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2 METHODOLOGY

2.1 Survey content

The Travel Survey 2006 contained many of the same topics and questions as the previous SE Travel to Work Surveys (2001, 2002 and 2003). For example:

• Mode of transport to work that day
• Normal mode of transport to work
• Occasional use of alternative transport
• Reasons for choosing current mode of transport
• Car sharing
• Access to a car
• Length of journey - time
• Awareness of SE advances of salary for season tickets and buying bicycles/ related equipment
• Awareness of SE Travel Plan

New topics covered by the Travel Survey 2006, but not included in previous surveys were:

• Business travel (between SE buildings and to London)
• Business travel booking methods
• Awareness and uptake of SE travel initiatives/facilities (wider range than previously)
• Measure of 'environmentalism' (based on general actions taken to reduce impact on the environment)
• Attitudes towards transport and the environment (cutting down on car use/air travel)

A copy of the questionnaire is included in Appendix A the topline findings are included in Appendix B. Copies of GIS maps are available on request from the Change and Corporate Research Team in the Office of the Chief Reseacher.

2.2 Survey sample

Respondents were randomly sampled from the six main SE buildings (Europa Building and Meridian Court in Glasgow, and Pentland House, Saughton House, St Andrew's House and Victoria Quay in Edinburgh) to take part in the survey online.

In order to ensure enough responses from the smaller buildings, a disproportionate sample was used, in which staff from the smaller buildings were over represented and staff from the larger buildings were under represented.

All overall results have been weighted (to control for building size and response rate) to ensure that they reflect the actual size of the buildings. All other findings are unweighted.

2.3 Survey response rate

Fieldwork took place between 7 and 24 March 2006 and a total of 2,093 questionnaires were completed by SE employees, secondees and temporary staff, achieving an overall response rate of 70%.

The response rates varied by building with the highest response rates coming from Europa Building (80%) and Meridian Court (75%) and the lowest response rate coming from Pentland House (58%).

2.4 Technical note

For all tables and bar charts, 'base' defines the people who answered that question (excluding those that were routed past the question) and in each case the total number of respondents is shown in brackets. 'Uw' indicates the unweighted total number of respondents, and 'w' indicates the weighted total. Where percentages do not add up to 100%, this is because respondents were able to tick more than one option, or due to decimal rounding.

2.5 Discussion groups

All Travel Survey 2006 respondents were asked if they would be willing to participate in follow up research and the discussion groups were populated from those responding positively to this request. Six discussion groups were held, each with eight to ten participants, selected randomly from these volunteers, according to their normal travel mode and work location. The group profiles are detailed in Table 1 on the following page, and the main findings from these groups have been incorporated into the report.

Table 1 Discussion group profiles

In each group, the participants were asked about the reasons behind their travel to work choices and their experience of business travel. They were presented with two hypothetical London business trip scenarios to consider and were asked about their awareness of the Travel Plan and what they thought it should contain. Finally, they were asked about their attitudes towards current SE travel initiatives and for their suggestions for future initiatives.

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