Internet Gambling Survey - Win an Ipod touch

JainieD

Dormant account
Joined
Jun 16, 2011
Location
London
Hi

I would like to invite forum members to take part in a short survey about Internet gambling in the UK. The survey asks a series of questions about Internet gambling activity and how it changes over time. It takes about 15 minutes to complete and completed entries are entered into a prize draw for an Apple Ipod touch.

To take part, you need to be over 18, live in the UK and gamble on the Internet for money, either now or in the past, on any type of game, e.g. betting, poker, bingo, lottery, fruit machines, casino games.

The survey and further details about the research are available at
Old / Expired Link

Thankyou.

JainieD
PhD Researcher
University of Greenwich

(This project has received ethical approval from the University of Greenwich Research Ethics Committee.)
 
Is this for your thesis, or a general industry study? If the latter, are you at liberty to divulge who has commissioned the research?
 
Is this for your thesis, or a general industry study? If the latter, are you at liberty to divulge who has commissioned the research?

Yes - I am at liberty to divulge! The research is for my thesis at Greenwich University and I am funded by the Responsible Gambling Fund, a charity which supports gambling research, education and treatment services. The link that leads to the survey has more background information about the research - or just ask me!
 
It might be worth asking the site owner if he minds you using his board for paid research...just to be polite. :)

Thanks Nifty - you are completely right of course. I have already been in touch with all the details before I posted as I want to make sure everything is above board and totally clear. I hope because forum members can be assured this is an honest and ethical piece of research it encourages people to take part :)
 
I fear your survey is skewed in such a way to produce an unfairly negative outcome?

As I said in your 'any other comments' section, not everyone who gambles online lands up lonely, bankrupt with further addictions and a criminal record. The majority of us enjoy gambling for fun - I personally hate buying £40 computer games twice a month, so instead play card games which bring me more enjoyment (even when I lose) and often leave me better off than my gaming friends (and no, this isn't denial talking either).

I guess this is just another survey whose results will grab a few headlines and once again tarnish a whole industry. :axeman:
 
funded by the Responsible Gambling Fund, a charity which supports gambling research, education and treatment services.

I agree with finfin that this survey is designed to achieve an expected outcome.

Once I received a phone call from a woman asking me if I would participate in a political survey. Being very much informed on current political events I was interested and happy to participate.

It turns out that the questions were all multiple choices. The first 5 were pretty easy and my choice was easily found among the choices given me. Then the questions changed direction and I refused to settle for any of the choices given me, and explained to the woman that I really didn't agree with any of her choices. She then asked me to choose an answer that I would agree with the most. I refused and started to explain why.

She ended up being very nice and seemed interested in my personal views and we carried on discussing several different issues.

Based on the choices I was given I quickly realized that the survey was motivated by a certain political party obviously looking for a certain outcome based on their multiple choices. I'm not going to mention any parties since I'm not looking to debate here.

After talking to her for awhile I come to find out that she was a college student hired to take surveys for a certain political party. She also said she didn't care that much about politics, and I was the first person she spoke to that complained about the answers.

I'll assume the survey offered here is multiple choice and a majority of the answers if forced to select one would eventually lead to a biased outcome against gambling.

I also realize my assumption could be totally wrong, but I'm willing to take some action on my assumption being right.
 
I fear your survey is skewed in such a way to produce an unfairly negative outcome?

As I said in your 'any other comments' section, not everyone who gambles online lands up lonely, bankrupt with further addictions and a criminal record. The majority of us enjoy gambling for fun - I personally hate buying £40 computer games twice a month, so instead play card games which bring me more enjoyment (even when I lose) and often leave me better off than my gaming friends (and no, this isn't denial talking either).

I guess this is just another survey whose results will grab a few headlines and once again tarnish a whole industry. :axeman:

A very opinionated new user.....What a surprise!:rolleyes:
(One and only post directed straight to this thread, followed by the very next post that is in agreement! Hmmm...:rolleyes:)




Cheers
Gremmy




.
 
Last edited:
Thanks to those that have completed the survey - much appreciated :)

I would just like to clarify that I am not funded to find a certain result or to present a negative image of the industry. As an ethical and responsible researcher I would not do that and I would not be allowed to do that by the professors who supervise and examine my work - I would fail my PhD!

The aims of the research are to do with finding out why people start gambling online, why they continue and if/how it changes over time. It includes a balance between positive and negative and throughout the survey you can agree or disagree with whatever you like. This will enable comparisons to be made with offline gambling, to see if/how the experience of online and offline gambling differs. It will also enable comparisons between those who find Internet gambling an enjoyable experience and have no problems with it (the vast majority) with those who develop difficulties, who ultimately may need some support.

I know loads of people love, enjoy and have a healthy relationship with Internet gambling and this needs to be reflected in the survey as accurately as those who find their relationship with Internet gambling more challenging at times.

