that intellectualization has not yet fully developed within the cultural field of video games. This is mainly due to video game critics’ lack of obtaining positions of power that are comparable to those of literary or film critics, though their position of power on a more subcultural level is deemed to be quite high by players and developers of video games. Finally, Jacobi argues that artistic legitimation in the cultural field of video games is hindered by various other aspects than violence. One of these aspects is the stereotype that video games are meant for children, which downplays the notion that the cultural products can be for mature audiences just like higher forms of art are. Other aspects that have limited the process of artistic legitimation Jacobi mentions are originality and complexity: “Some of the qualities associated with high art that are also desirable in games are originality and complexity, and current-generation games by major publishers are lacking in exactly these qualities, according to gamers” (ibid.: 66). The process of artistic legitimation in the cultural field of video games is hindered by many factors. Regardless, it is present within the field, even though it is still in its early stages.
In her article What Is Video Game Culture? Cultural Studies and Game Studies, Adrienne Shaw (2010) researches video game culture and subcultures by analyzing discourses in mass media and academic articles. She argues that video game culture is framed in contemporary discourses by means of three general perspectives. These perspectives are concerned with descriptions of who plays, what they play, and how they play. According to Shaw:
“popular discourses actually offer a much more diverse view of what gaming is than they are generally given credit. Video games are played by the young and old, males and females, and across the world. People play violent games, sports games, puzzle games, and action games. Games help players think, force audiences to be active, are social, and engage the body”
(Shaw 2010: 414)
Besides the broadness of and diversity in framing in popular discourse, it is the case that video game culture is generally defined as being significantly different from mainstream culture, as being on the margins of popular culture, as being a distinct subculture, and yet as influencing and being influenced by other, global, and mainstream culture. Defining video game culture as ‘other’ culture
is, according to Shaw, not only done in mass media discourse. Academic discourse has contributed to this as well: “in an effort to make video games visible and have them taken seriously as cultural products” (ibid.: 415). Video game culture is thus defined as being on the periphery of mainstream culture on the one hand, and as being a distinct subculture on the other.
In this thesis, the cultural field of video games will be treated as an art world. Although the process of legitimation and intellectualization within the field is still in its early stages, it will still be considered an art world in this thesis because the cultural products’ status as art can still be significant in the eyes of the relevant beholders within the culture or subculture of video games (Thornton 1997). The cultural products that are created within the art world of video games will thus be treated as forms of popular art as well. Furthermore, video game culture will not be defined as is generally done within popular and academic discourse. Instead of treating video game taste cultures as being a part of popular or mainstream culture, or as distinct subcultures, the way
respondents construct these mainstream and subcultural taste cultures will be researched. However, the three general perspectives on researching video game culture as conceptualized by Shaw (2010), by looking at who plays, how they play, and what they play, will be used in this thesis. The degree to which respondents are submerged within video game culture will be measured by looking at the independent variables on how or how much they play, and by the degree in which respondents agree to being labeled as ‘real gamers’. The general perspective on who plays will be used by looking at the independent variables gender, age, and education level. The perspective on what they play will be used by looking at different genres that emerged within the art world of video games. These genres will be linked to theories on distinction, and will be positioned in taste hierarchies.
3. Methods
In this part of the thesis, the research method that is deployed will be outlined. Firstly, the way the main research concepts are operationalized will be discussed. Secondly, the research design, the research method, and the actual statistical analyses that are used will be reviewed. Finally, the way the sample was drawn and the way it is distributed across the independent variables gender, age, education level, views him- or herself as a gamer, and hours per week of gaming will be outlined.
3.1 Operationalization of main research concepts
In this part of the methods section, the way the main research concepts are operationalized will be discussed. The research concepts that are used in this thesis are all supportive of answering the main research question. The main research question of this thesis is: ‘How is the cultural taste of
consumers of video games structured, and how is this cultural taste positioned in taste hierarchies?’. Concepts will be operationalized per sub-question in the following section.
