A study shows that women can game just as well as men. Still, Cortyn complains because the study has a strange criterion.
When Science Has Too Much Time
I wish you all a lovely Wednesday morning! I actually had a nice topic prepared for this column, but my boss managed to point me to a great study. According to the University of California, it is now proven that women can indeed game just as well as men. Yay! The end of prejudice, a knockdown argument against sexist stereotypes, and so much more – or so I thought. But when you look at the details of the study, I could bang my head against the table so hard that the horns might break off.
The study by Culhua “Cindy” Shen has indeed chosen leveling speed in MMORPGs as a criterion – and I wish I had taken it as a joke for April Fool’s Day.
Honestly, I could also conduct a study and ask, “Who cooks better? Housewives or students?” and then check how well both can put a ready-made pizza in the oven.
Better yet: The whole thing didn’t happen under laboratory conditions, and there was also no task like “Level as fast as you can,” but they merely looked at the accounts of 9000 Everquest 2 players and 2000 Chevalier’s Romance 3 players and checked how quickly men and women (gender determined by registration data) level their characters. Were there role-players, craftsmen, PvPers, or other player types among the individuals who typically don’t level much? Oh, details! Let’s just measure anything. Does the study mention that “leveling” is rather relaxing, meditative, and not a race for most? No.
A Study Without Significance
You know, I like studies, especially in this area. If something contributes to more equality, I’m all for it. But creating a study that doesn’t even draw a usable comparison leads to no meaningful results. It makes me quite angry how one can stand up with this study and claim: “There is no gender difference [in gaming].”
I want a study that proves this. But it must at least be credible enough so that one does not think while skimming: Such a study does more harm to women than it helps.
Anyway, I’m going to make myself a pizza. A study has proven that I can do it just as well as my roommates.
But maybe I’m seeing this whole thing completely wrong. Do you think the criterion “leveling speed” is a reasonable indicator to determine how “good” someone is at mastering a game?
