Rachel Ormston, Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen)
ISBN 978 0 7559 7838 0 (Web only publication)
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This report is accompanied by a Research Findings.
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Changing attitudes to government in Scotland
Changing attitudes to economic performance and public services
How do attitudes vary?
Attitudes to government
Attitudes to the economy and living standards
1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
Why measure public attitudes?
Changing contexts, changing attitudes
The data
Analysis and reporting conventions
Use of 'Scottish Government' and 'Scottish Executive' in this report
Report structure
2 CHANGING ATTITUDES TO GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND
Introduction
Trust in government
Awareness of government
Perceptions of responsiveness
Voice and influence
3 CHANGING ATTITUDES TO ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND PUBLIC SERVICES
Introduction
Views on the economy, standard of living and public spending
Views of public service performance
Changing perceptions of responsibility for public services and the economy
Credit and blame
4 HOW DO ATTITUDES TO GOVERNMENT AND THE ECONOMY VARY?
Introduction
Who is most and least positive about government in Scotland in 2009?
Gender and education
Newspaper readership and political attitudes
Social trust and political participation
Whose views have changed since 2007?
Who is most and least positive about the economy in 2009?
Who is most and least positive about their own standard of living?
Who blames the government for economic performance?
5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES
ANNEX A - DETAILED TABLES
Notes on tables
Chapter 2 detailed tables
Chapter 3 detailed tables
Chapter 4 detailed tables
ANNEX B -TECHNICAL DETAILS OF THE SURVEY
The Scottish Social Attitudes series
The 2009 survey
Sample design
Response rates
Sample size for previous years
Weighting
Fieldwork
Analysis variables
National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC)
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD)
Analysis techniques
Regression models
References in technical annex
List of tables and figures
Figure 2.1: Trust in the UK and Scottish Government to act in Scotland's interests? (1999-2007, 2009, % trust 'just about always'/'most of the time')
Figure 2.2: Trust in the UK and Scottish Government to make fair decisions? (2006-2007, 2009, % trust 'a great deal'/'quite a lot')
Table 2.1: How much have people seen or heard about the activities of the Scottish Government/Scottish Executive1 in the last 12 months? (2004-2006, 20092, column %)
Table 2.2: How much have people seen or heard about the activities of the UK Government in the last 12 months? (2004-2006, 20091, column %)
Figure 2.3: Does having a Scottish Parliament give ordinary people more say in how Scotland is governed, less say, or is it making no difference? (1999-2007, 2009, %)
Figure 2.4: How good are the Scottish Executive/Government and the UK government at listening to people's views before taking decisions? (2004-2007, 2009, % 'very good'/'quite good')
Table 2.3: Who has most influence over the way Scotland is run? (1999-2007, 2009, %)
Figure 2.5: Perceptions of the impact of having a Scottish Parliament on Scotland's voice in the UK (1999-2007, 2009, %)
Figure 3.1: 'Net balance' scores for views of Scotland's economy and the general standard of living in the last 12 months (2004-2007, 2009)
Figure 3.2: Mean scores for satisfaction with different aspects of life (2007, 2009)
Table 3.1: What should be the Scottish Government's* highest priority? (2004-2007, 2009, column %)
Figure 3.3: Views on balance between tax and spending on services (1999-2004, 2006, 2009, %)
Figure 3.4: Views on benefits for the unemployed (1999-2003, 2006, 2009, %)
Figure 3.5: Perceptions of public service performance over the last 12 months (2009, %)
Figure 3.6: 'Net balance' scores for views of public service performance in the last 12 months (2004-2007, 2009)
Figure 3.7: Beliefs about reasons for standards in the health service in the last 12 months (2001, 2003-2007, 2009, %)
Figure 3.8: Beliefs about reasons for standards in education in the last 12 months (2001, 2003-2007, 2009, %)
Figure 3.9: Beliefs about reasons for standards in the economy in the last 12 months (2004-2007, 2009, %)
Table 3.2: Attribution of 'credit' and 'blame' for standards in the last 12 months (2003, 2006, 2009, column % within area)
Table 4.1: Attitudes to government by gender and education, 2009 (cell %)
Table 4.2: Attitudes to government by newspaper readership and interest in politics, 2009 (cell %)
Table 4.3: Attitudes to government by party political identification and constitutional preference, 2009 (cell %)
Table 4.4: Attitudes to government by social trust, connectedness and participation in actions to make views known, 2009 (cell %)
Figure 4.1: Trust the Scottish Government 'a great deal' or 'quite a lot' to make fair decisions by gender, 2006, 2007, 2009 (%)
Figure 4.2: Trust the Scottish Government 'a great deal' or 'quite a lot' to make fair decisions by highest educational qualification, 2006, 2007, 2009 (%)
Figure 4.3: Trust the Scottish Government to act in Scotland's interests 'just about always'/'most of the time' by constitutional preference, 2006, 2007, 2009 (%)
Table 4.5: Believe Scotland's economy 'a lot weaker' in the last 12 months by age and economic status, 2009 (%)
Table 4.6: Believe general standard of living has 'fallen a lot' in the last 12 months by gender, age, and self-rated hardship, 2009 (%)
Table 4.7: Satisfaction with general standard of living - mean scores (2007, 2009)
Table A.1: How much do you trust the UK government to work in Scotland's best long-term interest? (column %)
Table A.2: How much do you trust the Scottish Government/Executive /Parliament* to work in Scotland's best interests?
Table A.3: How much would you say you've seen or heard about the work of the UK government over the last twelve months?
Table A.4: And how much would you say you've seen or heard about the work of the Scottish Government/Executive* over the last twelve months?
Table A.5: From what you have seen and heard so far do you think that having a Scottish parliament is giving ordinary people…
Table A.6: In general how good would you say the Scottish Executive/Government* is at listening to people's views before it takes decisions?
Table A.7: And how good would you say the UK government is at listening to people's views before it takes decisions?
Table A.8: Which do you think ought to have most influence over the way Scotland is run?
Table A.9: From what you have seen and heard so far do you think that having a Scottish parliament is giving Scotland.....
Table A.10: 2 What about the Scotland's economy? Has it got stronger or weaker since (month of interview) 2008
Table A.11: What about the general standard of living in Scotland? Has it increased or fallen since (month of interview) 2008?
Table A.12: Satisfaction with different aspects of life (2007, 2009)
Table A.13: Attitudes to unemployment benefits (1999- 2003, 2006, 2009)
Table A.14: Thinking back over the last twelve months*, that is since (month of interview) 2008, would you say that since then the standard of the health service in Scotland has increased or fallen? (1999, 2001, 2003-2007, 2009)
Table A.15: And what about the quality of education in Scotland? Has it increased or fallen since (month of interview) 2008?*
Table A.22: Sample sizes for Table 3.2
Table A.23: In the last few years, have you ever done any of the things on this card as a way of registering what you personally thought about an issue?
Table A.24: Trust Scottish Executive 'just about always'/'most of the time' to act in Scotland's best interests, by demographic factors and political attitudes, 2007 and 2009 (cell %)
Table A.25: Trust Scottish Executive 'a great deal'/'quite a lot' to make fair decisions, by demographic factors and political attitudes, 2007 and 2009 (cell %)
Table A.26: Belief having a Scottish Parliament gives Scotland a stronger voice in the UK, by demographic factors and political attitudes, 2007 and 2009 (cell %)
Table A.27: Sample sizes for Table 4.7
Table 1: 2009 Scottish Social Attitudes survey response
Table 2: Scottish Social Attitudes survey sample size by year
The views expressed in this report are those of the researcher and
do not necessarily represent those of the Department or Scottish Ministers.