Researchers at the University of South Australia claim to have identified a ‘significant link’ between high crime rates and geographical areas that contain a lot of video poker machines (pokies). If the research is accurate, it will likely result in caps being placed on further pokie expansion, but hold the phone here. The researchers employed “complex statistical methods” to extrapolate the pokie/crime relationship from existing data. But stats don’t always reflect reality, as the famous “murder rate rises in lockstep with ice cream sales” case revealed. So, we’re not necessarily saying the Aussie researchers’ findings are fundamentally flawed, just that we’d like them to show their work before we grade their paper. Read more.
Aussie researchers claim link between pokies, crime
