The UK Gambling Commission has expressed confidence that the push-to-web methodology to be used for the Gambling Survey for Great Britain will be “relevant and robust” and help produce “better data”.
The body published its findings for the final experimental stage of its project to improve the survey as part of its Evidence Gaps and Priorities 2023 to 2026 programme.
According to the latest data, gambling participation differed by age, with individuals aged 45 to 54 showing the highest rate at 61.6 per cent, while those 75 and over had the lowest at 39.6 per cent.
Furthermore, the survey also detailed that participants cited monetary gain and enjoyment were major motivations for gambling, describing it as a fun and exciting pastime. Satisfaction levels with gambling experiences were positive, with 44 per cent of gamblers rating their last experience with a score of six or above, and 37 per cent expressing neutral feelings with a midpoint score of five.
Commenting in a blog post on the commission’s website, the UKGC’s Head of Statistics, Helen Bryce, noted that this most recent release is the culmination of three years of research into developing a better consumer gambling survey.
The UKGC emphasised that the data collected using the push-to-web methodology is “experimental”, but added they have also helped update how it asks about gambling participation. Around 4,000 participants answered the survey across April and May 2023.
Bryce stated: “After experiments, cognitive testing and advice from NatCen’s questionnaire design experts we are able to collect relevant data about the gambling activities that are available to consumers today, in a way that consumers describe them.”
The UKGC’s Head of Statistics expressed confidence that the push to web methodology to be used for the next Gambling Survey for Great Britain will be “relevant and robust”, but added a new baseline must be established to track gambling behaviour changes.
This is because of a change in the questions being asked to focus solely on gambling, meaning future results are not comparable to previous ways this sort of data has been collected, including quarterly telephone surveys or NHS Health Surveys.
“It is never easy changing the way we do things, but it is important to ensure our official statistics remain relevant as well as robust,” noted Bryce.
“But we are confident that with the work put in to develop and test our new methodology, allied with the scale of around 20,000 respondents a year that the Gambling Survey for Great Britain will have, we are doing everything we can to make sure our new methodology will be as relevant and robust as they can be.”
Professor Patrick Sturgis, Professor of Quantitative Social Science at the London School of Economics, has also been commissioned by the UKGC to independently review the Gambling Survey for Great Britain methodology, with the results to be published in early 2024.
Throughout the project to update the survey, the UKGC stated that it had over 60 respondents for its 2020 consultation, 70 respondents for a stakeholder engagement survey at the end of 2021, nine stakeholder engagement panels, a workshop session at its Evidence Conference in March 2023, as well as close cooperation with the government.
Feedback gathered from these events has been used to further develop the survey and will continue to do so.
Once the updated Gambling Survey for Great Britain is live, expected to be in late 2024, Bryce said the commission will look into how it can deepen its knowledge by comparing the survey results with operator data and other available datasets.
“We believe that better evidence, driven by better data will lead to better regulation, which in turn will lead to better outcomes.”