Assignment 4

Assignment 4 involved collecting information using interviews. After completing the previous assignment of observing people in a casino there was a bit of a debate whether or not people can feel relaxed within that environment. We decided to come up with a set of questions that would try to establish how individuals feel within a casino environment. Not wanting to ask the question directly we came up with a series of question which would provide us with a higher quality of answers rather than just getting a response to the question which would perhaps just answer the question with one answer, such as "nervous" or "relaxed". We wanted to find out WHY or WHAT made people feel the way they do within the casino environment as the purpose of the assignment was to obtain qualitative data. The questions we included in the interview were -


-What kind of environment/situations make you nervous?
-How do you feel when your spending money?
-How much do you generally spend on a night out?
-What do you usually spend your money on when on a night out?
-Is there anything you feel you are addicted to and what?
-What are your views on gambling?
-What do you participate in that could be considered as gambling i.e lottery, scratch cards, bingo, etc?
-Who do you generally go to the casino with?
-What do you go to the casino for?


All the people we interviewed were people we did not know, but due to time restrictions we asked only students within the art school. We had to establish whether the people we were going to interview had actually been to a casino before as asking someone who had never been would not provide useful information. We interviewed 4 people (there are 4 people in our group so we each interview one) 3 were female and one male. Generally the females were not big on gambling and enjoyed the casino as quite a casual night out with friends or family. All of the females felt nervous by similar situations, such as crits at uni. The also had very similar views on gambling, that they enjoyed it casually but would not take it too seriously as they think it can be dangerous. Two of the 3 girls said they were addicted to shopping and they all said they frequently betted on the lottery. Two of the females also made a point of saying they went with males every time, boyfriends or family members as they felt it was a more male thing to do to go to a casino, which I found quite interesting as when we did our observation there all the females there were in groups, usually with males. When we asked the females what they went to the casino for they generally just went with friends for 'fun' or just for something to do after a night out as it is open later than nightclubs. One of the females even said that she goes to the casino as she does not feel comfortable in night clubs because they are too crowded and she spends too much time 'looking after people'. The females also tended to feel good when they spent small amount of money but guilty when spending more.

The information we got from interviewing the male was quite different. He has a much more liberal approach to gambling. His attitude was simply 'go for it'. His approach to gambling seemed more serious and it was clear that when he went to the casino, he was keen to place bets. Although, interestingly when asked in what situations he felt nervous, he said the casino. I am not sure if this is because we had to ask if he had been to a casino before so we could interview him and it triggered that response or if he genuinely feels very nervous in that environment. When asked what he takes part it that could be considered gambling he quickly reeled off a list that included betting on dogs, horses and sports which in my opinion is more serious gambling than the females.

After discussion, from these findings we guessed that people who go the the casino solely to place bets or who gamble more frequently will feel more nervous in the casino environment as they go for the thrill or winning or losing money. The people who feel more comfortable within the casino environment (like me) tend to be more flippant and go just as something to do with friends or family rather than taking the gambling too seriously. Of course I understand that people can feel very nervous when betting money in a casino but I also think it is possible for people to go there and feel quite comfortable in that environment. It is actually very interesting how very different people can feel in the same environment. It would also be interesting to see of the difference in answers between the male and females would still be apparent on a larger set of results, especially since only one male was interviewed. Would other males have similar attitudes and why?

We all agreed that it would be better to interview people who are 'regulars' at the casino and place big bets, as I am guessing their attitudes would be very different from a student. It would be interesting to see if people who bet a lot of money can still feel relaxed within a casino environment. Also, if we interviewed people inside the casino, we would not have to ask them initially if they have been to a casino before, which may have affected the responses to our first few questions. Although they are very strict and may not allow it, if we had more time we would have liked to email the casino to ask if this would be possible.