The British government has released its Video Games Research Framework that shows some of the best-practice supporting tools for research into video games. Created by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in the UK, the framework aims to help researchers understand how video games have impacted individuals, consumers, communities, industries and societies.
The framework goes on to provide guidance on how to identify and formulate research questions about video games as well as how to collect and analyse data about video games. The Ethics section of the framework provides guidance on ethical considerations in video game research.
At a time when esports is seeing significant growth, this research framework on video games is valuable to individuals who are interested in studying the ever-growing video games industry.
The framework is a comprehensive overview of the research process and offers guidance on a wide range of topics, with research questions, methods, and ethics being the primary focus.
Resources and benefits of the framework
The DCMS is also providing researchers who are interested in studying video games with different resources including:
- A directory of video game researchers
- A list of funding opportunities for video game research
- An official blog on video game research
In addition, the framework is designed to be flexible and adaptable. It can be used by researchers from a variety of disciplines, including computer science, psychology, sociology, and economics. The DCMS will update the framework regularly, welcomes feedback from researchers and will continue to improve the framework based on this feedback.
“The games industry supports the UK’s economic growth, contributing an estimated £2.8 billion (GVA) to the UK economy in 2019, and fosters new skills in its players and workforce that will be important in growing both the digital and creative economies of the future,” according to the framework.
Researchers around the globe will find the framework useful for studying the impact of video games on individuals, consumers, communities, industries and societies, as it is a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to the research process that’s also free to use.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
