« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Omnibus Survey of Small Businesses in Scotland 2002: Rural Analysis
3 Methodology
3.1 Urban/rural classification
The Scottish Executive core definition of rurality is a settlement with less than 3,000 residents. By adding drive times to larger settlements to this core definition, accessible and remote rural areas are then distinguished. This results in the following classification (known as the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) urban/rural classification):
Large urban areas: | Settlements with a population of over 125,000 |
| |
Other urban areas: | Settlements with a population of between 10,000 and 125,000 |
| |
Accessible small towns: | Settlements with a population of between 3,000 and 10,000 within a 30 minute drive time from a settlement of 10,000 or more |
| |
Remote small towns: | Settlements with a population of between 3,000 and 10,000 more than a 30 minute drive time from a settlement of 10,000 or more |
| |
Accessible rural: | Settlements with a population of less than 3,000 within a 30 minute drive time from a settlement of 10,000 or more |
| |
Remote rural: | Settlements with a population of less than 3,000 more than a 30 minute drive time from a settlement of 10,000 or more |
The Businesses in the survey were classified into these six categories on the basis of postcode information.
3.2 Sample frame
Respondents were selected at random from a sample that in turn had been randomly selected from the Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) database of enterprises in Scotland. SIC code and proprietorship were then used to split the sample in the same proportions as the population of small Businesses in Scotland 1. The sample frame contained 4,000 organisations and was structured as shown in Appendix 2.
The sample provided by D&B was flagged on their database so that the organisations could be excluded from future surveys for the Scottish Executive.
The D&B database is thought to provide a representative sample of Businesses in the micro, small and medium size groups. However, the sample of sole traders is likely to have an overrepresentation of more established firms and those selling to the public.
3.3 Questionnaire
The survey was carried out by telephone and the questionnaire was completed by the interviewer using CATI software. The questionnaire is shown in Appendix 2. The interviews took, on average, 20 minutes.
The order of multiple choice prompted answers and multiple question sets was rotated each time the questionnaire was completed to avoid any bias due to the order of questions.
3.4 Response rate for the survey
In total 1,756 organisations were contacted and asked to participate:
- 1,002 completed interviews
- 224 refused to participate - a refusal rate of 14%
- 181 were out of size band quota
- 126 were not SMEs
- 88 were no longer in business
- 135 were appointments: respondents who agreed to participate and made an appointment for an interview but were not needed to meet quotas.
3.5 Weighting
The results for each of the four size categories have been weighted on the basis of the number of organisations in the category. The source for the estimate of the population is Businesses registered on the Interdepartmental Business Register in 2001. The weighting factors used are:
Size | Number of Businesses in population | Sample | Weighting factor (Population/Sample) |
Zero employees | 56,899 | 167 | 341 |
Micro (1-9 employees) | 65,845 | 334 | 197 |
Small (10-49 employees) | 12,119 | 334 | 36 |
Medium (50-249 employees) | 2,096 | 167 | 13 |
Table 1: Weighting factors
The responses were analysed to establish both qualitative and quantitative data. The quantitative analysis was carried out using SPSS 11.5.2.1 - this is specialist software that is particularly effective for analysing survey data. The use of SPSS ensures that all analysis will be documented, transparent and repeatable.
The data was analysed to provide statistical results for each question. The use of syntaxes allows question responses to be analysed against each other where this is felt to add to an understanding of the objectives. Quantitative data and analysis is reported in the text of the report and through the use of tables and charts.
This report illustrates results analysed by geographic area of the business. The report covers only topics as per specification provided by the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department.
All the results are analysed by geographic area. Businesses with zero employees have been removed from the results: as they are by far the most numerous category their inclusion would dominate any overall results. However, where results are specifically analysed by size of the business and employment, Businesses with zero employees have been included in order to provide a more accurate picture of the business environment in Scotland. Where this is the case, this has been indicated by a footnote.
3.6 Confidence in the results
The confidence interval for the results in this report describes the probability that the result lies within a particular band. Normally 95% confidence intervals are reported - this is the band within which there is a 95% probability that the true result lies. Confidence intervals are a function of the size of the sample for a survey.