I would be happy to make my research papers available should any forum members wish to see them when they are written up in 12-18 months time.

I hope this clarifies my position.

JainieD
 
I know loads of people love, enjoy and have a healthy relationship with Internet gambling and this needs to be reflected in the survey as accurately as those who find their relationship with Internet gambling more challenging at times.
I completed the survey and I have to say it was probably the most well balanced of any gambling survey I have ever done. :thumbsup: I was particularly pleased to see it didn't ask the moronic question most of the previous ones did: "How much do you spend per month on gambling?"

I disagree with Finfin's comments, I don't think the questions "lead" one in any particular direction, and those asking if it made me a sad, lonely, addicted, manic depressive I was able to say "Does not apply" to.

KK
 
Research is always useful if it is carried out in an even-handed and professional manner, but there have been cases even then where the results have been selectively reported to present a particular point of view - which is probably why some of our members appear to have a suspicious attitude.

The media appear to like nothing more than a good anti-online gambling story, and is often itself guilty of pulling numbers out of otherwise clean surveys in a selective manner.

I'm sure you have been pointed to the wealth of previous studies by independent researchers both academic and commercial that have been commissioned by organisations like the Gambling Commission, but there's always room for more up-to-date information imo.
 
Thank you for your comments KK, and for completing the survey, and Jetset, I agree with your comments re research and the suspiscion that is sometimes associated with it by unbalanced and selective reporting. The point is that people who use the end product from the research, like the Gambling Commission, see research in its entirety so they do work with balanced findings.

If you are willing to participate, please do - the survey will be running for a few weeks and it would be really helpful to include a good number of participants so a variety of people are represented.

Thanks.

JainieD
 
A very opinionated new user.....What a surprise!:rolleyes:
(One and only post directed straight to this thread, followed by the very next post that is in agreement! Hmmm...:rolleyes:)

Or whilst waiting for my membership to be approved I chose to look around and just happened to complete this survey! :)

It's biased - much like the climate change questionnaires - not 'is climate change real' or 'do you believe in climate change' but 'how will you cope when climate change kills all the kittens, you child killing carbon producer'. You get the idea.

I would just like to see some common sense/balance taken when it comes to gambling - I, like most here, enjoy gambling and do so responsibly.
 
Thanks for your comments finfin - it is always helpful to know how a survey is viewed by participants, and it is interesting that people on here have expressed different views about the survey.

If you haven't completed the survey yet, please do. If you have a view about bias/non-bias after you have completed it I would be glad to hear your comments, either here or on the survey itself. It will help to understand this survey and plan future work that I do.

Thankyou.

JainieD
 
Thanks to those of you who have taken part in the survey already. The survey is still live so, if you haven't done so already, you still have an opportunity to include your experience of Internet gambling in the survey. It will be great if you can participate - your experiences are important, so make sure you are represented in the research!

Thankyou
 
Thanks to forum members who have completed the survey. Responses are still coming in from you guys which is much appreciated. Thankyou :)
 
Thanks to those who have completed the survey. As promised, as 200 entries have now been submitted, a second Apple Ipod touch will be added to the draw.

If you haven't completed the survey yet, please do - it only takes 15 mins and there are now 2 chances to win one of those prizes. Thanks - and good luck! :thumbsup:
 
Thanks everyone for continuing to complete the survey :):):)

The survey will be live for another few weeks, and will then close. If you haven't completed it yet, please do, and if you wish to enter the prize draw, there are 2 Apple Ipod Touch prizes to be won.

The research aims to represent players who play all types of Internet gambling modes. I am currently low on people who play Bingo as their main game. If you know any Internet bingo players, and are willing to pass on the survey link to them it would be extremely helpful and much appreciated.

Old / Expired Link

Thankyou!
 
Good question SlotMonster! The main reason why the focus is on the UK is that there are different gambling 'cultures' in different countries. For example, there are different regulations about accesibility of online gambling, advertising of Internet gambling may be widespread in some countries but banned in others, and the social history and social acceptibility of gambling differs between countries too. This all affects how people gamble online. The research aims to make comparisons between male and female game play and also between players of different games - to add an international element adds another complex layer to the survey and makes it less manageable.

JainieD
 
Thanks very much to all those who have completed the survey. If you haven't completed it yet, please do so soon - the survey will be closing on 30th September.

I will conduct the draw in the week after the survey closes and you can expect to hear from me by 15 October if you have won a prize.

Thankyou again. The contribution from this forum has been brilliant and is very much appreciated :):):)

JainieD
 
Hi SlotMonster

Happy to oblige. Will take a few months as has to be run through statistics, combined with other research and written up. Will come back and visit with the results next year!

Thanks again for your help!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Meister Ratings

Back
Top