Albert I. Berger
Science-Fiction Fans in Socio-Economic Perspective:
Factors in the Social Consciousness of a Genre
One of the conveniences of studying science fiction is that since its infancy in the 1930s it has had a uniquely self-conscious group of fans organized into a network of clubs, amateur publications, and periodic conventions. Studying that network provides the opportunity to break out of the classic limitations of literary studies which consider what a writer has to say and the fashion in which it is said without considering the audience to which it intends to speak. Although entirely the work of biased fans working with self-selected samples, the earliest studies of the science-fiction audience originated within this network.1
Since 1948, several different studies have been made of the demographic characteristics of science-fiction readers, most by the editors of the commercial science-fiction magazines seeking to determine the characteristics of their own readerships. The results of these, along with data collected at two recent science-fiction conventions, have been admirably collected and summarized by Charles Waugh, Carol-Lynn Waugh, and Edwin F. Libby of the University of Maine at Augusta, whose work this paper used throughout for purposes of comparison.2 This study, conducted at the 31st World Science Fiction Convention in Toronto, September, 1973, is offered against the historical perspective of these earlier studies. As the Waughs and Libby discovered, there are difficulties in applying the findings of this survey to the entire science-fiction audience, since it is impossible to know exactly in what ways, if any, people at a convention differ from those who did not attend. Certainly science-fiction fans themselves are divided into groups, with some, notably those primarily interested in film and television SF, and members of the cult following of the series Star Trek, under-represented at this convention (see tables 20 and 21 below). However, the numbers of people responding to the questionnaire, and the diversity of their involvement in science fiction beyond attendance at the convention, suggests that the picture of fans is relatively reliable for readers of science fiction as a whole and, if qualified for the greater affluence of those who could afford to travel to Toronto, is at least as reliable as such commonly accepted-with-qualifications measurements as the Gallup polls.3
A total of 3,000 questionnaires were distributed to various locations in the convention area of the Royal York Hotel. This did result in a self-selected sample of an already self-selected population, but the total number of responses received, 282 or 8% of a total estimated convention attendance of 3,400, was substantial, despite the hostile remarks about "Ph.D.s seeking to exploit science fiction" made by one speaker at the convention banquet. Anonymous answers to questions about reading habits and about fan activity other than convention attendance indicate that the respondents were active, long-time readers with a substantial range of other activity related to their reading. Of course, it should be assumed, as is supported by the data, that attendees at a convention are among the most active and committed fans. However, as can be seen in table 5, these people are not notably isolated from non-fans in their everyday social lives.
Table 1. Fan Activity Other Than Convention Attendance
A. club membership ..................................................... 124....................... 43.97%
B. fanzine subscription ............................................... 114....................... 40.42
C. fanzine writing ........................................................... 68....................... 24.11
D. fanzine artwork .......................................................... 21......................... 7.45
E. magazine collection ................................................. 102....................... 36.17
F. artwork collection ...................................................... 47....................... 16.67
G. letters to prozines ...................................................... 12......................... 4.26
............................................................. unmarked or "none ...................... 86 30.50
total................................................................................. 574..................... 203.55%*
*N=282, multiple responses included
Table 2. Reading "Dosage" Per Month
A. 3 books, magazines or screenplays per month .... 62....................... 21.99%
B. 5 ................................................................................... 46....................... 11.35
C. 7 ................................................................................... 38....................... 13.48
D. 9 ................................................................................... 19......................... 6.74
E. more than 9 ............................................................... 111....................... 39.36
total ................................................................................ 282....................... 99.99%
Table 3. Age When Science Fiction Reading Began
A. 9-15 years old .......................................................... 219....................... 77.66%
B. 16-21 ............................................................................ 32....................... 11.35
C. 22-30 .............................................................................. 9......................... 3.19
D. 30-40 .............................................................................. 2........................... .71
E. over 40 ........................................................................... 3......................... 1.06
.................................................................................. under 9 ...................... 14 4.96*
unmarked ........................................................................... 3......................... 1.06
total ................................................................................ 282....................... 99.99%
*added by respondents
Table 4. Duration of Interest in Science Fiction
A. less than 2 years ......................................................... 5......................... 1.77%
B. 2-5 years ..................................................................... 20......................... 7.09
C. 5-8 years ..................................................................... 28......................... 9.93
D. 8-15 years ................................................................. 107....................... 37.94
E. more than 15 years .................................................. 119....................... 42.20
unmarked ........................................................................... 3......................... 1.06
total................................................................................. 282....................... 99.99%
Table 5. Involvement of Friends with Science Fiction
A. fewer than 20% of friends read science fiction .. 106 ...................... 37.59%
B. 20-50% ........................................................................ 83 ...................... 29.43
C. 50-80% ........................................................................ 59 ...................... 20.92
D. nearly all friends ........................................................ 30 ...................... 10.64
unmarked ........................................................................... 4 ........................ 1.42
total ................................................................................ 282 .................... 100.00%
Traditionally, science fiction has been a literature written by males for male readers. As shown by the Maine researchers, one magazine, Astounding/Analog, reported a female readership of only 6.7% in 1949 and 11.9% in 1958. Surveys taken for the British magazines Nebula and New Worlds during the fifties and early sixties report female readership of between 5% and 15%. This orientation began to change during the sixties. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (F&SF), normally considered the least technologically oriented of the three major American science-fiction magazines, reported a female readership of 29% at that time, a figure paralleled in 1974 by Analog, the most technologically oriented magazine, with a female readership of 25%. The ratio of women to men was highest in Toronto, as seen below in table 6, although it remains far from the proportion in the general population, hereafter indicated by the bracketed figures in all tables.
