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Social Focus on Disability 2004

appendices

Appendix 1: Definitions and Terms

Symbols and conventions

Symbols

Rounding of figures

In tables where figures have been rounded to the nearest final digit, there may be an apparent discrepancy between the sum of the constituent items and the total as shown.

Bases

The bases reported in tables may differ. In some cases this is because they relate to different populations (such as all households or all adults). In other cases, questions may not have been asked of all respondents because they only applied in certain circumstances. There are also some cases where bases differ because some people did not want to answer certain questions. The base sizes are indicated in each table.

Statistical significance

Significant differences presented in the text are significant at the 95% confidence level. The statistical significance of reported differences have been confirmed by a t-test.

(i) Scottish Household Survey (SHS)

A household is defined as one person or a group of people living in accommoda-tion as their only or main residence and either sharing at least one meal a day or sharing the living accommodation.

The highest income householder (HIH) is taken as the household reference person for the interview. The respondent for the first part of the interview must be a person in whose name the accommodation is owned or rented or who is otherwise responsible for the accommodation.

In households with joint householders, the person with the highest income is taken as the household reference person. If householders have exactly the same income, the older is taken as the household reference person.

Household members

Adult refers to those persons aged 16 years and over.

Children are aged under 16 years of age.

Household type

The eight different household types used in the SHS are defined as follows:

Single adult household contains one adult of non-pensionable age and no children.

Single parent household contains one adult of any age and one or more children.

Single pensioner household contains one adult of pensionable age and no children. Pensionable age is 60 for women and 65 for men.

Small family household contains two adults of any age and one or two children.

Older smaller household contains one adult of non-pensionable age and one of pensionable age and no children, or two adults of pensionable age and no children.

Large adult household contains three or more adults and no children.

Small adult household contains two adults of non-pensionable age and no children.

Large family household contains two adults of any age and three or more children, or three or more adults of any age and one or more children.

Household income

The term annual net household income refers to income (i.e. after taxation and other deductions) from employment, benefits and other sources that are brought into the household by the highest income householder and/or their spouse or partner. This does not include any contribution to household finances made by other household members (e.g. dig money).

The definition is not the same as that used by other Government surveys such as the Family Resources Survey. These measure the income of all household members. Income data from the SHS should not, therefore, be compared with other sources without careful consideration of the methods used in compiling the data.

While in general the level of missing data throughout the SHS is minimal, there is an appreciable level of item non-response in relation to income information. Incomplete data results in around one third of households having no computed total net income. Imputation of income information was carried out. This is a process whereby complete information given by 'similar' households is used for respondents that have missing income information.

Income is collected as a variety of different components, such as income from employment, benefits and other sources, which are summed to create total net household income. Income was imputed for each component using either Hot Deck imputation, where the sample is divided into subgroups based on relevant characteristics, or Predictive Mean where a statistical model is constructed and the value is predicted using this model. After imputation, income data is unavailable for only around 3% of households.

Urban rural classification

A six-fold urban/rural classification of Scotland has been adopted, based on settlement size and remoteness (measured by drive times) to allow more detailed geographical analysis to be conducted on a larger sample size.

Using respondents' home postcodes, households have been classified as follows:

Large urban areas - households in the city conurbations of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, and Glasgow (settlements 125,000 population and over).

Other urban areas - households in settlements of 10,000 to 124,999 people.

Accessible small towns - households in settlements of between 3,000 and 9,999 people and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more.

Remote small towns - small towns (between 3,000 and 9,999 people) with a drive time of more than 30 minutes of a settlement of 10,000 or more.

Accessible rural - households in settlements of less than 3,000 people and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more.

Remote rural - households in settle-ments of less than 3,000 people with a drive time of more than 30 minutes of a settlement of 10,000 or more.

Isolated houses and hamlets are included in settlements of less than 3,000 people.

Bedroom standard

This concept is used to measure occupation density by allocating a standard number of bedrooms to each household in accordance with its age/sex/marital status composition and the relationship of the members to one another. The bedroom standard is then compared with the actual number of bedrooms available for sole use of the household, and deficiencies or excesses are calculated.

The calculation of the minimum number of bedrooms required is based on the assumption that a separate bedroom is required for:

• each married/co-habiting couple;
• any other person aged 21 years or over;
• each pair of young persons of the same sex aged 10-20 years; and
• each pair of children under 10 years (regardless of sex).

Unpaired young persons aged 10-20 years are paired with a child under 10 of the same sex if possible or allocated a separate bedroom. Any remaining unpaired children under 10 years are also allocated a separate bedroom.

(ii) 2001 Census

The 2001 Census was conducted on a resident basis. This means the statistics relate to where people usually live, as opposed to where they are on Census night. It includes:

• People who usually live at the address but are temporarily away from home (on holiday, visiting friends or relatives or temporarily in hospital or similar establishment) on Census Day (29 April 2001).
• A spouse or partner who works away from home for part of the time, or is a member of the Armed Forces.
• Students at their term-time address.
• A baby born before 30th April 2001 even if he or she is still in hospital.
• People present on Census Day, even if temporarily, who have no other usual address.

However, it does not include:

• Anyone present on Census Day who has another usual address.
• Anyone who has been living, or will live, in a special establishment such as a residential home, nursing home or hospital for six months or more.

(iii) Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS)

Tolerable Standard

The Tolerable Standard (TS) is the minimum standard of condition required by Scottish law. It was introduced in the 1969 Housing (Scotland) Act and updated by the 1987 and 2001 Acts. The current TS contains 10 items. A dwelling meets the TS if it:

• is structurally stable;
• is substantially free from rising or penetrating dampness;
• has satisfactory provision for natural and artificial light, for ventilation and for heating;
• has an adequate piped supply of wholesome water within the house;
• has a sink provided with a satisfactory supply of both hot and cold water within the house;
• has a WC available for the exclusive use of the occupants of the house suitably located within the house;
• has a fixed bath/shower and a wash-hand basin all with a satisfactory supply of hot and cold water suitably located within the house;
• has an effective system for the drainage and disposal of foul and surface water;
• has satisfactory facilities for the cooking of food within the house;
• has satisfactory access to all external doors and outbuildings.

