BUS105e Group Assignment: Effectiveness of MYGAME Gambling Initiatives

This report, prepared for a BUS105e Statistics group assignment at SUSS, investigates the effectiveness of responsible gambling initiatives implemented by MYGAME. The study compares daily bet amounts between two zones, one with the initiatives (East zone) and one without (West zone), over a 100-day period. The analysis includes descriptive statistics, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing to determine if the initiatives had a significant impact on betting behavior. The findings reveal that while descriptive summaries indicated differences in average betting amounts, an independent t-test failed to reject the null hypothesis of no difference between the zones, potentially due to the presence of outliers. The report also addresses business concerns, suggesting improvements like outlet-based analysis, the use of 95% confidence intervals, and the inclusion of demographic data and behavioral patterns for a more comprehensive evaluation. Ultimately, the study highlights the need for a more detailed approach to assess the true impact of the responsible gambling initiatives, offering insights for both statistical understanding and business decision-making.

RUNNING HEAD: EFFECTIVENESS OF RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING INITIATIVES IN MYGAME
Effectiveness of Responsible Gambling Initiatives in MYGAME
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Effectiveness of Responsible Gambling Initiatives in MYGAME
Table of Contents
Answer 1: Statistical investigation for initial comprehension transaction volume....................3
Answer 2: 90% confidence intervals of the daily bet amount for both the zones......................4
Answer 3: Evaluation of effectiveness of the responsible gambling initiatives........................5
Answer 4: Business concerns addressed by statistical inferences.............................................6
References................................................................................................................................10

Effectiveness of Responsible Gambling Initiatives in MYGAME
Answer 1: Statistical investigation for initial comprehension transaction volume
Basic statistical exploration with descriptive summaries for daily bet amount for 100
days has been scrutinized. Measure of location and dispersion indicated that average
betting in east zone (M = $ 34290.83, SD = $ 20069.02) was higher than the median located
at $ 30459.00. Top 25% betting was found to be above $ 42322.13 in the east zone, and mid
50% of the players were noted between $ 20662.88 and $ 42322.13, where range of gambling
was noted between $ 5229.00 and 102294.00. Measure of location and dispersion for west
zone indicated that average gambling was considerably higher (M = $ 38482.41, SD = $
32100.30) median located at $ 31353.50. The top 25% betting amount was found above $
51662.75 and the mid 50% of the gambling happened between $ 11103.75 and $ 51662.75.
Range of gambling for west zone was between $ 2698.00 and $ 167250.00, and interestingly,
it was much wider than that of the east zone. Due to presence of few higher gambling values,
the shape of the distribution of betting amounts was noted to be positively skewed in both
the zones.
Table 1: Descriptive Summary of Betting amounts in east and west zone outlets of MYGAME

Effectiveness of Responsible Gambling Initiatives in MYGAME
Answer 2: 90% confidence intervals of the daily bet amount for both the zones
The 90% CI for daily bet in east zone was evaluated as [$ 30989.76, $ 37591.89],
implying that with 90% confidence it can be stated that daily bet in east zone was somewhere
between $ 30989.76 and $ 37591.89.
The 90% CI for daily bet in west zone was evaluated as [$ 33202.38, $ 43762.44],
implying that with 90% confidence it can be stated that daily bet in east zone was somewhere
between $ 33202.38 and $ 43762.44.
It can be inferred from the CIs that daily bet in east zone was comparatively and
significantly lower than that of the west zone. Hence, the consultant’s claim was noted to be
justified and supported by proper statistics. But, inferential analysis was required to establish
any significant difference in between daily bets between east and west zones.
Table 2: Intermediate calculations for 90% confidence intervals for daily bet in east and west zones

Effectiveness of Responsible Gambling Initiatives in MYGAME
Answer 3: Evaluation of effectiveness of the responsible gambling initiatives
(a) A hypothesis testing was done to find the statistical difference in average daily bet
between the two zones.
Null hypothesis: H 0: ( μe=μw ) : There was no difference in average daily bet
between the two zones.
Alternate hypothesis: HA : ( μe < μw ) : Average daily bet in east zone was significantly
lower than west zone.
Explanation: The alternate hypothesis was constructed on the basis that objective of
the research was to accept the test condition that daily bet in eastern zone was considerably
lower compared to west zone, rejecting the knowledge that that of the average daily bet in
two regions were equal.
(b) Level of significance was taken at alpha = 0.05 and an independent sample t-test with
unequal variances has been used in this study (Kim, 2015).
Evaluated test statistics:: t = - 1.107
Left tail p-value = 0.135 > 0.05

Effectiveness of Responsible Gambling Initiatives in MYGAME
Table 3: Independent sample t-test for difference in daily bet in east and west zones
Decision: The null hypothesis failed to get rejected at 5% level of significance as p-
value > 0.05. The claim of the consultant that east zone has significantly less daily bet
compared to west zone, was statistically incorrect.
(c) Three assumptions were made for independent sample t-test. The assumptions were
about normality, homogeneity, and independence of observations.
Explanations: Daily bets were supposed to be independent of each other since the
figures for daily bets did not depend on previous days. Daily bets were not found to be
normally distributed by Jarque Berra test (JB = 217.52, p < 0.05). Assumption of
homogeneity of variances between daily of two zones was tested using Leven’s test (F (1,
198) = 14.08, p < 0.05).
Reasonability: Assumptions on normality, homogeneity, and independence of
observations are required to conduct a parametric test (independent sample t-test). Normality
for daily bets was assumed because of the large sample size (using Central Limit Theorem)
(Li, & Shi, 2010). Test results indicated that the variances of daily bet for east and west zones
were not homogeneous. Hence, independent t-test with unequal variances has been performed
in the present study.

