Is winning the lottery a good thing or a bad thing?
Research questions.
This study seeks to answer the following questions:
Is winning the lottery a good idea?
What becomes of lottery winners?
Methods used to answer research questions
The research questions elaborated above will majorly be addressed via well-structured questionnaires. The questionnaires will aim to examine the popular belief that lottery winners are normally happy people. A comparative outlook will also be introduced where necessary. This will enable the researcher to compare two control groups: lottery winners vs. participants who have lost in a lottery. These comparisons will essentially be drawn with reference to secondary data sources.
Participants.
All through this research, the researcher will target two groups of avid lottery players within the research’s target population. The first group will comprise of avid lottery players who happen to have ever won in a lottery. The second group will comprise of avid lottery players who have lost in a lottery. Note that all participants in this research will have a single common trait - that they are all enthusiastic lottery players (Hedenus 27). Their only distinction will be that while some are winners, others are not. The researcher will recruit lottery players aged between 18 and 50 years. These participants will be recruited from various social places such as parks, colleges, malls, recreational facilities, buses, trains and multiple urban centers. The researcher will aim to recruit at a total 300 participants. This will enable the researcher gather more comprehensive data from a wider array of participants.
Data Collection Procedures.
The questionnaire
The researcher will incorporate appropriate use of designed questionnaires in seeking information from the target population. This will be the primary research instrument. The questionnaire will be constructed in a way that will enable it answer the research questions above. The questions will be simple to allow respondents readily grasp what is required of them. Questions will be structured to capture key respondents data which include their background information, information about their work, income and their views about winning or losing in a lottery. The questionnaire will be distributed via drop-and-collect method in various sites. These sites will include parks, colleges, malls, recreational facilities, buses, trains and multiple urban centers where foot traffic is high. Questionnaires will be administered in the early evening when most participants have completed their daily obligations hence can be located at the designated hangouts.
Data Analysis Procedures.
All data collected from the 300 respondents who would have responded to the questionnaire will be analyzed by the researcher. First, the researcher will separate all the questionnaires into two major categories: Category A to comprise of questionnaire respondents who have ever won a lottery and Category B which will comprise of questionnaire respondents who have only partaken in a lottery. Afterwards, the researcher will separately analyze the various responses gathered from respondents in these two broad categories. The researcher will then compare these responses against the research questions above to enable him establish a firm pattern in the data. This will enable the researcher to concretely study the statistical relationship between these two categories. From this analysis, the researcher will hence be able to determine whether winning in a lottery is good or bad.
Works Cited
Hedenus, Anna. "Finding prosperity as a lottery winner: Presentations of self after acquisition
of sudden wealth." Sociology 45.1 (2011): 22-37.
