Information for Interviewees
This section provides information for interviewees, including what to do if you have been selected and you then agree to be interviewed as well as what happens with the information you provide.
Similar information is provided through our Your Questions Answered leaflet, which is made available to all household members selected to participate in the survey.
If you have been selected
You will receive a letter explaining that you have been chosen to take part in the survey. This will include an information leaflet.
An interviewer from Ipsos MORI Scotland , TNS System Three or Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen) will then call at your home.
Interviews can take place in the evenings and at weekends as well as during working hours. If you would like to arrange a specific time for the interviewer to visit, please Contact us.
Every interviewer and surveyor carries an ID card which he or she should show you. If you have any doubts about their identity, then again please Contact us.
If you agree to be interviewed
The interviewer asks questions and enters the responses into a laptop computer there and then. For some items, the interviewer will show you some cards with options for your response printed on them.
Interview length varies depending on your answers, but the average is about 45 minutes.
You do not have to answer any item if you don't want to - you can just refuse and the interviewer will carry on to the next one. You do not have to say why you did not want to answer.
After the interview
The information you give will be combined with the information from all the other interviews carried out, to produce statistics about the features of Scottish households. It will be anonymous (ie no-one will be able to identify you from your answers) and will remain confidential.
Click here to access Frequently Asked Questions about the survey.