Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

To survey a representative sample of residents of the county in order to involve the public in the structure planning process. An earlier phase of public participation was undertaken in the summer and autumn of 1975 when the public was informed about the aims and scope of structure planning, and information sought from them on the issues and priorities they thought should be tackled in the Plan. The present study forms part of the second round of participation. The main aims of the second stage were to indicate which means and ends were preferred for the Plan and which outcomes and conflicts should be avoided.

Main Topics:

Variables The survey covers the topics of housing, the economy, transport and the environment. There are four main sections in the questionnaire, each building on the previous section. First, respondents were asked to evaluate individual policies within topic areas; next they chose one policy from each of ten pairs of conflicting policies. Third, the policies were grouped into five 'policy packages' for each topic, reflecting possible directions for future development. Respondents chose the policy package they preferred for each topic. Finally the Structure Plan themes that were reflected in the policy packages were summarised as single statements and respondents ranked all five themes in order of preference. Thus the questionnaire moved from a straightforward assessment of separate policies to a more complex, but realistic, situation of choice between conflicting policies and finally to the selection of a preferred policy package for each topic and a preferred overall theme for the county's development. In addition, factual and behavioural questions were asked, to provide information that would help in understanding respondents' policy and theme choices. A wide range of classification questions was also asked, both to enable disaggregation of the results and to provide a profile of the sample. The section of the questionnaire on choice of policy packages was presented to respondents in two different ways. There were four topics to be covered and each repondent was asked about two of the topics during the interview and was left self-completion booklets in which to record answers to questions on the other two topics. The booklets were then returned to SCPR. Over 80% of these booklets were returned which suggests a high level of interest.

One-stage cluster sample

Face-to-face interview