Table 6. Sex
Survey and Date .................................................. Male ....................... Female
Tucker Fan Survey—1948 .................................. 89.00%. ...................... 11.00%
Astounding—1949 ............................................... 93.30.............................. 6.70
........................................................... Nebula—1954 (British) ................. 86.00 14.00
New Worlds—1955 (British) ............................... 95.00.............................. 5.00
New Worlds—1958 (British) ............................... 90.00............................ 10.00
Astounding—1958 ............................................... 85-95.00....................... 15-5.00
New Worlds—1963 (British) ............................... 92.00.............................. 8.00
F&FS—mid-sixties .............................................. 71.00............................ 29.00
Analog—1974 ...................................................... 75.00............................ 25.00
Locus Survey—1974 ........................................... 82.00............................ 18.00
Waugh Studies—1975 (combined) ................... 73.00............................ 27.00
Berger—Toronto—1973 ..................................... 64.54............................ 34.75
Table a. Sex
A. Male .............................. 182 ............................ 64.54% ...................... (48.72%)4
B. Female ............................. 98 ............................ 34.75 .......................... (51.28 )
unmarked ........................... 2 ................................ .71
total .................................... 282 .......................... 100.00%
The age data collected at the Toronto convention seem to conform to longtime Astounding/Analog editor John W. Campbell's assertion that his readers were young, but not adolescent. However, as can be seen in table 7, the adolescent component of the population at Toronto is substantially lower than both the average proportion derived from the studies collected by the Maine researchers and the proportions in each magazine study except Astounding itself and the British New Worlds 1955 survey. Although the studies analyzed by Waugh, which showed 25% of their sample under 19, were made at conventions, it seems that travel to a convention would be more difficult for the youngest fans and they would therefore be under-represented in a survey taken at one. While this smaller proportion of adolescents seems to be balanced by a larger proportion of young adults between 18 and 25, it is apparent from the collected readership surveys that the relative size of the adolescent science-fiction magazine audience has been growing since 1954. Nevertheless, the magazine, as well as the convention, audience is dominated by young adults between 18 and 35 out of all proportion to that age group's representation not only in the American population at large but also in gatherings such as rock-music concerts with their younger audience.
Table 7. Age
1. Nebula-1954 0-19.... (11.2%)....... 20-24.... (21.0)....... 25-29............ (27.4)
30-34 ........... (21.8)....... 35-39 ..... (7.3)....... 40-44.............. (6.4)
45-49 ............. (6.4)....... 50........... (3.2)
2. New Worlds-1955 0-19...... (5.0%)....... 20-24 ... (17.0)....... 25-30 ........... (31.0)
31-40 ........... (30.0)....... 41-50.... (12.0)....... 50................... (5.0)
3. New Worlds-1958 0-19.... (18.0%)....... 20-24.... (21.0)....... 25-30............ (21.0)
31-40............ (22.0)....... 41-50.... (12.0)....... 50................... (6.0)
4. Astounding-1958 13-17 .. (6.99/6)....... 18-20 ..... (7.0)....... 21-25 ........... (16.8)
26-30 ..... (20.1)....... 31-35 ... (19.2)....... 36-40 ........... (12.7)
41-45 ............. (7.2)....... 46-50 ..... (3.6)....... 50 .................. (6.5)
5. New Worlds-1963 0-19 ... (31.0%)....... 20-24 ... (27.0)....... 25-30 ........... (14.0)
31-40 ........... (14.0)....... 41-50 ..... (8.0)....... 50 .................. (6.0)
6. F&SF-mid'60s 0-18 ... (23.0%)....... 18-30 ... (30.0)....... 30-45 ........... (31.0)
45-60 ........... (13.0)....... 60 . ........ (3.0)
7. Galaxy-1971 0-17 (16-17% approx.) 18-39 (66.0+)
40+ (16-17% approx.)
