Running head: GAMBLING 1

An Analysis of the
Gambling Behaviors of Former Athletes Douglas G. Collinsworth
Harvard University

Abstract
Introduction
In the United States, maladaptive behaviors such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and problem gambling have been a continuing problem in our society. Unfortunately, it appears that these behaviors potentially manifest themselves in a group of individuals that have been viewed as role models for the youth of the nation. It appears that today’s superior athletes, at both the professional and college levels, may be more susceptible to these behaviors. The investigation being analyzed in this paper was conducted in 2010 by Stephen Weiss at The City University of New York. In a review other studies, Zuckowshi et al. (1990) mentioned the possibility that the general environment of gambling permissiveness has been increased by the media that has used sports pages and television networks to make available the necessary information for an illegal activity. Indirectly, it appears that the media may actually be promoting sports gambling. An apparent cultural contradiction of making available necessary information for an illegal activity has confronted the nation. Acknowledging the potential influence that sports stars may have on youth, Weiss (2010) set out to determine the prevalence of gambling behaviors among individuals with athletic backgrounds. He hypothesized that former athletes would be most likely to be classified as having more problem gambling behaviors than two other athletic status groups. He also predicted that males would have more gambling problems than females. In this study, the dependent variable (DV) is the gambling behavior of the participants. There were two independent variables (IV). The first IV was the athletic status of participants. Specifically, current athletes, former athletes, and nonathletes were being compared. The second IV was gender as males were compared to females.
Reminder: Method section should begin right after your Introduction ends.

Method
Participants
Students majoring in diverse fields volunteered to participate in the study. Both student-athletes (n = 100) and non-athletes (n = 100) were recruited. Also surveyed was a third sample made up of former athletes (n = 100) who had been “retired” from their sport for at least five years. This third group was randomly selected from the general population in two states, Colorado and Connecticut (USA). In total, 300 participants partook in the study.
Procedure
Prior to the initiation of this study, ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board (IRB). The college students participating in the study were enrolled in Introduction to Psychology, Adolescent and Adult Development, Statistics, Abnormal Psychology, Logic, and Ethics courses. The students received extra credit for participating. A wide array of venues was used for data collection of the non-academic sample. For example, several storefronts were utilized. Included were two large shopping chains, a bookstore, a fitness center, and two fast-food restaurants. A demographic questionnaire and a screening measure for gambling tendencies were distributed to all participants. Gambling classifications were determined from responses on the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS). All participants read and signed a consent form, completed the questionnaires, and were debriefed.

References
Weiss, S. M. (2010). A comparison of gambling behaviors of athletes and nonathletes. Journal of Psychology, 133(3), 315-322.
Zuckowshi, Z. Z., Pritchard, M.E., Milligan, B., Elgin, J., Rush, P., & Shea, M. (1990). Student-athletes have no more problems than other students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 36, 117-126.