As damned mentions, the forums here (and most others it seems) are heavily skewed towards GMs, so that would probably need to be a question you ask or account for (i.e. "Do you GM and/or play?" Do you consider yourself primarily a player or a GM?")
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As damned mentions, the forums here (and most others it seems) are heavily skewed towards GMs, so that would probably need to be a question you ask or account for (i.e. "Do you GM and/or play?" Do you consider yourself primarily a player or a GM?")
My two cents:
I don't know if you're going to strictly focus on psychological factors, but I tend to think sociological factors have an heavy say on choices between the diverse electronic mediums (MMORPG, VTT, RPG as electronic games, etc.), computer vs F2F and all the different genres played.
First you've got an historical evolution. Fashions did change over time, from the seventies and eighties which were fond of simulation and monster games (think of the wargames golden era and the creation of Civilization as a boardgame) to new actors searching for fresh horizons in the nineties with "new" genres (cyberpunk, WoD universe) and "new" envisioning of the game systems, then to the narrativist wave and light rules.
Then you've got national bias, which is strictly sociological. Being french, I know there's taste differences between France and the US on the genre played, and there's also another approach of the electronic part. For F2F, there's a lot of players playing home with friends, but also in gaming clubs. I've got the feeling this last option is less used in the US (and I may be totally wrong ;) ). The RPG club I'm playing in, for instance, became quite big over the last years, now with well more than 50 members, 5 gaming tables each week which amounts to nearly 20 different campaigns.
Regarding this last point, if I'm wrong on the number of gaming clubs in the US, you could try to get in touch with them. There should be a way to get a list of the existing ones. Is there an RPG federation or national association in the US?
Here's another avenue - the elusive closet gamer :)
Let's just say I am a very adventurous, outdoorsy person. Gaming conventions and host league play is likely the last thing I want to do and, god forbid, I have to explain this to someone. Gaming to me is reserved for twice a month over beer, chips, FG and a few of my ...more clever friends (most were coworkers at one time or another). I know a number of people that play, but will never be caught dead inside a convention centre with dice.
Since the 80's, I have been playing D&D when nothing else was available. Palladium and TMNT may have been a thing that everyone tried back then, but never stuck with. I have considered other systems, but I have no need to move to something else.
I can't imagine how you would track stats from folks like myself or my players. And I fully expect there are a lot of people in this same scenario.
...maybe try at a few local gaming stores and see if they are willing to track stats for you. But then you are limited to the commercial sales.