The Gambling Commission has published findings from the experimental phase of its project to improve the way it collects data on adult gambling participation.
This is the final stage of a project that began in 2020, which was launched in an effort to change the way it collects adult gambling participation and problem gambling prevalence statistics.
The findings are based on a sample of approximately 4,000 respondents, with the data collected between April and May 2023.
Some of the findings of this latest survey conducted by the Gambling Commission include the fact that 50% of respondents gambled on any activity in the past four weeks, with participation higher in males than females; in the past four weeks the most popular activity participated in was National Lottery; most gamblers took part in gambling for monetary reasons, 44% of gamblers rated their last gambling experience as at least a score of six out of 10 (0 being ‘hated it’ and 10 being ‘loved it) and overall, 2.5% of respondents scored eight plus on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) screen.
Alongside this publication, the Gambling Commission underlined the strengths and limitations of its new methodology approach.
One of the main strengths it noted was how the push-to-web methodology allows more people to be interviewed and can still offer the paper version alternative, while the survey itself is more gambling-focused.
One of the main limitations it noted of the new methodology was that interviewers are not present to collect the data, and the accuracy of answers relies on participants understanding the questions asked; additionally, remote data collection methods also have lower response rates.
