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Public Attitudes to Windfarms: A Survey of Local Residents in Scotland
Chapter TWO research methods
2.1 At the time of sampling for the survey, there were a total of 16 windfarms operating in Scotland, with six of these comprising fewer than 9 turbines. The research was conducted among residents living within 20 km of the 10 windfarms with 9 or more turbines
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2.2 Sampling involved a number of stages. First, each of the 10 windfarms was located and mapped using a grid reference approximate to the centre of the windfarm. Next, zones were plotted around each windfarm, corresponding to distances of 0-5 km, 5-10 km and 10-20 km. The small user file of the Postcode Address File (PAF)
2 was then used to list all postal addresses falling within each zone. Sampled addresses with telephone numbers were then selected at random within each windfarm zone in order to achieve target numbers of interviews. These targets were set to allow analysis of the data by windfarm, and by zone across all windfarms collectively. Finally, once contacted, at each address the individual selected for interview was randomly selected from all adults (aged 18+) living at the property. At the analysis stage, data were weighted by population size within each zone for each windfarm site, to correct for the disproportionate sampling strategy.
2.3 A total of 1,810 adults aged 18+ were interviewed between 27
th February and 18
th March 2003, with a response rate of 28%. The questionnaire was administered using a computer assisted telephone interviewing system (CATI), which allowed both sample management and questionnaire flow to be automated. Thus, routing was scripted into the questionnaire, and all 'read out' lists were randomly rotated to overcome any order bias effects. Furthermore, questions relating to respondents' expectations of windfarms were versioned depending upon whether they had lived in the area when the site was developed, or whether they had moved in afterwards. The questionnaire programme was also able to use information on which windfarm the respondent lived closest to in order to provide context to some of the questions.
2.4 The questionnaire itself (which comprised an interview of around 10 minutes, on average) was designed to run from general questions on the local area to more specific questions related to windfarms. Thus the interview was introduced as being conducted on behalf of the Scottish Executive, and about the local environment and the area where the respondent lives. There was no mention of windfarms in the introduction or in the early questions, which enquired generally about the good and bad aspects of the area.
2.5 At the end of the interview, respondents were asked if they would be willing to take part in further research on the issues covered by the survey (attitudes to the area, impact of the windfarm, processes of consultation, views on expansion of the local windfarm and general attitudes to electricity generating options). A total of 88% indicated that they would be willing to be re-contacted.
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