Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Scottish Social Attitudes (SSA) survey was launched by ScotCen Social Research (formerly the Scottish Centre for Social Research) in 1999, following the advent of devolution. Based on annual rounds of interviews of between 1,200 to 1,500 people drawn using probability sampling (based on a stratified, clustered sample), it aims to facilitate the study of public opinion and inform the development of public policy in Scotland, similar to the British Social Attitudes (BSA) series (held at the Archive under GN 33168). The SSA survey has been conducted annually each year since 1999, with the exception of 2008. The survey has a modular structure. In any one year it typically contains three to five modules, each containing 40 questions. Funding for its first two years came from the Economic and Social Research Council, while from 2001 onwards different bodies have funded individual modules each year. These bodies have included the Economic and Social Research Council, the Scottish Government and various charitable and grant awarding bodies, such as the Nuffield Foundation and Leverhulme Trust. Further information on the SSA and links to publications may be found on the ScotCen Social Research Scottish Social Attitudes webpages.
The 2012 survey was the 13th wave in the series. The sample included a boost of addresses in remote and rural parts of Scotland. For the second edition (September 2013), data from the main Scottish Social Attitudes 2012 survey were added to the study, which previously contained only the data from questions covering constitutional change. The documentation has been updated accordingly.
Main Topics:
The 2012 survey contained modules of questions on:Constitutional change (funded by Economic and Social Research Council, Edinburgh University and the Electoral Reform Society); National identity (funded by the Leverhulme Trust and undertaken in collaboration with Frank Bechhofer and David McCrone at the University of Edinburgh); Attitudes to the Gaelic language (funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, with additional funding from the Scottish Government and Bord na Gaidhlig and undertaken in collaboration with Lindsay Paterson and Fiona O’Hanlon at the University of Edinburgh); 2012 Scottish local elections (funded by the Nuffield Foundation); Police reform (funded by Scottish Institute for Policing Research). Standard Measures The questionnaire contains the 'left/right' scale developed by researchers involved in the BSA and the British Election Study (BES) series (held at the Archive under GN 33066). See documentation for further details.
Multi-stage stratified random sample
The self-completion questionnaire was administered by Computer Assisted Self Interviewing (CASI) du
Face-to-face interview
Self-completion
