The future of Scottish Government Cross-Sectional Population Surveys Sara Grainger Survey Methodology and Co-ordination, Office of the Chief Statistician

LONG TERM STRATEGY FOR POPULATION SURVEYS IN SCOTLAND To ensure that the Scottish Government’s population surveys meet key information needs while maximising the analytical potential of the data they generate, the precision of estimates and value for money. 2.To give full consideration to issues of survey participation, respondent burden, data quality and data security and to make recommendations that align survey practice across Government and promote good practice to other public bodies.

SHS SHeS SCJS Local survey Ad-hoc survey n=11,000 n= 6,000 n=13,000 n= 1,000 n= 2,000 core questions topic specific questions Combined sample of core questions from all surveys n=33,000+ Core Questions and Pooled Samples

Household grid (household relationship matrix / household type) Gender Age / Date of birth Marital status Ethnicity Disability or long term health Self-assessed health Smoking Caring responsibilities Mental wellbeing Sexual identity Religion / Belief Educational attainment Household income Economic activity Tenure Car ownership / access Country of birth Crime victimisation and reporting Perception of local crime rate

Scottish Crime and Justice Survey

SHS 2010 Review Full “roots and branches” review User questionnaire, focus groups & discussion at Survey Conference earlier this year Rejuvenated SHS Steering Group with wide representation Widely used for variety of purposes Competing demands for breadth and depth Dissatisfaction at 2 year sample design Most variables change little year on year

Options for the future Alternative sources Different modes Reduce content –Merge surveys Reduce sample sizes –Precision –Sub-population breakdowns –Frequency

HouseholdHealthCrime & Justice House Condition Health Crime & Justice House Condition

Merging Surveys SHCS questions follow-up dwelling survey

Reducing Sample Sizes Household14,00011,000? Health6,000 Crime & Justice16,00013,000 every other year House Condition3,000

Implications of reduced sample sizes 1. Reduced precision

Implications of reduced sample sizes 2. Reduced capacity to drill into data sub-national geographies sections of the population Whole sample10,0005,000 Sample of adults age 60+ 2,4001,200 Sample in social rented sector 2,2001,100 Sample of adults age 60+ in the social rented sector

Implications of reduced sample sizes 3. Reduced frequency of reporting potentially maintaining precision and capacity to drill into data by combining 2, 3, 4 years of data together

What are your priorities and why? 1.Precision? Why? 2.Capacity to drill into data? Why? 3.Frequency of reporting? Why? Would you prefer all 3 to be reduced a bit, or one to be reduced a lot? Why? What would the implications be for your ability to deliver outcomes?

Further Information The Long Term Survey Strategy, papers and minutes from the Population Surveys Co-ordinating Committee Core and harmonised survey questions Information about the Scottish and UK surveys, and full topic guide to SG surveys Survey Methodology and Co-ordination Branch To be kept informed select “Population and Household Surveys” in your areas of interest on the ScotStat register