The Long Term Strategy for Population Surveys in Scotland 2009 – 2019 Alex Stannard Statistician, Scottish Government

ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES SURVEY SCOTTISH HOUSEHOLD SURVEY SCOTTISH HOUSE CONDITION SURVEY SCOTTISH CRIME AND JUSTICE SURVEY PATIENTS EXPERIENCE SURVEY GROWING UP IN SCOTLAND SCOTTISH HEALTH SURVEY MULTIPLE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS OPINIONS SURVEY LIVING COSTS AND FOOD SURVEY LIFE OPPORTUNITIES SURVEY UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY WEALTH AND ASSETS SURVEY FAMILY RESOURCES SURVEY LABOUR FORCE SURVEY SOCIAL ATTITUDES SURVEY MILLENIUM COHORT SURVEY GENERAL LIFESTYLE SURVEY CENSUS MULTIPLE LOCAL RESIDENTS SURVEYS MULTIPLE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS MULTIPLE LOCAL RESIDENTS SURVEYS

Strategic Aims To ensure that SG population surveys meet key information needs while maximising the analytical potential of the data they generate, the precision of estimates and value for money To give full consideration to participation, burden, quality & security and the make recommendations that align survey practice across Government and promote good practice to other public bodies

Harmonised Core Questions Harmonised for output with Scottish Census and UK surveys All major Scottish Government population surveys will ask the mandatory harmonised core questions Will pave the way to pooled samples Recommended for local surveys

Finalised Questions Gender Age last Birthday & Date of Birth Ethnic group Religion Sexual Orientation Accommodation Size: No of rooms Accommodation Size: Number of bedroom Accommodation Type Tenure Highest Qualification Held/Qualifications Held Self Perception of General Health Employment/Economic Status (incorporating ILO unemployment)

Questions in progress (Legal) Marital Status & Living in a Couple Limited Long term illness & disability Access to car/van Education status Full/part time Banded Household Income (coming very soon) Residence 1 year ago Mode of transport to work/school (coming very soon) Attendance on government training programme Household relationship matrix (coming very soon)

Question review Creation of a set of criteria by which to assess core questions Evaluation of the current core items against the criteria Consideration of other questions not currently in the core.

Suggested Criteria Clearly defined and significant user need for the data at a sub-local authority level Data must relate to a rarely occurring population characteristic that requires pooled samples to estimate All the Major Cross Sectional Surveys currently require the question as a Key Classification variable

Data Management Increased efficiency of data management within Scottish Government Maintain high security and compliance with Data Protection Act –Centralised sampling? –Centralised data storage? –Centralised data management?

Pooled Samples SHS SHeS SHCS SCJS Local Survey 1 Local Survey 2 n=15,000 n= 8,000 n=3,500 n=16,000 n=1000 n=500 core questions topic or locally specific questions Combined sample of core questions from all surveys n=44,000 !!

Respondent Burden and Response Rates Address concern over falling response rates on quality of data Manage respondent burden Capitalise on new technologies and methods of surveying the population- Different modes of data collection?

Analysis and Dissemination Increase the use made of survey data Increase accessibility and user- friendliness of survey results and datasets Provide better support for data users How to disseminate pooled sample results?

Scottish Household Survey Full ‘roots and branches’ review currently underway

Delivery of the Long Term Strategy Delivery plan available on line First year’s work: Developing harmonised core questions Investigating centralised sampling SHS review Review of procurement, consent forms and disclosure control Clustering and design effects Investigating response rates and options for improvement

Governance The Scottish Population Surveys Co-ordinating Committee (Chief Statistician and Chief Researcher chair) Improvement Service National Health Service General Register Office for Scotland Office for National Statistics

Governance Scottish Population Surveys Co-ordinating Committee Scottish Population Surveys Working Group PermanentSurvey Managers TemporaryTopic Experts

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