8. Waugh Studies 10-14 ... (5.0%)....... 15-19 ... (20.0)....... 20-24 ........... (31.0)
(1975) 25-29...... (22.0)....... 30-34...... (9.0)....... 35-39.............. (1.0)
40-44 (2.0)........ 45-49....... (1.0)
Berger-Toronto
Age Number per cent National
A. 13-17 ......................................... 22 ................ 7.70%.................. (7.8%)
B. 18-25 ........................................ 103 .............. 36.39....................... (11.6)
C. 25-35 ........................................ 116 .............. 40.98....................... (12.3)
D. 35-55 .......................................... 36 .............. 12.72....................... (22.8)
E. 55-up ............................................ 5 ................ 1.77....................... (19.0)
total .............................................. 282 .............. 99.56
In the case of science fiction, marital status can be a far more important indicator than it usually is in a survey of this kind. Uninformed critics of the genre remain prone to think in terms of a rejected, isolated, bespectacled male adolescent finding solace in dreams sparked by stories of distant planets and marvelous inventions, an image strengthened by the reminiscences of many science-fiction writers themselves. The extraordinarily high concentration of males in the science-fiction audience before the sixties lent additional credence to this impression, as does the first reading of table 8, with its concentration of single people. The American population over 18 is a married one; 74.8% of men and 68.5% of women are married, quite the reverse of these convention statistics. However, among Americans born between the years of 1945 and 1954, i.e. among people who were between 18 and 28 at the time of the Toronto convention, 67.2% of the men and 40.9% of the women were single, a figure from which the convention does not differ. Thus, it is easier to explain the concentration of single people at a science-fiction convention as the result of a youthful membership rather than personal isolation or social rejection. The data also reveal the persistence of traditional family patterns, indicated by the lack of response in the "Coupled without formal marriage" or added "Other" categories, and by the relatively normal ratio between the marriages and divorces:
Table 8. Marital Status
A. Single .......................................................... 165................................. 58.51%
B. Married ......................................................... 82................................. 29.08
C. Divorced ....................................................... 13................................... 4.61
D. Widowed .............................................................................................. 0.00
E. Coupled without formal marriage............... 19................................... 6.73
"Other"............................................................. 1..................................... .35
unmarked ......................................................... 2..................................... .71
total................................................................... 282................................. 99.98%
Critics of popular culture hostile to science fiction have often extended their negative comments on the literary quality of the genre to the intelligence and education of those who read it. Without addressing the intrinsic literary questions here, it is notable that surveys have traditionally reported SF readers as having unusually high attainments in formal education. Although the different surveys have used different categories, which makes comparison difficult, and the possession of school degrees can reflect different levels of real achievement in Britain and America, the Toronto data confirm this tradition of highly educated readers. The surveys made in the fifties and sixties in the British magazines Nebula and New Worlds indicated that roughly 25% of British readers had either been to technical schools, colleges or universities. Surveys of Astounding/Analog taken in 1949, 1958 and 1974, as well as F&SF's mid-sixties poll, showed a higher level, upwards of 50%. Most of that difference can probably be explained by the higher level of college enrollment in the United States. In Toronto, with its heavily American membership, 52.8% of the convention-goers had completed a four-year college degree and 24.5% had attended graduate school, compared to the figures for the general American population over 25, of whom only 22.9% had been to college in 1973, and of whom only 12.0% had completed four years. An astonishing number of the convention-goers, 86.5%, had attended at least some college.
Table 9. Education (Highest Attainment)
A. High School Diploma 19..................... 6.74% ..................... (35.2% )
B. some College 81................... 28.72.......................... (10.9 )
C. 2 year College Degree 14..................... 4.96
D. 4 year College Degree 80................... 28.37.......................... (12.0 )
E. graduate school 69................... 24.47
in High School 7..................... 2.48
in Elementary School 1....................... .35
drop out 1....................... .35
unmarked 10..................... 3.55
total 282................... 99.99%
It also should be borne in mind that even in the age of mass education such a concentration of intellectual wealth is usually indicative of material wealth as well. The Maine study found that only Astounding/Analog's readers' average income rose from $4,800/year to $18,500/year (family income). Not only were both figures substantially higher than figures for the American population at large, but while the median income of the nation was rising 228%, the median income of the magazine's readers was rising 385%, indicating a substantial amount of upward mobility.
The British fans, on the other hand, reported average earnings which rose from £500-750/year in 1958 to £750-1,000/year in 1963, which roughly corresponds to the rise in British average yearly earnings from £660 to £863 over the same period of time. Even considering that those people affluent enough to travel to a convention were better off than the average reader might be, Tables 10 and 11 show that at least an identifiable and major portion of adult science-fiction readers make a far better living than the average white individual in the United States; a fact which, as the Waugh-Libby study points out, is not unusual for a population dominated by college graduates.
Table 10. Comparison of Median Income: Astounding/Analog Readers v. U.S. Average
Year ASF Readers U.S. Population5% difference
1949..... $ 4,800/year............................ $2,480/year....................................... + 93.55%
1974..... 18,500/year............................ 5,657/year ....................................... +327.03%
% increase ....... 384.41% .................... 228.10%
Table 11. Income
A. under $3,000 per year ........... 88 ...................... 31.21%............................ (44.60%)
B. 3,001-7,000 .............................. 52 ...................... 18.44................................ (31.00 )
C. 7,001-12,000 ............................ 69 ...................... 24.47
D. 12,001-20,000 .......................... 53 ...................... 18.79................................ (24.30 )
E. over $20,000 per year .............. 9 ........................ 3.19
.......................................... unmarked ...................... 11 .................................... 3.90
total ............................................ 282 .................... 100.00%
Educational achievement and income were only part of the data which have traditionally interested pollsters. Both the fan polls and Campbell's surveys for Astounding/Analog were used to buttress assertions that science-fiction readers were the technologically trained elite they claimed to be. Campbell in particular gathered his detailed data on educational majors and occupations in order to prove that his readers were technically minded enough to be both the scientists he insisted they were and a good market for the advertisers of scientifically-oriented merchandise whom he consistently tried to attract to the pages of his magazine. Of all the demographic surveys summarized in the Waugh-Libby paper, only Campbell's 1958 survey dealt with educational majors. Readers of the magazine were asked to fill in a blank with both their major and occupational title, which Campbell then grouped under what seemed to him to be appropriate headings. At the Toronto convention the 282 respondents checked their majors off a prepared list, resulting in a total of 326 replies listed in the notes.7
Comparing the educational responses of Campbell's survey with the results of the Toronto convention gives evidence of a trend away from purely scientific studies and at least the surface indication of greater breadth due to multiple majors. In 1958, 66.1% of Astounding readers had majored in either the physical or biological sciences. By 1973, only 48.6% of the Toronto convention-goers had done so. Between 1958 and 1973, the social sciences, including education, library science and communications, had grown from 19.8% to 30.5%, and in the fifteen years separating the two surveys, studies in the liberal arts, including law and journalism, had grown from 12.8% to 24.5%. Within those broad categories, certain specific groups stand out. The largest single educational major represented at Toronto was Mathematics, 8.5%, but it was closely followed by English, 8.2%. There were more historians present, 6.7%, than physicists, 5.3%. There were only 10 students of electronics in the sample, 3.6%. And even if the differences between the broad membership of the convention and the engineering orientation of Astounding's readers are considered, the drop in engineering studies from 29.5% in 1958 to 6.7% in 1973 is most striking.