Effectiveness of Responsible Gambling Initiatives in MYGAME
Answer 4: Business concerns addressed by statistical inferences
a) Business concerns addressed by statistical inferences:
Statistical measures and inferences of this study can be discussed using three
interpretations. Firstly, longitudinal sampling done in the present study over 100 days
provided total daily bet amounts for all the outlets. Hence, outlet based effectiveness of the
“responsible gambling initiate” was not assessed. From business point of view, outlet based
study would have furnished important inputs regarding the effectiveness of the initiate. In an
altered approach, the outlets can be categorized in three segments based on frequency of
gambling, or daily bet amounts. A graphical conclusion will also be possible from the
descriptive analyses of the outlet segments. Most importantly, a new approach to the
descriptive analysis with or without new segments shall exclude unusually higher / lower
daily betting amounts. Removal of outliers will not only provide normally distributed data,
but will also reduce the variances of daily bets in both the regions. Also, demographic
details of respondents regarding their gender and educational qualification will help in
describing the nature of the sample (Blaszczynski et al., 2011).
Secondly, from previous knowledge it was apparent that average betting amounts in
both the zones were comparable for 1% of significance only. This piece of information
implied that betting behaviour in both the zones were almost identical. Therefore, comparing
the two 90% confidence intervals for daily bets in both the zones provided no insight from a
statistical point of view. A new approach shall compare both the zones based on at least
95% confidence intervals (if not 99%). It is known that 95% confidence intervals
accommodate almost 2 standard deviations of observations, therefore making the comparison
more realistic from statistical perspective. Also, removal of outliers will yield low
variances, which in return will reduce the margin of errors.

Effectiveness of Responsible Gambling Initiatives in MYGAME
Thirdly, and most importantly inferential analysis should provide conclusive
evidences in favour or against an approach. In the present study, no knowledge about
responsible gambling procedures was available. Hence, relation between daily bets and
customer behaviour was not assessed. A new study will definitely include variables related to
behavioural pattern and outlet category (based on betting amount volume). A correlation and
investigation of causal relationship between behavioural pattern and daily bet amount will
simplify the statistical as well the business decisions regarding the implementation of the new
initiate. Along with conducting the t-test, a parallel analysis with independent one–way
ANOVA with daily bet as dependent and outlet category as independent variable will enable
to obtain a clear picture about the effectiveness of the new initiative (Ladouceur,
Blaszczynski, Shaffer, & Fong, 2016). Again, comparison between the daily bet amounts of
the two zones based on gender and educational qualification will also help in finding any
possible existence of significant difference (Ladouceur, Shaffer, Blaszczynski, & Shaffer,
2017).
From business point of view, cost-benefit analysis shall also evaluate the relationship
of effectiveness of the “responsible gambling initiatives” to tangible impact. This will also
reveal whether the new initiative in the present study was targeted towards handful of
gamblers. From government point of view, presence of ATMs, knowledge of prior
information to players about the initiative, population density of gambling venues, and
income disparity of gamblers are some important factors (Loh, Deegan, & Inglis, 2015).
Migration of gamblers from one outlet to other due to implementation of the restrictive
initiate was also not considered in the present study. A new study will also attempt to address
these issues to incorporate practically significant information for government agencies
(Huang, 2011). (Word = 573)
b) Executive Summary:

Effectiveness of Responsible Gambling Initiatives in MYGAME
Responsible gambling initiative measures were adopted by MYGAME for controlling
excessive and unethical gambling in East zone (treatment group) of the country. A
comparative study was steered for comparing the daily bets in East and West zone (control
group). A sample from a longitudinal study was obtained regarding with daily bets for 100
days in both the zones. Information regarding demographics of gamblers, and gambling
outlets were not considered in the study. Initial analysis with descriptive summary revealed
an apparent difference between amount of daily bets between East 9M = $ 34290.83, SD = $
20069.02) and West zone (M = $ 38482.41, SD = $ 32100.30). Also, a significant difference
output was found from the analysis of 90% confidence intervals. With 90% confidence it was
possible to conclude that any bet in East zone was somewhere within the betting limits of
West zone. On the contrary, an independent t-test at 5% level of significance inferred that
there was no difference between average betting amounts of the two zones (t = - 1.11, p =
0.135). As an underline reason, presence of outliers in both zones (especially in west zone)
was identified to increase variances of daily bet. This impacted the margin of errors, and a
statistically significant difference in the variances of daily bet amounts between two zones
was noted form Levene’s test (F (1, 198) = 14.08, p < 0.05). Hence, any future study should
include demographic variables of the gamblers, and categories of gambling outlets. (Word =
248).

Effectiveness of Responsible Gambling Initiatives in MYGAME
References
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model: responsible gambling evaluation guidelines for gambling operators, public
policymakers, and regulators. Gaming Law Review and Economics, 20(7), 580-586.
Ladouceur, R., Shaffer, P., Blaszczynski, A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2017). Responsible gambling:
a synthesis of the empirical evidence. Addiction Research & Theory, 25(3), 225-235.

Effectiveness of Responsible Gambling Initiatives in MYGAME
Li, M., & Shi, Y. (2010). A general central limit theorem under sublinear expectations.
Science China Mathematics, 53(8), 1989-1994.
Loh, C. M., Deegan, C., & Inglis, R. (2015). The changing trends of corporate social and
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