Scottish Household Survey: Bulletin No 3

2 Introduction

This is the third bulletin of findings from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS), a major new survey of the Scottish population funded by the Scottish Executive. The aim of the SHS is to provide information on the characteristics, composition and behaviour of Scottish households.

The survey covers a wide range of topics and by bringing these together in one survey, allows analysis of issues in ways that have not previously been possible in Scotland.

This bulletin focuses on aspects of people's neighbourhoods, the characteristics of households in different neighbourhood types, their perceptions of the physical environ-ment and experience of crime, as well as their use of services and attitudes to those services. The services examined range across both the private and public sectors.

The analysis includes a geo-demographic variable known as Scottish MOSAIC. This classifies neighbourhoods according to a complex mix of factors and is used here to give an initial indication of differences between neighbourhood types in Scotland.

The analysis in this bulletin is based on data collected from 6,546 households and additional information collected from 6,150 individuals between February and June 1999.

Further methodological details of the survey and a note on definitions are given at the end of this bulletin.

Scottish MOSAIC

Scottish MOSAIC is a powerful neighbourhood classification system developed by Experian. It draws on a large number of Census variables, augmented by some published non-Census information, to distinguish between postcodes in terms of types of housing, housing densities and household characteristics. It uses statistical analysis of variables such as home ownership, car ownership, age, health, employment status and occupation to identify types of neighbourhoods with similar characteristics. With ten broad groups (see Box 1), subdivided into 47 types, this geodemographic system has been used in both the sampling and analysis of the SHS.

At the sampling stage, it enabled postcodes to be sorted by MOSAIC type before selecting the addresses for the survey, ensuring that the random sample of addresses reflects the profile of Scotland.

In the analysis, it has been possible to group together addresses that share the same MOSAIC type even if they are from different local authority areas. To take two examples, the group L9 is described as 'Country dwellers', and includes neighbourhoods which are predominantly 'country cottages', 'farms and crofts' and 'rural retirement areas'. On the other hand, L8 is described as 'Singles and flats' and includes groups such as 'student flats', 'multi-let tenements' and 'town centre singles'. An outline of the descriptors used in the Scottish MOSAIC classification is included in Section 8.

The use of the Scottish MOSAIC classification as part of the operation of the survey has provided a convenient area classification and gives an initial indication of differences between neighbourhoods in Scotland. Future publications may focus on households in areas classified in different ways.

Box 1: Scottish MOSAIC groups