Table 12. Educational Major (Grouped)
A. Physical/Biological Science .............................. 137..................... 48.58%
B. Social Science ........................................................ 86..................... 30.49
C. Liberal Arts ............................................................ 69..................... 24.47
D. Business ................................................................. 15....................... 5.32
E. College Preparatory (High School Students) ...... 6....................... 2.13
F. Others ...................................................................... 12....................... 4.26
total............................................................................. 325................... 115.25%*
*Multiple Responses, N=282
One of the science-fiction community's consistent themes has been its putative relationship to science and technology in the real world. All of the surveys collected by Libby and the Waughs show a high percentage of the science-fiction magazine readership employed in either fields related to science and technology or in white-collar occupations, if they are not still in school. Successive polls of the British New Worlds in 1954, 1958 and 1963 showed employment in science or technology-related fields including medicine, rising from 13% to 29%. Astounding/ Analog showed a different pattern, however. The most sympathetic reading of the 1949 data shows that 42.8% of the readers were workers in some technical field, including mechanics, technicians and members of the armed forces. For 1958 the Maine study estimates the number at only 37%. By 1974, Analog reported that only 14.5% of its readers were working in the sciences, nearly identical to the 14.4% of scientific workers reported by F&SF, the least technologically oriented American science-fiction magazine, and actually less than the 20.6% of the Toronto conventioneers who worked in technology or science. New World's three polls showed its white-collar readership remaining steady between 16 and 17% through the fifties and sixties. Astounding's went from 26.2% in 1949 to 40.4% in 1958, higher than either the 33.2% reported by F&SF in the mid-sixties or the 34.4% at the Toronto convention in 1973. The convention's student population, both high school and college, of 23.8% compares to the 23% reported by New Worlds and the 21.5% reported by F&SF in the mid-sixties. Actually, the complete table of occupations shows, not a concentration in the sciences or technology, but a wide distribution of occupations. One occupation which is particularly low, and declining, is research. In 1949 and 1958, 7.3% and 8.4% of Campbell's readers listed research and development as their occupation. In 1973, only 5.3% of the convention members did so.8
Table 13. Employment by Occupations
Survey S&T White Collar Prof
Astounding-1949 ............................. 28.9%.................... 23.21%........................ 5.2%
New Worlds-1955.............................. 13.0........................ 17.0........................... ——
New Worlds-1958.............................. 27.0........................ 16.0........................... ——
Astounding-1958.............................. 37.0 (est)............... ——.......................... ——
New Worlds-1963.............................. 29.0........................ 16.0........................... ——
Fantasy & Science Fiction-60's ...... 14.4 ....................... 33.2............................. 12.7
Berger-Toronto-1973........................ 20.56...................... 35.46......................... ——
"Science and Technology" includes Armed Forces, Basic Research in Biological, Chemical and Physical Sciences, Computer Programming, Computer Technology, Engineering, Engineering Management, Medicine (except in the 1949 Astounding and F&SF mid 60's poll),
Medical Technology, Nursing, Technological Research & Development, Biochemical production, Chemical Quality Control, Pharmaceuticals, Planetarium lecturing, supervising a textile testing laboratory and Veterinary Medicine. "White Collar" contains various business occupations, teaching, law (except in the 1949 ASF and 60's F&SF polls), Clerical and secretarial occupations and civil service. See footnote 8, where S, W, indicate which category contained specific occupations.
In addition to discovering what occupations science-fiction readers engaged in, this survey sought to place them on occupational levels, and to compare that level to the population as a whole. I have also compared the results to a poll of the British magazine Nebula taken in 1954.
