Research data and methodology, CasinoRank

Six research standards.

Together they form the research policy. They set what may be collected, how evidence is weighed, how jurisdictions and products are assessed, and what a publication must disclose.

R01

Intelligence framework Eight layers from discovery to improvement. Universal scope, variable depth.

R02

Sources, acquisition and measurement Research question first. Evidence channels, field contracts and lineage.

R03

Evidence and estimation Eight evidence dimensions, fact states, and the gates an estimate must pass.

R04

Global regulatory and market research The jurisdiction contract, maturity and coverage as separate measures.

R05

Evaluation, rating and ranking Eligibility gates, vertical lenses, weights and what a result cannot mean.

R06

Integrity, transparency and publication Authenticity, attribution, independence, the publication record and corrections.

The baseline every jurisdiction gets.

Every sovereign country and separately regulated territory receives this minimum research contract, regardless of market size, legality or our commercial presence. Deeper research is added where evidence exists and where it matters.

Dimension	What is researched
Jurisdiction identity	Country or territory, subnational units, parent jurisdiction and boundaries.
Regulatory authority	Regulators, responsible ministries, oversight powers and institutional changes.
Product legality	Legal status for casino, live casino, slots, sports betting, esports, lottery and crypto products, each separately.
Licensing framework	Licence classes, eligibility, recognised licences and regulator registers.
Market restrictions	Advertising, payments, access, consumer protection, responsible gaming, tax and enforcement.
Temporal legal status	Enactment, publication, commencement, transition, repeal and effective-date conflicts.
Evidence and coverage	Primary sources, translations, last verification, unknowns and open interpretation.

BaselineThe contract above, for every jurisdiction. Example: Japan

ExtendedAdds licence registers, operator participation, offers, payments and game coverage.

DeepAdds search capture, the partner-site panel, indices and published analysis. Example: Denmark

Each source has a job.

A regulator can establish a licensing decision. An operator can establish what its terms say. A player report can flag a problem worth checking, but cannot show how often it happens. More sources do not automatically make a finding stronger.

Channel	Suitable for	Controls we apply
Regulators and legislation	Laws, licences, enforcement, effective dates	Jurisdiction, product scope, legal hierarchy, publication and effective dates
Operators and suppliers	Declared terms, payments, games, policies	Exact claim, market, terms version, commercial bias
Official and industry datasets	Revenue, activity, participation	Definitions, population, period, units, revisions
Independent research	Studies, analyses, market estimates	Original method, primary sources, sample, incentives
Player communities	Complaints and reported experiences	Authenticity, duplication, selection bias. Never a rate.
Direct product testing	Observed functions and transaction outcomes	Protocol, environment, test account, timestamp, records
Interviews and surveys	Expert views, sampled experience	Consent, questions, recruitment, sample, response bias
Automated collection	Changes and repeated observations	Permissions, rate limits, extraction checks, failure logs

Every measurable field has a contract.

Before a number is collected, its contract says what it means, how it is measured, what evidence is enough, whether it may be estimated, and how long it stays fresh. This is the contract for one field.

All field contracts in the data dictionary

Withdrawal processing timefield contract / v1.0

DefinitionTime from a withdrawal request to funds leaving the operator, for an approved, verified account.

UnitHours. Median and range per test series.

PopulationLicensed brands in the jurisdiction, standard account, first withdrawal after verification.

ContextJurisdiction, payment method, currency, device.

WindowTests within one 30-day period.

MethodDirect test with a recorded protocol. Operator declaration recorded separately.

Accepted sourcesdirect_measurement for the value. operator_declaration for the promise.

Minimum evidenceThree tests, two payment methods. Fewer: shown with sample size, no score.

EstimationNot permitted. Missing values stay unknown.

ValidationSecond reviewer checks timestamps against records.

Freshness90 days, or on any change to the operator terms.

Publication limitsNever presented as a market average. Sample size always shown.

States, types and four separate measures.

Every fact carries a state and a type. Jurisdictions carry four measures that are never combined, because a mature market can have poor data and a confident finding can be bad news.

Fact state

Known Negative Unknown Conflicting Stale Derived

Fact type Observed / Declared / Reported / Calculated / Estimated Unknown values are typed by reason (not collected, inaccessible, not applicable, withheld, inconsistent) and never shown as zero.

Market maturityFive-level classification of regulation, licensing, reporting and stability. Not legality, not size.

Data coverageCompleteness against the contract, counting applicable fields only, by state.

Research completenessShare of applicable fields researched and verified, not just populated.

Evidence confidencePer claim, from the evidence dimensions. Never the same as quality.

Research datasets.

Each dataset is versioned, carries a publication record and a correction history, and can be cited by its identifier.

Identifier	Dataset	Scope	Version	Status
CR-DS-JUR	Jurisdiction records	All jurisdictions, baseline contract	[VERSION]	[LIFECYCLE]
CR-DS-LIC	Licences and registers	Extended and deep jurisdictions	[VERSION]	[LIFECYCLE]
CR-DS-ENT	Groups, operators and brands	All tracked entities	[VERSION]	[LIFECYCLE]
CR-DS-SRP	Search capture and affiliates	Deep jurisdictions, stated keyword sets	[VERSION]	[LIFECYCLE]
CR-DS-IDX	Market and brand indices	Deep jurisdictions	CRI 1.4, CVS 1.4	[LIFECYCLE]
CR-DS-TST	Direct test results	Where tests were performed	[VERSION]	[LIFECYCLE]

The methodology in full

Eight research layers, the eight evidence dimensions, the seven estimation gates, how assessments and rankings are built, the publication workflow, and the method changelog.

Read the methodology

Accountability

Named people approve methods, review evidence, handle legal escalation and decide corrections. CasinoRank is part of a network that earns affiliate commission; that data is labelled as our own wherever it appears and never counts as independent confirmation.

Independence policy

Sources, methods and evidence standards.