The surveys workshop was hosted by Falkirk Council.
The workshop was facilitated by Alex Stannard and Sara Grainger from Office of the Chief Statistician, Barry Stalker from Office of the Chief Researcher and Tom Spencer from Communities Analytical Services.
The following people attended the workshop:
Jenny Boag, Falkirk Council
Michelle Johnston, Falkirk Council
Siobhan Monigatti, Falkirk Council
Karen Robertson, Historic Scotland
Ron Hunter, SPT
Bob Stead, West Lothian Council
Catherine Stewart, Edinburgh City Council
Alison Turnbull, Museums and Galleries Scotland
Craig Cowan, Glasgow City Council
Harminder Ghatorae, Glasgow City Council
Faith Dunbar, Glasgow City Council
Darren Keenan, Glasgow City Council
Presentations and Handouts
Presentation: Welcome, Scottish Government Surveys and the Long Term Survey Strategy
Presentation: Sampling Methods and Sampling Theory
Presentation: The Crime and Victimisation Survey
Presentation: Falkirk Council's Bi-annual Council Tax Survey
Presentation: Questionnaire Design
Presentation: Analysing Survey Data. This presentation included an excel workbook with a sample size demo.
Presentation: Using Official Data Sources
Calculation of confidence intervals for point estimates and change
Methodology Glossary
Discussion questions around questionnaire design
Examples of questionnaires discussed:
Childminder Survey Results of the childminder survey can be seen here
GP Access Survey
The Long Term Survey Strategy, the harmonised survey questions and information about major Scottish Government Surveys can all be found at the Major Statistical Surveys website.
Feedback
People who attended the workshop were asked to rate their agreement to the following statements on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 = Strongly Agree and 5 = Strongly Disagree.
I have an increased awareness of the range of national surveys, and how I can access the data. Mean score = 2.3.
I have an improved/refreshed awareness of what makes a good questionnaire and the benefits of using harmonised questions. Mean score = 2.0.
I have an improved/refreshed understanding of different sampling methods and sampling theory (e.g. why we use samples, their strengths and limitations). Mean score = 2.1.
I have increased knowledge about how to analyse survey data and the issues to consider when the data were collected by another organisation. Mean score = 2.1.
I have an improved/refreshed understanding of why we weight and gross-up sample data and how to calculate and use weighting and grossing factors. Mean score = 2.3.
I have an improved/refreshed understanding of why confidence intervals are necessary, how to calculate and interpret them. Mean score = 2.1.
When asked what the most useful points about the day were, attendees said: "The section relating to sampling methods was very imformative"; "Networking"; "All sessions explained a good level of detail - of great practical benefit to my work"; "Clear explanation of confidence intervals"; "Session on questionnaire design and information on weighting"; "Very useful handouts".
When asked what could be improved comments included "more discussion on what people use surveys for" and "lunch on time!".