Table 14. Nature of Job
1954 1973
A. Professional............ 31.2%.............. 105............. 37.23%........... (24.21%)9
B. Technical................. 20.6.................... 30............. 10.64
C. Skilled Worker........ ——.................. 13............... 4.61............... (13.27)
D. Semi-Skilled............. 17.5.................... 10............... 3.55............... (16.99)
E. Unskilled.................. ——.................... 7............... 2.48............... (18.41)
F. Clerical...................... 12.5.................... 23............... 8.16............... (17.25)
G. Student.................... 5.0...................... 74............. 26.24............... (10.40)
H. Unemployed........... ——.................. 16............... 6.57
unmarked.................................................... 4............... 1.42
total .............................. 86.8% ............. 282 .......... 100.00%
One of the caveats the University of Maine researchers attached to their discussion of the occupational data was that the desire of fans to present their occupations in the most favorable light possible would bias the scale towards the upper end. "Hence," they wrote, "the janitor may have become a sanitation engineer." While an obvious warning to social scientists, this caveat begs the important question of the consciousness of the fan (or any subject). Regardless of who a person actually is, with whom does he identify? The janitor who calls himself a sanitation engineer is the butt of a good many jokes which obscure the fact that a person holding such a low-paying service job, generally regarded as menial, is identifying himself and his interests with those of much wealthier, more privileged and powerful members of society, and hoping that others will accept that identification and accord him the higher status to which he aspires. This question of consciousness is particularly acute when dealing with the audience for a literature like science fiction, with its pretensions towards social criticism. Just what critique of society will people make, or accept, in their entertainment?
In reporting the results of his 1958 readership survey in Astounding, Campbell stated that about half of his readers were "decision-influencing executives in major manufacturing industries."10 He didn't print any evidence to support that assertion, and he was boosting his readers' egos and his magazine's attractiveness to advertisers, so the accuracy of the remark is at least suspect. But other evidence testifies to science-fiction fans' self-identification with the upper echelons of business activity. While table 14 lists the levels at which the fans place their own jobs, tables 15 and 16 attempt to place them within workplace hierarchies by indicating their own perceptions of their independence and power over others while at work. While direct power over others in supervisory roles can be measured, and by these measures fans seem to have relatively little, it should be noted that independence, like professionalism, is a highly subjective quality. Fans apparently feel less constrained by the power of others while on the job, but there is no way of determining the accuracy of that self-perception.
Table 15. Independence
A. I am very independent, I am in charge .................................. 52............... 18.44%
B. Within limits of Company policy, I can run my "shop"
as I see fit. I am consulted regularly when decisions are
to be made .................................................................................. 84............... 29.79
C. I run my shop in accordance with orders. I am not
consulted regularly on policy matters.................................... 33............... 11.70
D. Although I may occasionally get independent projects,
I generally work on orders ....................................................... 57............... 20.21
E. I always work on orders............................................................ 19................. 6.74
unmarked..................................................................................... 37............... 13.12
total ................................................................................................ 282............. 100.00%
Table 16. Number of People Supervised
A. 0.................................................................................................. 185............... 65.60%
B. 1-5................................................................................................. 74............... 26.24
C. 5-10................................................................................................. 7................. 2.48
D. 10-25............................................................................................... 6................. 2.13
E. more than 25................................................................................ 10................. 3.55
total................................................................................................. 282............. 100.00%
Illusory or not, the high degree of independence most science-fiction readers feel they have on their jobs might be one reason why so many of them say that they are either very happy or at least satisfied with their jobs. An analysis of the 1958 Astounding survey (the only one of the twelve covered by the Maine study to list educational majors) as well as of this survey, reveals a substantial disparity between educational achievement and employment in the areas of science and technology. 66.1% of Astounding's readers majored in the physical or biological sciences in 1958, but only 37% were employed in such fields. In Toronto, 20.6% were so employed. None of the other Waugh-Libby data show technological employment above the level of 29% in the readership of any science-fiction magazine during the entire period since 1948. One might suspect, as this writer did, that science-fiction readers would demonstrate a sharp sense of job-related frustration which could be easily related to technological wish-fulfillment fantasies. However, that is not necessarily the case.
20.6% of the convention members work in science or technology, fewer than half the number educated in those areas. Among all the convention-goers, in all occupational fields, 23% of the sample say that there is an exact relationship between their education and their work, and 24.1% say that they are very happy with that relationship. However, as the gap between education and work widens, dissatisfaction increases at a much slower rate: a notable discrepancy, particularly in view of the low level of job satisfaction prevailing in American society in 1973. While the question is limited to the relationship between education and work, some cautious inferences that the responses represent overall job satisfaction seem safe.
Table 17. Relationship Between Education and Work
A. Exact.................................................................... 65........................... 23.05%
B. As Close As You Can Expect........................... 51........................... 18.09
C. Mildly Related.................................................... 32........................... 11.35
D. Vague Relation................................................... 23............................. 8.16
E. No Relation.......................................................... 62........................... 21.99
unmarked............................................................. 49........................... 17.38
total......................................................................... 282......................... 100.00%
Table 18. Satisfaction With Relationship Between Education & Work
A. Very Happy ....................................................... 68 .......................... 24.11%
B. Satisfied .............................................................. 90 .......................... 31.91
C. Resigned ............................................................. 33 .......................... 11.70
D. Dissatisfied ........................................................ 20 ............................ 7.09
E. Frustrated ........................................................... 26 ............................ 9.22
unmarked ................................................................. 45 .......................... 15.96
total ........................................................................ 282 .......................... 99.99%
The final question on the survey which dealt with socioeconomic status asked each respondent to list the kind of community in which she or he lived. While these categories do not correspond exactly to the census groupings, it is significant to note two things. First, that the science-fiction readership is much more heavily urbanized than the American population as a whole. Slightly over 42% of the science-fiction readers live in cities larger than 250,000, while only 20.7% of the general population does so. Secondly, while 29 people in the sample said that they lived in small towns, 8 of them listed their occupations as college students and 9 more listed occupations such as Basic Research in Biological Sciences, Librarian, Performing Arts and Computer Programming which might be associated with a college or university in a small town. The urban character of this group is emphasized by the large portion of the small-town population which might be imported to those small towns via educational institutions.
