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gambling in alberta - Research Services - University of Lethbridge

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pr<strong>in</strong>ciples. These pr<strong>in</strong>ciples are very much <strong>in</strong> the spirit <strong>of</strong> the Anielski & Braatan (2008)<br />

framework as they ensure there is a mean<strong>in</strong>gful account<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the social impacts <strong>of</strong> <strong>gambl<strong>in</strong>g</strong>.<br />

At the same time, they address the critiques <strong>of</strong> the Anielski & Braatan framework (e.g., Walker,<br />

2008d), and <strong>of</strong> socioeconomic research more generally, by a) propos<strong>in</strong>g a simpler and more<br />

user-friendly categorization <strong>of</strong> impacts, b) provid<strong>in</strong>g a clearer description <strong>of</strong> how these impacts<br />

are to be evaluated and comb<strong>in</strong>ed, c) enshr<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g basic pr<strong>in</strong>ciples <strong>of</strong> economic ga<strong>in</strong>/value <strong>in</strong> the<br />

evaluation (Walker 2003, 2008a, 2008d; Walker & Barnett, 1999), and d) outl<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g scientifically<br />

rigorous strategies to better ensure th<strong>in</strong>gs such as attributional fractions 8 and causal direction<br />

<strong>of</strong> the impacts can be better established.<br />

8 The term ‘attributal fractions’ has a couple <strong>of</strong> different mean<strong>in</strong>gs. In the present context the issue concerns how<br />

to appropriately proportion costs attributable to <strong>gambl<strong>in</strong>g</strong>, when many problem gamblers have comorbid<br />

disorders (e.g., substance abuse, mental health problems) that contribute to the negative consequences problem<br />

gamblers have, such as suicide, divorce, and crime (Australia Productivity Commission, 1999; Crockford & el-<br />

Guebaly, 1998; Walker, 2008d).<br />

20

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