The Anholt Nation Brands Index®: 2024 Report For Scotland Methodology Report

Sample design and fieldwork

Survey panel countries

Twenty countries were selected for the survey of the 2024 NBI study, representing major developed and developing countries that play important and diverse roles in international relations, trade and the flow of business, and cultural and tourism activities. Given the increasing global role played by developing countries, the survey strived to represent regional balance as well as the balance between high-income and middle-income countries. Consistency between survey waves was also taken into consideration.

The core 20 panel countries in 2024 were as follows:

• Western Europe/North America: The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom^[4], Germany, France, Italy, Sweden
• Central and Eastern Europe: Russia^[5], Poland, Türkiye
• Asia.Pacific: Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia
• Latin America: Agrentina, Brazil, Mexico
• Middle East/Africa: Saudi Arabia, South Africa

Participating nations

The list of 50 nations asked in the survey was based on the political and economic importance of the nations and on regional balance and representation, and, to some extent, the diversity of political and economic systems was also taken into consideration in order to make the study truly global. NBI subscription members' interests were also reflected in the selection of the countries.

The list of 50 nations in 2024 is as follows, listed by region (changes since the Scottish Government last subscribed to the survey in 2022 are signified by an asterisk):

• North America: Canada, the United States
• Western Europe: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal*, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Wales
• Central/Eastern Europe: The Czech Republic, Estonia*, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Türkiye, Ukraine
• Asia-Pacific: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan
• Latin America and the Caribbean: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru
• Middle East/Africa: Egypt, Israel, kenya, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates

Survey Fieldwork

Across all panel countries, 42,107 interviews were conducted for the 2024 NBI survey, 10,162 about Scotland. In each panel country, at least 2,000 adults (aged 18 or over) who were internet users were interviewed. Pre-recruited online panels were utilised for the study. Large and regularly updated panels were selected for each country where quality control procedures such as frequent respondent identity verification were practiced. See the panel maintenance and panel quality control section for details.

In each panel country the list of 50 nations was randomly assigned to respondents, each of whom rated 10 nations, resulting in each nation getting approximately 500 ratings per panel country.

Online research of today often utilises an approach called "blended panels", i.e., using more than one online panel to achieve the total sample. This practice helps mitigate unknown sources of biases that may be attributable to one single panel.^[6] As the NBI is a trending service, it is important to keep the online sampling approaches consistent across the NBI survey waves while gradually adopting the latest and best methodology. The 2024 survey used a blended sample that was consistent with 2022. For 2024, this methodology was used in all 20 panel countries.

Based on the most up-to-date online population statistics in each country, the outgoing sample in each country is stratified by six sample cells: males 18-34, 35-54, 55+ and females 18-34, 35-54, 55+. For each cell, random sample replicates are drawn, and invitations sent out to respondents to participate in the survey.