Table 19. Residence
A. Large City (250,000) .............................. 139................... 42.29% ................ (20.7%)
B. Suburbs of a Large City .......................... 61................... 21.63...................... (15.2 )
C. Small City (50,000-250,000) ..................... 40................... 14.18
D. Small Town ............................................... 29................... 10.28
E. Rural Area ................................................. 10..................... 3.55
"migrant"...................................................... 1....................... .35
unmarked...................................................... 2....................... .71
total............................................................... 282................... 99.99%
The final questions asked related to reading habits, and were dealt with at the beginning of this paper to establish the relationship of the people sampled to the total science-fiction readership. However, the question on sources developed particularly interesting information. Science fiction's commercial roots were in the pulp magazines, and the continuing existence of the magazines as a paid market for short fiction is a point of pride among science-fiction writers. However, tables 20 and 21 show that the two sources of short fiction, magazines and anthologies, are in a much less important position than the novel. As market research this has its importance for writers and publishers, but it will also necessitate a change in tactics for social scientists seeking to study science fiction further. Magazine surveys seem to miss the major part of the science-fiction audience, and researchers will have to focus either on conventions (which do not include a great many readers) or market research from publishers or chain bookstores (which may not be available).
Table 20. Sources
A. Magazines.......................................................... 78........................... 27.66%
B. Anthologies ....................................................... 54........................... 19.15
C. Novels ............................................................... 208........................... 73.76
D. Movies ............................................................... 22............................. 7.80
E. Television............................................................ 24............................. 8.51
unmarked.................................................................... 3............................. 1.06
total......................................................................... 389............................ 137.94%*
*multiple responses, N=282
Table 21. Sources (Multiple Responses Removed)
A. Magazines.......................................................... 26............................. 9.22%
B. Anthologies ....................................................... 23............................. 8.16
C. Novels ............................................................... 139........................... 49.29
D. Movies ................................................................. 4............................. 1.42
E. Television.............................................................. 6............................. 2.13
total ........................................................................ 198........................... 70.22%*
*N=282
A final note on reading habits is in order. Slightly over 70% of those polled as regular readers of scientific journals were either college students or in occupations which might be described as technical. The remaining percentage—nearly 30% of those who read scientific literature regularly and 8.2% of the total sample—is a high proportion to be found reading such material in today's highly specialized world. However, the date does not discriminate between those who read such "popular" journals as Scientific American and those who read publications intended for practicing research scientists.
Table 22. Frequency of Reading Scientific Journals
A. regularly.................................................................... 77........................... 27.30%
B. irregularly................................................................. 109........................... 38.65
C. rarely........................................................................... 65........................... 23.05
D. never.......................................................................... 27............................. 9.57
unmarked.......................................................................... 4............................. 1.42
total............................................................................... 282........................... 99.99%
In conclusion, it can be said that the science-fiction community's perception of itself as better educated and more heavily involved in professional and technical employment is accurate, although not to the degree its partisans believe. While there is little evidence to substantiate Campbell's claim that science-fiction readers as a group are important executives, there is evidence, at least in this sample with all its qualifications, to support that they are heavily concentrated at the upper end of the economic scale and in educational situations and professional levels from which those executives are apt to be drawn. With their work scattered across the face of the economy, the data show that even if fans are inflating their occupational status, they strongly share a professional consciousness bolstered by at least the impression of an almost anachronistic sense of independence and freedom from constraint on the job. While this does not establish their actual power, or even the correlation between the fans' self-image and reality, it does establish at least their identification with and aspiration to positions of high status within their society. Their education and incomes give science-fiction fans traditional social distinctions, while the independence and freedom they feel, illusory or not, are increasingly rare and desirable privileges in an age of salaries and hierarchical organizations.
The available data are self-selected and limited, both in this study and its predecessors, but they do show that SF's identifiable audience is middle-class. It is a readership endowed with an almost anachronistic affluence, education, and independence which are—in most cases—a result of the very technology that SF writers so often postulated in advance. That anachronistic social position of SF fans helps account for the slippery nature of social criticism in the genre, notably its inability to come to grips with modern society as it stands. At least since the development of nuclear power, when some traditional science-fictional themes became matters of contemporary concern, science-fiction stories demonstrate a mounting dissatisfaction with the course of actual scientific development.11 In particular, writers are dissatisfied with the failure of rapid technological change to bring about a utopia based on an extension of mid-twentieth-century suburbia, and are extremely uncomfortable with the organization of research into a bureaucratic "Big Science," equivalent to "Big Business," "Big Labor," or "Big Government." In response, writers have consistently seized upon traditional science-fiction images of unlimited power and space travel to develop two themes. The first, a new frontier, is traditional, particularly in the United States, despite the acknowledged brutality of the American frontier towards the native American population, its failure to do more than postpone 19th-century social problems, and the horrors and absurdities of recent attempts to modify and expand the frontier into an overseas economic empire. The second theme, the development of new, and usually parapsychological, sciences, varies from the treatment of a new form of "ultimate weapon" to a quasi-mysticism typified by Frank Herbert's Dune trilogy, Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Robert Silverberg's Book of Skulls and David Gerrold's When Harlie Was One. Stories containing neither of these themes tend to be tales of chaos and despair, such as John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar and The Sheep Look Up, or Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren.