The first sub-question of the thesis is: ‘How do consumers construct mainstream and subcultural video game taste cultures?’. Mainstream and subcultural video game taste cultures will not be operationalized by taking into account general popular and academic discourse (Shaw 2010), but will be researched by means of how respondents construct these taste cultures in various open-ended questions in the survey. By asking the question ‘Which kinds of games are meant for (or can be appreciated by) everyone, and why?’, mainstream video game taste cultures will be constructed by respondents. By asking the question ‘Which kinds of games are only meant for (or can be appreciated by) a small or specific group of people, and why?’, subcultural video game taste cultures will be constructed by respondents. Respondents’ answers are coded in Atlas.ti 7 for Windows and a visual network or analytical framework is created to summarize the results
(Appendix 2). The data are not quantitative because of the broad range of answers respondents gave to the open-ended questions. Qualitative methods will be used to analyze respondents’ constructions of taste cultures. Due to a lack of depth of this data, any findings regarding them is deemed to be relatively invalid, and will thus only function as an indication for future research.
The second sub-question of the thesis is: ‘How do consumers distinguish between different kinds of video games?’. The grounds on which respondents distinguish between good and bad video games is measured by means of nine aspects of video games. Respondents are asked the question ‘Which aspects are important to make a video game good according to you?’. The question is answered by means of a 7-point Likert scale ranging from ‘Not important’ to ‘Very important’. The aspects are derived from various articles on video games (Jacobi 2012; Shaw 2010), and from top searches on online search engines regarding video game rating systems. The aspects that are
incorporated in this thesis are the storyline, the action, the music, the graphics, the accessibility, the social aspect, the playability, the entertainment, and the originality of video games. The aspects are linked to cultural and subcultural capital, and it is argued how respondents with high and low amounts of both types of capital distinguish between good and bad video games based on the aspects. Cultural capital is operationalized narrowly by means of respondents’ level of education.
Subcultural capital is operationalized by means of the degree to which respondents consider themselves to be gamers, and by means of how much respondents play, or the amount of hours per week they play, video games.
The third sub-question of the thesis is: ‘How is the cultural taste of consumers of video games structured in taste hierarchies by cultural and subcultural capital?’. The cultural taste of respondents is measured by asking them how much they like a certain genre within the field. The question is answered by means of a 7-point Likert scale ranging from ‘Strongly dislike’ to ‘Strongly like’. The genres are derived from several articles on video games (Gee 2006; Jacobi 2012; Shaw 2010), and from top searches on online search engines regarding video game genres. The genres that are incorporated in this thesis are playing games, massively multiplayer online role-playing games, sports games, first-person shooters, platformers, puzzle games, fighting games, horror games, adventure games, simulation games, strategy games, racing games, multiplayer online battle arena games, board and card games, and world building sandbox games. A short description of each of these genres can be found in the survey that is used in this study
(Appendix 1). The various genres are linked to cultural and subcultural capital in this thesis, and it is argued how both types of capital structure taste hierarchies in the art world of video games. As was argued before, cultural capital is measured by means of the variable ‘level of education’, while subcultural capital is measured by means of the variable ‘views him- or herself as a gamer’ and ‘hours per week of gaming’.
3.2 The research design and methods
In this part of the methods section, the cross-sectional research design will first be explained, as well as the quantitative method of the structured self-completion questionnaire that is conducted in this study. Secondly, the pros and cons of the design and method will be reviewed. Finally, all methods for statistical analysis that are deployed in this thesis will be outlined, as well as the qualitative method that is used for the analysis of open-ended questions in the questionnaire.
