Footnotes
1 Upfront fees were abolished in 2001. A further bill to end the Graduate Endowment Scheme was passed in February 2008, meaning that no Scottish student who graduated on or after 1 st April 2007 will have to pay for their tuition even after they leave.
2 See also http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/population-estimates/population-estimates-time-series-data.html for details of Scotland population estimates from 1855 to 2008.
3 The survey was rested in 2008 while ScotCen reviewed its operation and funding.
4 For example, compare poll data in The Constitution Unit's Scotland Devolution Monitoring Report for September 2007 with that reported in their September 2009 report.
5 Thus significance tests on differences reported in the text produced p-values of <=0.05. Cases where differences were on the margins of being statistically significant at this level (where p is only slightly above 0.05) are identified in the text or in footnotes.
6 87% of 2007 fieldwork was completed before the September name change.
7 Prior to 2004, this question asked about the Scottish Parliament. However, in response to criticisms that the two questions were not comparing equivalent institutions, a split sample experiment was undertaken in which half the sample were asked about the Scottish Parliament and half about the Scottish Executive. The difference in wording made a negligible difference to the results (see Bromley and Given, 2005, for full results), so from 2005-2007 the question was changed to ask about the Scottish Executive. In 2009, the question was amended again to ask about the Scottish Government in the light of the September 2007 name change.
8 Though note that the difference between the 2006 and 2009 figures is only statistically significant at the 90% level (p = 0.059).
9 A similar relationship was apparent between awareness and trust in the Scottish Government to make 'fair decisions'
10 The question wording altered slightly between years, as follows:
1999 "Will a Scottish Parliament…"
2000 "Do you think that having a Scottish parliament is going to…"
2001-2009 "Do you think that having a Scottish Parliament is giving…"
11 Though note that the increase from 2007 to 2009 is only significant at the 90% level (p = 0.057).
12 This is not statistically significantly different from the 2007 figure of 21%.
13 In 2004 an experiment was run whereby half the sample was asked about the Scottish Parliament and half was asked about the Scottish Executive. The change of wording made negligible difference to the responses given, therefore the combined results are shown here. From (2005-2007), the question asked solely about the Scottish Executive. In 2009, the question was amended to ask about the Scottish Government, following the September 2007 name change.
14 For full figures for these questions, see Annex A, Tables A.10 and A.11
15 Although there is a slight decrease in satisfaction with general standard of living, this is not statistically significant at the 95% level (p = 0.087).
16 Note that according to a report by the Trades Union Congress (2009), the actual value of unemployment benefits relative to average earnings has been falling since the late 1970s/early 1980s. Thus the increase in the proportion saying unemployment benefits are too high appears to be unrelated to actual trends in the level of unemployment benefits.
17 Questions on standards in public transport were first asked in 2004.
18 Questions on standards in the economy were first asked in 2004.
19 The findings reported in this chapter were informed by logistic regression analysis. This identified which factors were significantly associated with positive perceptions of the Scottish Government, and with negative views about the general performance of the economy, the general standard of living and people's own standard of living. See Annex B for details.
20 Note that there is no relationship between this and the previous finding - women in our sample were just as likely as men to have Higher Education Qualifications, and gender was associated with trust in the Scottish Government independently of education (see Annex B, model 1).
21 Whether someone believes they are living comfortably, coping or finding it difficult on their current income.
22 These factors were either not identified as significant in multivariate analysis, or they were significant for only one of the five questions on attitudes to government discussed above. Moreover, where they were significant the pattern of variation was often not straightforward. For example, although regression modelling suggests age was significantly associated with trust in the Scottish Government to make fair decisions, the pattern was not linear - those aged 65+ were not significantly more likely than those aged 18-24 to think this. Similarly, although regression analysis suggests that people's feelings about their own income are related to their views on whether having a Scottish Parliament gives ordinary people more say, in fact the views of those who say they are living comfortably are not significantly different from those of people who are finding it difficult to cope. See Annex B for more details.
23 Respondents were asked whether they regularly read a daily morning newspaper, and if so which one. Their responses were recorded by interviewers, and the newspapers subsequently grouped for analysis according to whether they were broadsheets or tabloids. The question did not specifically ask about reading newspapers online, although it is possible that some respondents included this in their answer.
24 Party political identification is identified through a series of questions. Respondents are asked if they support any particular party. Those who say no are asked if they feel closer to one party than another. Those who still answer no are asked which party they would support if there was a general election tomorrow.
25 Based on responses to a series of questions designed to measure 'social connectedness'. These questions asked people how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the following statements: 'I regularly stop and speak to people in my area'; 'If my home was empty, I could count on one of my neighbours to keep an eye on it'; and 'I feel that there are people in this area I could turn to for advice and support'. Responses to the three questions were combined to form an overall measure of 'social connectedeness'.
26 Note that regression analysis (Annex B, model 6) suggests that marital status was also significantly related to thinking the general standard of living had fallen a lot. Those who had never married or formed a civil partnership were slightly less likely than those who had separated, divorced or dissolved a civil partnership to say the general standard of living had fallen a lot. However, the bivariate differences were not particularly big. Moreover, they disappear when you look the proportion who thought the standard of living had fallen 'a little' or 'a lot' together.
27 Note that although regression analysis of factors associated with a below average score for satisfaction with own living standards does not show this precise pattern after other factors - like income and self-rated hardship - are taken into account, bivariate analysis indicates clear differences in mean satisfaction scores by economic activity.
28 Like many national surveys of households or individuals, in order to attain the optimum balance between sample efficiency and fieldwork efficiency the sample was clustered. The first stage of sampling involved randomly selecting postcode sectors. The sample frame of postcode sectors was also stratified (by urban-rural, region and the percentage of people in non-manual occupations) to improve the match between the sample profile and that of the Scottish population. For further details of the sample design, see para 6 below.
29 See http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/07/29152642/7 for details.
30 See http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD/ for further details on the SIMD.
31 These variables were created by the ScotCen/NatCen Survey Methods Unit. They are based on SIMD scores for all datazones, not just those included in the sample - so an individual who lives in the most deprived quintile of Scotland will also be included in the most deprived quintile in the SSA dataset.
32 Whether someone believes they are living comfortably, coping or finding it difficult on their current income.
33 See Annex A, Table A.23 for the full results of the question this measure is based on.
34 Based on responses to a series of questions designed to measure 'social connectedness'. These questions asked people how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the following statements: 'I regularly stop and speak to people in my area'; 'If my home was empty, I could count on one of my neighbours to keep an eye on it'; and 'I feel that there are people in this area I could turn to for advice and support'. Responses to the three questions were combined to form an overall measure of 'social connectedeness'.
35 As measured by a question which asks whether or not respondents have any long-term illness, health problems or disability, expected to last for a year or more