Few science-fiction readers identify with the actual corporate elite which governs modern society, but they do identify with that elite's paid managerial staff, a point of view which limits their vision. If technological "fixes," expansionism, or mysticism are attempts to obviate or evade real social and political change, this might be explained by the fact that the professional managers stand at the focus of a change which might alter much of the power and privilege to which they aspire. It seems at least reasonable to suggest that the often contradictory social criticism contained in this very commercial brand of literature is related to the economic status and consciousness of the people to whom it appeals.12
NOTES
1. Thomas S. Gardner, "Psychology of the Science Fiction Fan," New Fandom, April 1939; Art Schnert, "Institute of Fan Opinion," L'Inconnu, March 1946. Both of these were "fanzines," that is amateur, fan-published magazines or newsletters. In the jargon of science-fiction fans, commercial magazines are "prozines."
2. Charles G. Waugh, Edwin F. Libby and Carol-Lynn Waugh, "Demographic, Intellectual and Personality Characteristics of Science Fiction Fans," Annual Meeting, Science Fiction Research Association, November 1975. All statistics offered in comparison with the 1973 Toronto convention study were taken from the Demographic portions of this paper.
3. Comparison with the samples of the Gallup polls is hardly a distinction. Gallup's samples of 1,500 people, of a total American population of 210,000,000 result in a sample which is .00071% of the total universe, selected at random. This survey was 8% of the convention membership. The total size of the science-fiction audience is unknown, but the American magazine circulation totals less than 250,000. Many magazines have 2 or more readers, so that the sample is upwards of .11% of that universe, although Tables 20 and 21 below show that magazine readership is but a part of the total audience. All of these are speculative figures, but they help make a point: these figures are tentative, but they can be used, at least until some survey comes up with radically different conclusions. As the Maine researchers point out, no one has.
4. All figures in brackets are for the general population of the United States, except where indicated. U,S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1973 (94th edition), Washington, D.C., 1973. Science-fiction conventions held on the North American continent are generally 5 to 10 times the size of those two held to date in Europe and one in Australia, so it seems safe to assume that most of the fans being studied are either American or Canadian. The concentration of educational attainment and wealth would of course be far greater if figures from the less affluent portions of the world were included for comparison.
5. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1974, Table #618. Median Money Income of Families and Individuals, 1947-73. For British figures see Britain: an Official Handbook (London, Central Office of Information, 1967), pp 238-239, 434-436.
6. The Statistical Abstract uses family income to determine general income levels. Individual income is used to determine the differences between the income of Whites and nonWhites. White income was used to provide an appropriate comparison to the nearly lily-white convention. Inclusion of figures for Blacks and other minority groups would only increase the gap between the income of average individuals and science fiction readers.
7. Educational Majors
Accounting (B) ........................................................................... 4..................... 1.42%
Agriculture .................................................................................. 3..................... 1.06
Anthropology (S) ....................................................................... 3..................... 1.06
Art or Architecture (L) ............................................................... 7..................... 2.48
Biological Sciences (P) .............................................................. 16..................... 5.67
Business Administration (B) ...................................................... 8..................... 2.84
College Preparatory .................................................................... 6..................... 2.13
Chemistry (P) ........................................................................... 11..................... 3.90
Communications (S) ................................................................... 7..................... 2.48
Computer Sciences (P) ............................................................. 16..................... 5.67
Economics (S) ............................................................................. 2....................... .71
Education (S)............................................................................. 10..................... 3.55
Electronics (P) .......................................................................... 10..................... 3.55
Engineering (P) .......................................................................... 19..................... 6.74
English or Literature (L) ........................................................... 23..................... 8.16
Environmental Studies (P) .......................................................... 1....................... .35
Foreign Languages (L) ................................................................. 4..................... 1.42
Geology (P) ................................................................................ 3..................... 1.06
History (S) ................................................................................ 19..................... 6.74
Home Economics (S) .................................................................. 1....................... .35
Journalism (L) ............................................................................. 7..................... 2.48
Law (L) ....................................................................................... 9..................... 3.19
Library Science (S) .................................................................... 13..................... 4.61
Marketing (B) ............................................................................. 3..................... 1.06
Mathematics (P) ....................................................................... 24..................... 8.51
Medical Technology (P) ............................................................. 1....................... .35
Medicine (P) ............................................................................... 7..................... 2.48
Music (L) .................................................................................... 3..................... 1.06
Nursing (P) ................................................................................. 4..................... 1.42
Oceanography (P) ....................................................................... 0..................... 0.00
Philosophy (L) ........................................................................... 6..................... 2.13
Photography ............................................................................... 2....................... .71
Physics (P) ............................................................................... 15..................... 5.32
Political Science (S) ..................................................................... 6..................... 2.13
Psychology (S) ......................................................................... 15..................... 5.32
Public Administration (S) ........................................................... 1....................... .35
Radio and Television .................................................................. 3..................... 1.06
Religion (L) ................................................................................. 1....................... .35
Sociology (S) ............................................................................... 6..................... 2.13
Tbeatre Arts (L) ......................................................................... 6..................... 2.13
Urban or Regional Planning (S) ................................................... 2....................... .71
Others ....................................................................................... 12..................... 4.26
total ......................................................................................... 325................. 115.25%
*Multiple majors, N=282. "Others" included one each of the following: Classics (L), Industrial Design, General Science (P), Paleontology (S), Pharmacy (P), Publishing, Russian Civilization (L), Solid State (sic) (P), Speech (L), Technical Writing, Veterinary Medicine (P) and Zen Taxidermy (sic). Letters in parentheses indicate the groups in Table 12 under which individual majors have been listed. (P)=physical or biological sciences, (S)=social sciences, (L)=liberal arts, (B)=business.