In the cases when the total number of responses used for the analysis is over 400, it is possible to say that we can be 95% sure that the true value is within 5% of the estimate suggested by the sample. However, when only a subset of the sample provides results for analysis, or the analysis is broken down by sector or size band, the number of responses for a particular estimate will often be fewer than 100, or even fewer than 10.
The following table gives a guide to the maximum range of values that are covered by 95% confidence intervals:
Number of responses | Maximum range of variability | Lower bound for an estimate of 50% | Upper bound for an estimate of 50% |
1,000 | 3.2% | 46.8% | 53.2% |
400 | 5.0% | 45.0% | 55.0% |
100 | 10.0% | 40.0% | 60.0% |
25 | 20.0% | 30.0% | 70.0% |
9 | 33.3% | 16.7% | 83.3% |
Table 2: Values covered by 95% confidence intervals
In cases where the sample sizes are lower, the variability within the results is clearly higher to the extent that for a number of responses fewer than 100 an individual result can only be indicative and should not form the basis of any specific conclusions.
A warning, which refers back to this note, is added to the charts in the analysis where the overall number of responses is fewer than 400, or where individual results by sector or size band are based on fewer than 100 responses.
The exact number of responses to a question from the survey is indicated with n. The number for n is not always consistent because some questions were missed in some interviews due to time constraints on the part of the respondent. These questions were between 124 and 245 inclusive. 140 of the 1,002 interviewees missed some questions (although not necessarily all of those between 124 and 245).
3.7 Characteristics of respondents 2
3.7.1 Geographic areas
The table below shows the split of the Businesses in each of the geographic areas:
Geographic area | Number of respondents |
Large urban areas | 300 |
Other urban areas | 140 |
Accessible small towns | 10 |
Remote small towns | 15 |
Accessible rural areas | 373 |
Remote rural areas | 164 |
Total | 1,002 |
Table 3: Respondents by geographic area
Businesses in the urban and small towns areas were grouped together to form a single geographic area because of the small sample sizes, particularly in the small towns areas. The urban/small towns area effectively represents a 'non-rural' group.
We cannot judge whether the numbers in each geographic area are representative because there is no information (as yet) on the business population in Scotland by the SHS urban/rural classification.
3.7.2 Size of business
The split of Businesses in Scotland that participated in the survey by size is shown below:
Size of business | Urban/small town area | Accessible rural area | Remote rural area | Total |
Zeros and limited companies with one employee (0 employees) | 64 | 72 | 31 | 167 |
Micro (1-9 employees) | 142 | 129 | 63 | 334 |
Small (10-49 employees) | 170 | 112 | 52 | 334 |
Medium (50-249 employees) | 89 | 60 | 18 | 167 |
Total | 465 | 373 | 164 | 1,002 |
Table 4: Respondents by business size and geographic area
3.7.3 Business activity
The split of Businesses that participated in the survey by activity is shown below:
Activity | Urban/small town area | Accessible rural area | Remote rural area | Total |
Agriculture | 3 | 40 | 23 | 66 |
Manufacturing | 94 | 69 | 15 | 178 |
Construction | 51 | 48 | 16 | 115 |
Retail and wholesale | 109 | 70 | 33 | 212 |
Hotels and restaurants | 33 | 35 | 21 | 89 |
Transport and communications | 30 | 25 | 20 | 75 |
Financial, real estate, renting | 75 | 35 | 17 | 127 |
Education, health and other | 70 | 51 | 19 | 140 |
Total | 465 | 373 | 164 | 1,002 |
Table 5: Respondents by activity and geographic area
3.7.4 Ethnic group
3% (n=35) of respondents considered themselves to be members of an ethnic minority group. 22 of these are in the urban/small town area and another 11 are in the accessible rural area.
3.7.5 Age
14% of respondents were between 25 and 35 years old. 29% of respondents were between 36 and 45 years old, and 46% were between 46 and 60. 1% (n=10) of the respondents were younger than 25 and 10% (n=99) were over 60. There is no significant relationship between age of respondent and geographic area.
« Previous | Contents | Next »