GWS 2017 – 3/31 questions

Are wargamers getting older?

Let's have a look at the ever popular 'is the hobby greying' question. Caveat/disclaimer first - any kind of answer to this question requires comparing the results of previous surveys. With this particular question, that has a built-in issue: we know that a very substantial number (some 30-40% of respondents, depending on the survey) took part in one or more previous editions of the survey. Evidently, that group by the simple passage of time is going to get older. So a slight ageing is built-in to the survey. Second, the generation that spends much time online and is likely to take the survey, is slowly getting older as well.

That said, here's a 3D graph I made in Excel from the results of 2015 (front), 2016 and 2017 (back).

Age groups, 2015-2017 (click to enlarge)

To be very honest, I'm not sure if there are significant differences. Yes, 2015 seems a bit 'younger' overall, 2016 has a slightly stronger 'middle age' section and overall the 50+ groups get a bit bigger every year. But the differences aren't very large. There's just a bit of variety. I'm asking some analytical help though, to see if the differences between the years are statistically significant. Possibly TBC!

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Have any questions about the results of the Great Wargaming Survey 2017? Feel free to submit them here, but try to keep in mind what we can and cannot answer based on the questions and possible answers to the survey. To refresh your memory, check out a preview of last year's questions and possible answers.

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