8. Occupation
Accounting (W) .......................................................................... 3 .................... 1.06%
Agriculture .................................................................................. 1 ...................... .35
Appliance or Auto Repair .......................................................... 0 .................... 0.00
Art or Architecture (W) .............................................................. 3 .................... 1.06
Armed Forces (S) ........................................................................ 2 ...................... .71
Basic Research (S)
Biological Sciences ................................................................ 5 .................... 1.77
Chemical Sciences ................................................................. 2 ...................... .71
Physical Sciences .................................................................. 1 ...................... .35
Business (self-employed) (W) .................................................... 3 .................... 1.06
Civil Service (W) ....................................................................... 20 .................... 7.10
Clerical (W) ................................................................................. 8 .................... 2.84
College Student ......................................................................... 52 .................. 18.44
College Teacher
or Administrator (W) ............................................................ 9 .................... 3.19
Computer Programming (S) ...................................................... 19 .................... 6.74
Computer Technology (S) .......................................................... 4 .................... 1.42
Communications (W) ................................................................ 12 .................... 4.25
Construction ............................................................................... 2 ...................... .71
Engineering (S) ............................................................................ 7 .................... 2.48
Engineering Management (S) ...................................................... 1 ...................... .35
Finance (W) ................................................................................ 3 .................... 1.06
High School Student ................................................................. 15 .................... 5.32
High School Teacher or
Administrator (W) ................................................................ 4 .................... 1.42
Housewife ................................................................................... 6 .................... 2.13
Industrial Worker ........................................................................ 6 .................... 2.13
Journalism (W) ........................................................................... 2 ...................... .71
Law (W) ...................................................................................... 5 .................... 1.77
Library Services (W) ................................................................... 7 .................... 2.48
Management Analysis (W) ......................................................... 2 ...................... .71
Marketing (W) ............................................................................ 2 ...................... .71
Mechanic .................................................................................... 2 ...................... .71
Medicine (S) ............................................................................... 2 ...................... .71
Medical Technology (S) ............................................................. 0 .................... 0.00
Nursing (S) .................................................................................. 4 .................... 1.42
Photography ............................................................................... 3 .................... 1.06
Sales (W) ..................................................................................... 5 .................... 1.77
Social Science Research (W) ....................................................... 2 ...................... .71
Statistics (W) .............................................................................. 2 ...................... .71
Technological Research and Development (S) ............................ 5 .................... 1.77
Writing or Editing Science Fiction .............................................. 3 .................... 1.06
Writing or Editing other than Science Fiction ........................... 10 .................... 3.55
Others 12 .................... 7.80
Unemployed ............................................................................. 12 .................... 4.26
unmarked .................................................................................... 4 .................... 1.42
total 282 ......................................................................... 100.00
"Others" included one each of the following: Biochemicals for Research and Testing (S), Blacksmith, Bus Driver, Chef, Chemical Quality Control (S), Diesel Fuel Jockey, Elementary School Teacher (W), ITT Employee, Jeweler, Manufacturing Management, Newspaper Delivery, Paraprofessional Counseling (W), Pension Planning (W), Performing Arts, Pharmacy (S), Planetarium Lecturer (P), Print Shop, Religion (W), Textiles Testing Lab Supervisor (S), Veterinary Medicine (S), Waitress. Letters in parentheses identify occupational groupings in Table 13.
9. The bracketed figures are taken from statistics in Table 372 of the 1973 Statistical Abstract, and represent, with the exception of students, percentages of the 83.29 million person workforce. The student figure is a percentage of the 208.232 million total population of the United States. The Abstract's listings for "Professional and Technical Workers" was added to "Managers and Administrators," for comparison to the first two categories. "Craftsmen and Kindred" were compared to "Skilled Workers," "Operatives," to "Semi-skilled," and "Service" and "Non-Farm Labor" were compared to "Unskilled Workers."
10. John W. Campbell, "A Portrait of You," Astounding Science Fiction, March 1958, p 135.
11. See my "The Magic That Works: John W. Campbell and the American Response to Technology," Journal of Popular Culture 5(1972):867-942 and "The Triumph of Prophecy: Science Fiction and Nuclear Power in the Post-Hiroshima Period," SFS 3(1976):143-50.
12. Earlier versions of this paper were read at the Western Regional Meeting of the Popular Culture Association, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 1976 and at the Annual Meeting of the Modern Language Association, New York, December 1976, where it benefited from criticism from panelists and members of the associations. The author would also like to thank Mr. Thomas Christensen, of Laguna Hills, California and Ms. Joan Price, of Baltimore, Maryland, for assistance in compiling the data. The interpretations and conclusions, however, and any errors they contain, are his alone.
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