Study title

Playing Video Games during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey 2020

Dataset ID Number

FSD3547

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3547

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Karhulahti, Veli-Matti (University of Jyväskylä)
• Chen, Yingrong
• Nerg, Henri (University of Jyväskylä)

Abstract

The survey charted different digital gaming cultures. Questions examined digital gaming and related phenomena, such as livestreaming games and following e-sports and sports, during the coronavirus pandemic in Finland and China.

First, the respondents were asked how often they had played digital and non-digital games in the past year and which games they had played the most. The types of digital games the respondents played (e.g. action and role-playing, sports games) were also surveyed. Following e-sports was examined with questions on, for example, how often the respondents watched online esports matches or livestreams of professional gamers, followed esports news sites or discussions, or bought esports merchandise. The respondents were also asked whether they played esports on a competitive level. Some questions also examined the respondents' habits regarding following and watching traditional sports.

Next, the respondents' content producing was charted regarding whether the respondents had livestreamed their gaming. Finally, the survey examined the effects of the restrictions and exceptional circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The respondents were asked how the restrictions of movement and gathering had affected their life regarding gaming, following and watching esports and gaming livestreams, and following and watching traditional sports, as well as their own physical exercise, reading habits, and TV watching.

Background variables included the respondent's age, gender and mother tongue (Finnish or Chinese).

Keywords

COVID-19; bacterial and virus diseases; digital games; hobbies; leisure time activities; time budgets

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Leisure, tourism and sport (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Time use (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (C) available only for research including master's theses.

Data Collector

• Karhulahti, Veli-Matti (University of Jyväskylä)
• Chen, Yingrong

Funders

• Academy of Finland (312397)
• University of Jyväskylä

Time Period Covered

2020

Collection Dates

2020-06 – 2020-09

Nation

Finland, China

Geographical Coverage

Finland, China

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People playing digital games in Finland and China

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Availability

The questionnaire was shared in cooperation with Assembly, Yle, and Zhi Tian Qiu Shi Information Consulting organisations to the customers of these organisations, who presumably played digital games. Seven different links to the questionnaire were shared, and the respondents can be specified using the survey variable that denotes which link was used to respond to the survey.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: English.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Number of Cases and Variables

42 variables and 793 cases.

Data Version

1.0

Related Datasets

FSD3545 Playing Video Games during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Interviews 2020

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The questionnaire in English was used as the source questionnaire for the Finnish and Chinese questionnaires.

To prevent identification of respondents, the researcher removed variable q41 denoting the respondent's municipality of residence. Additionally, variables q22-q24 denoting what game the respondent played competitively, what tournaments they had attended and whether they were part of a team or had been professionally coached were removed from the data at FSD. Variable q26 denoting which platforms the respondent used for livestreaming was also removed. Variable q15 denoting how often the respondent wrote about esports was categorised into two categories, the most extreme values in variable q39 denoting the respondent's age were categorised, and response option 'other' was removed from variable q40 denoting the respondent's gender. For respondents who played digital games competitively, variables q3 and q4 denoting their favourite games were removed. Additionally, open-ended responses in Chinese were removed from the archived data.

The archived data do not contain responses to open-ended questions q34 and q38.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Karhulahti, Veli-Matti (University of Jyväskylä) & Chen, Yingrong & Nerg, Henri (University of Jyväskylä): Playing Video Games during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey 2020 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2022-09-21). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3547

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Karhulahti, V-M., Nerg, H., Laitinen, T. et al. Eight Hypotheses on Technology Use and Psychosocial Wellbeing: A Bicultural Phenomenological Study of Gaming during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Current Psychology (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03586-x