Scottish Social Attitudes 2011
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 1,200 - 1,500 people are interviewed on a wide range of different topics.
Latest results
New findings on how the Scottish Government is viewed by the public, including data on attitudes on the economy, living standards and public services are now available. Read our summary here.
Questions on the 2011 survey
The 2011 survey was funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the Scottish Government and Edinburgh University/the Leverhulme Foundation.
Topics covered in this year include:
Devolution and attitudes to government
SSA 2011 continues a long-running series of questions on public attitudes to government. These explore issues including political trust and the perceived impact of devolution on Scotland's voice in the UK. The 2011 survey also includes questions (funded by the Nuffield Foundation) on attitudes to options for Scotland's future, reflecting ongoing debates about independence, funding, and the devolution of more powers to the Scottish Parliament.
Findings from the Nuffield Foundation questions were presented at a seminar at the institute of governance in December 2011. View the slides below:
- Independence, devolution max or no thanks?
- Independence: Hopes, Trends and Fears
- Independence: a pocket book issue?
- Devolution Max: United but Apart?
Public services
SSA regularly collects views on standards in key public services - including health, education and public transport - in Scotland. The 2011 survey also includes questions on attitudes to charities and private companies providing care for older people.
National identity
National identity is a recurring theme on SSA. With funding from the Leverhulme Trust, Frank Bechhofer and David McCrone of Edinburgh University in partnership with ScotCen have developed a module of questions for 2011 exploring how people's sense of national identity varies in different contexts and how claims of identity are assessed depending on people's ancestry and residence.
Elections and politics
The 2011 survey included a number of questions about voting in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, funded by Edinburgh University/the Leverhulme Trust.
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Of interest:
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- ScotCen Social Research
- 73 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH3 9AW
- Charity no. SC038454
- info@scotcen.org.uk