The research design of the study that is conducted in this thesis is a cross-sectional design. Alan Bryman (2008) argues that most research that is done by means of surveys, questionnaires or structured interviews can be categorized as sectional research designs. Oftentimes, cross-sectional designs are therefore called survey designs. Bryman further states that there are four main characteristics to cross-sectional research designs. Firstly, the design entails researching more than one variable. This is because a cross-sectional study aims to find variations between different kinds
of people, nations, and/or other social groups. Secondly, in cross-sectional studies, researchers tend to collect all data at a single point in time. In this thesis for instance, many data regarding many different variables were collected from individual respondents in the few minutes they took to complete the questionnaire. Thirdly, cross-sectional research designs are composed of quantitative or quantifiable data. It is crucial that these data are gathered systematically and in a well-structured manner in order to minimize measurement errors. Finally, cross-sectional research is mostly concerned with studying relationships, or patters of association, between two or more variables (Bryman 2008: 44). In this thesis, distinction and taste hierarchies in the art world of video games are researched by means of a survey. The research design of this study is therefore most closely aligned with a cross-sectional or survey design. The research method that is adopted in this thesis is a quantitative method of a self-completion questionnaire. This method makes use of a survey that respondents have to complete by themselves, without the presence of a researcher or interviewer. Because of this, self-completion questionnaires should not be made too difficult, so that respondents will be able to clearly understand the questions. This means surveys, like the one used in this study, usually have few open questions, have designs that are easy to understand, and are shorter to minimize the risk of respondent fatigue (ibid.: 217).
The cross-sectional design that characterizes this thesis has several advantages. Firstly, a cross-sectional design is likely to be easily replicable because researchers tend to keep detailed records of how they select samples, how certain concepts are operationalized and measured, how research methods and instruments are used, and how data is analyzed during the study. Lastly, the external validity or generalizability of research with a cross-sectional design is oftentimes quite strong, though this is only the case when large enough samples are drawn and when the sample is randomly selected. Cross-sectional designs also have several disadvantages. Internal validity is likely to be weak due to the difficulty of establishing causality, and ecological validity tends to be weak as well because surveys are a research instrument that tend to be too far removed from the everyday social world (ibid.: 45-46).
The quantitative research method of a self-completion questionnaire or survey that is adopted in this thesis also has several advantages. According to Bryman, they are cheap to
administer, they are relatively easy and quick to administer through the post or internet, they are not likely to give a study a social desirability bias because there are no interviewers or researchers present during the survey, they do not suffer from interviewer variability, and they are a convenient research instrument with a low threshold for respondents. The method has several disadvantages as
well. Because there is no one present during the survey, helping respondents who are confused about or are having difficulty with questions, as well as asking respondents to elaborate on a question, is impossible. A self-completion questionnaire has to be short and interesting in order to minimize respondent fatigue or respondent boredom. This fatigue could increase the chance of respondents giving up on filling in the survey and would in turn result into many missing values. The survey used in this thesis was therefore created to be as interesting, short, and fun as possible. Several other disadvantages of surveys are that it is difficult to ask other kinds of questions, that questionnaires in paper form can be read as a whole, that a researcher is unsure who fills in the questionnaire, that it is impossible to collect other data, that it is difficult to pose many questions, that it is unsuited for respondents who have difficulties with the survey’s language or cannot read at all, that there is a great risk of missing data, and that there is a chance of low response rates (ibid.: 217-219).
The study in this thesis consists of running statistical analyses on the five independent variables gender, age, education level, views him- or herself as a gamer, and hours per week of gaming. These variables will be linked to the dependent variables in the analysis. The dependent variables consist of nine aspects on the basis of which respondents distinguish between good and bad video games, and of 15 video game genres on which respondents indicate how much they like or dislike it. All variables are at the ordinal level, because they contain: “categories [which] can be rank ordered [...], but the distances between the categories are not equal across the range” (ibid.: 321). Any other types of variables will be recoded as to treat them as if they were at the ordinal level. The study will also consist of running a qualitative analysis on several open-ended questions to research how respondents construct mainstream and subcultural video game taste cultures.
There are several methods of statistical analysis used in this thesis. All statistical analyses are conducted in SPSS Statistics 21 for Mac. Firstly, for indicating various associations between independent and dependent variables, Somers’ d tests are used. These tests indicate both the strength and the direction of an association by means of an r-coefficient which takes a value between -1 and 1 (Agresti & Finlay 2009: 242-243). Secondly, to compare the means of dependent variables between two groups of an independent variable, independent samples t-tests are used. To compare the means of dependent variables between more than two groups of an independent variable, one-way ANOVA tests are used. To generalize the sample’s results to the population, the independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA tests are used to establish 95%-CI’s. When more than two groups are compared, and a one-way ANOVA test is used, it is also tested if there is a
