• Study series
• About this study

Scottish Social Attitudes 2007

Did you know?

Almost half of respondents (48%) think that the amount of alcohol people in Scotland drink is something everyone should be ashamed of.

from : Scottish Social Attitudes 2007

About this study
The Scottish Social Attitudes survey has tracked the views of people in Scotland on a range of social, moral and political issues since 1999. Every year, around 1,500 people are interviewed on a wide range of topics.

Timeline

Questions on the 2007 survey

The 2007 survey was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the Scottish Government and the Leverhulme Trust. The topics covered in the 2007 survey are as follows:

The 2007 survey was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the Scottish Government and the Leverhulme Trust. The topics covered in the 2007 survey are as follows:

• 1 | Alcohol
• 2 | Devolution and attitudes to government
• 3 | Elections and politics
• 4 | Public services
• 5 | Wellbeing

The Scottish Government funded questions on attitudes to alcohol. The aim was to provide baseline data in advance of the publication of its long-term strategy for tackling alcohol problems. The questions explored attitudes towards different types of alcohol misuse (including chronic, hazardous and binge drinking). They also looked at awareness and knowledge of government advice on sensible drinking. Almost half of respondents (48%) think that the amount of alcohol people in Scotland drink is something everyone should be ashamed of. This and other findings are available online in a report by ScotCen for the Scottish Government. Alcohol was also covered in SSA 2004.

Back to top

SSA 2007 continued a long-running series of questions (funded by the Scottish Government since 2004) on public attitudes to government. These explore issues including political trust and what impact devolution is seen as having on Scotland's voice in the UK. Findings are available online in a report by ScotCen for the Scottish Government.

Back to top

Voting behaviour in the 2007 Scottish Parliament and Local elections were explored in detail in SSA 2007, in questions funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Leverhulme Trust. Findings on the significance of the SNP's election in 2007 and the impact of the Single Transferable Vote on local voting are explored in Revolution or Evolution? The 2007 Scottish Elections, published by Edinburgh University Press in 2009.

Back to top

Public reactions to recent political debates about public services were explored in SSA 2007 as part of an Economic and Social Research Council-funded project exploring views across the four nations of the UK. Taking education, care for older people and the NHS as case studies, these questions explored whether the public wants greater choice over the services they receive and greater diversity in who provides them. For further detail on the findings, please contact John Curtice (j.curtice@strath.ac.uk). SSA also regularly collects views on standards in key public services in Scotland, through questions funded by the Scottish Government.

Back to top

Policy makers are increasingly interested in understanding how happy people are with their lives, as well as more objective measures of wellbeing like health. SSA 2007 carried a set of questions, funded by the Scottish Government, which sought to provide a baseline measure of subjective wellbeing in Scotland - how happy and satisfied people are with their lives in general and how satisfied they are with specific aspects, like their jobs or their family life. Findings are available online in a report by ScotCen for the Scottish Government.

Back to top

You can:

Of interest: