Fresh UK survey tees up full-scale revamp of data collection

The Gambling Commission has published a new set of data on the UK industry which it says marks the final stage of an experimental stage of a new data collection methodology.

The Gambling Survey for Great Britain Experimental data release surveyed around 4,000 people between April and May this year on their gambling activities.

The survey found that 50 per cent of respondents gambled on any activity in the past four weeks, with participation higher in males than females. In the past 12 months, 61 per cent had participated in some form of gambling.

The most popular outlets for gambling, the experimental data found, were the National Lottery (32 per cent), charity lotteries (15 per cent) and National Lottery scratch cards (13 per cent).

Most gamblers took part in gambling for the chance to win money or for enjoyment, the survey said, with 44 per cent of gamblers rating their gambling experience a six out of 10 – with a score of one corresponding to the worst experience and 10 the best.

The questionnaire was completed through a push-to-web methodology which the Commission wanted to test as part of its Evidence Gaps and Priorities 2023 to 2026 programme to broaden and improve how it collects and analyses data on the UK industry. The project is running in tandem with the UK’s white paper on gambling reform, which seeks to bring the Gambling Act 2005 into the digital age.

The Gambling Commission’s head of statistics Helen Bryce said the new methodology will become the regulator’s “official statistics” later in 2024.

The experimental data survey is a result of three years of consultation and stakeholder engagement panels on data collection methods, with the Gambling Commission seeking insight along the way from those with lived experience of gambling harms, academics and policy makers.

Bryce said the questionnaire has been designed through experiments, cognitive testing and advice from the National Centre for Social Research, all combining to collect “relevant data about the gambling activities that are available to consumers today, in a way that consumers describe them.”

The push-to-web methodology also looks at the prevalence of problem gambling in the UK and the experimental data found that 2.5 per cent of respondents scored more than eight on the Problem Gambling Severity Index, with a further 3.5 per cent scoring between three and seven.

New methods for UK industry

The Commission said the push-to-web methodology is “cost-effective compared to more traditional methods” and allows “increased numbers of people to be interviewed” as well as “more detailed analyses of data.”

On limitations of the new methodology, the regulator said: “With a push-to-web methodology, interviewers are not present to collect the data in person and accuracy of answers relies on participants understanding the questions asked and following the instructions.

“This is mitigated somewhat by keeping questioning and survey routing clear and simple.”

The UK regulator expects to survey up to 20,000 respondents when the Gambling Survey for Great Britain is officially embedded into its data collection practices.

Bryce said the Gambling Commission has commissioned Professor Patrick Sturgis, Professor of Quantitative Social Science at the London School of Economics, to “undertake an independent review of the Gambling Survey for Great Britain methodology.”

She concluded: “We believe that better evidence, driven by better data will lead to better regulation, which in turn will lead to better outcomes.”