A failure to meet one or more of the above criteria results in a dwelling being Below Tolerable Standard (BTS). Local authorities are obliged to act when a dwelling is declared BTS (e.g. closure, improvement or demolition).

(iv) Special Educational Needs

Children and young persons have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty which calls for provision for special educational needs to be made for them.

A Record of Needs (RoN) is provided for a child who has 'pronounced, specific or complex special educational needs which require continuing review'. The RoN contains the child's details; the details of the parent/guardian and the named person (someone to represent them); an assessment profile; a summary of the child/young person's impairments; a description of the special educational needs arising from the impairments; a statement of the measures proposed by the education authority; the name of the school to be attended; a summary of the views of the parent/guardian; the date the Record was opened and a summary of the reviews of the Record; and a note of who is allowed to access the Record.

Individualised Educational Programmes (IEPs) are written plans setting targets that a child with special educational needs is expected to achieve. Targets should be limited in number and focus on key priorities of learning. They should be simple, clearly expressed and measurable.

(v) Labour Force Survey

The questions asked in the Labour Force Survey allow for people to be classified as economically active or inactive.

Active population consists of those in employment or those who are unemployed.

Unemployed are those individuals who are without a job, are available to start work within the next 2 weeks and who have been seeking a job within the last 4 weeks, or who are waiting to start a job already obtained within the next 2 weeks. This is the International Labour Office (ILO) definition of unemployment.

The economic activity rate is defined as the proportion of the working age population who are economically active.

The employment rate is the proportion of the working age population in employment.

The unemployment rate is the proportion of the economically active population who are unemployed.

The inactive population consists of those who would like to work, are actively looking for work but are unavailable to start a job within the next 2 weeks; those who would like to work but who are not seeking work and are not available to start within the next 2 weeks; or those who would not like to work and who are not seeking work

(vi) Scottish Community Care Statistics

Change in methodology

In 1998 a new methodology was introduced for dealing with non-response for the home care, day care and residential care data collections. Where a return is not received, or is partially completed, the missing data are estimated using returns from similar establishments (in the case of day and residential care). Prior to 1998, if a return was not received, the data from the previous year were used.

The new methodology is felt to be more robust and provides a more reliable picture of provision. However, the change in procedures means that care must be taken when comparing data over time if the time period covers data before and after 1998.

For more information on the methodology used, or advice on interpreting time series data affected by this change, please contact Community Care Statistics branch (e-mail: steven.gillespie@scotland.gsi.gov.uk, telephone: 0131 244 3777).

Day centres

Day care data are provided by local authorities and individual day care establishments on the D1-B return and relate to the last week in March. The form was completed annually until 1998 when it was changed to a triennial return. The census was undertaken again in March 2001.

For the purposes of the data collection, the scope and definition of day care is as follows.

Scope

The form should be completed by all local authority administered and all registered day care services providing a range of practical, personal and social activities for adults. Self-help groups, lunch clubs and social clubs should NOT be included in this return.

Residential Homes which provide day care places for non-residents should complete this form in addition to the residential return R1. Only the staff specifically allocated to the day care service should be included in this return.

Definitions

Number of Places - the maximum number of places available 'at any one time'.

Number of People Attending - up until 1998, this included all those people on the register who still make use of the day centre regardless of whether they attended during the survey week. From 2001, this counts only those people who used the day centre during the survey week.

Day centres are identified as being primarily intended for a particular client group. People in other client groups may attend. The figures presented in this publication show the number of people attending centres primarily intended for physically disabled people, whether or not the individual belongs to that client group.

Residential care

Residential care homes data are provided annually by local authorities and independent homes on the R1 return and relate to 31 March.

The census covers all adult residential care establishments in Scotland, which are registered with or run by local authorities.

Establishments are asked to provide detailed information on their residential care provision covering the period from 1 April of the previous year to 31 March of the current year.

Homes are identified as being primarily intended for a particular client group. It is possible that residents may belong to another client group other than that which the home is primarily intended for. Figures presented in this publication show the number of residents in homes primarily intended for physically disabled people, whether or not the individual belongs to that client group.

(vii) Special Needs Housing

The data on special needs housing are collected by the Scottish Executive Housing Statistics Branch via the S1-B form.

Definitions of each of the types of special needs housing are as follows:

Wheelchair housing consists of dwellings for people confined to wheel-chairs. It is built or adapted to give extra floor area, whole house heating, special bathroom, kitchen and other features.

Ambulant disabled housing consists of dwellings for people with disabilities who are not confined to wheelchairs. It is built or adapted to general needs housing standards but has a level or ramped approach, WC and bathroom at entrance level and other special features.

Other specially adapted housing consist of dwellings with other adaptations, such as those with renal dialysis equipment.

(viii) Deafness

Mild deafness

People with mild deafness have some difficulty following speech, mainly in noisy situations. The quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 25 and 39 decibels.

Moderate deafness

People with moderate deafness have difficulty in following speech without a hearing aid. The quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 40 and 69 decibels.

Severe deafness

People with severe deafness rely a lot on lip reading, even with a hearing aid. British sign language (BSL) may be their first or preferred language. The quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 70 and 94 decibels.

Profound deafness

People who are profoundly deaf communicate by lip reading. BSL may be their first or preferred language. The quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average 95 decibels or more.

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