Cultural engagement in Scotland: insights from people's experiences

Introduction

The Culture Strategy for Scotland was published in February 2020 following engagement and consultation with artists, cultural organisations and communities across Scotland.^[2] Culture is described as something that takes place across the country every day. It is something that can be expressed in a wide variety of ways, and it means different things to different people. The strategy also highlights the positive impact that culture has on society and its potential to contribute to individual, community and national wellbeing and prosperity.

One of the main ways to evidence patterns of cultural engagement in Scotland is through the Scottish Household Survey (SHS). This provides valuable statistical data on attitudes and behaviours at a national level and for different groups of people and places. However, this numerical survey data only provides us with one type of evidence. There is less data in Scotland on people’s perceptions and experiences, including what culture and creativity may mean to them, and how people may experience and understand ‘culture’ beyond the activities and places that are listed in the SHS. As acknowledged in the Culture Strategy, the way that cultural engagement is captured should be reconsidered to better reflect the nature and breadth of this topic.

In particular, the pandemic and then the cost-of-living crisis has had a major impact on people’s ability to access, engage with, and work in the culture sector. Through the closure of venues and cancelled events to the potentially far reaching societal and wellbeing impacts – all of which have affected how people live and connect with each other.

To understand in greater detail what people think and feel now, the Scottish Government developed an open ‘free-text’ survey to provide people with the opportunity to share their views and experiences in their own words. This report presents the findings from this survey.

Research aim

The aim of this research was to gather direct accounts from the public on their perspectives and experiences of culture and creativity. As the questions were all open (they did not use a drop-down list of pre-set answers), they were not based on any predetermined assumptions about what places or activities may be associated with culture or creativity. This information will be used to supplement and provide wider context to the data that is available from the Scottish Household Survey. It will help the Scottish Government and our stakeholders to understand the breadth of views across Scotland and it will provide evidence to help track progress towards the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework culture outcomes.^[3]

Data collection

An online free-text survey was launched on 8^th July 2024. It was open for 4 weeks and closed on 2^nd August 2024. All the questions used an open text format. This meant that respondents could answer in as much or as little detail as they liked. Questions included, ‘If you have any free time, what are your favourite things to do?’, ‘Does anything stop you from doing the things you would like to do in your free time?’, ‘What does culture mean to you’ and ‘What do you think about the places where you can access or take part in cultural and creative activities?’. See Annex A for a full list of the questions.

The survey was available on the Scottish Government website and it was promoted through the Scottish Government culture ‘X’ social media account.^[4] A link to the survey was also shared via a range of 40 organisations in the third and public sector. These organisations then shared the survey link via methods such as newsletters, social media, ‘news’ sections on their websites and through word of mouth. An Easy Read version of the survey was created. Following feedback from two organisations who represent and support people with learning disabilities and autism, researchers also ran an online session where they received verbal feedback on the survey questions. These responses were incorporated into the analysis.

Who took part in the survey

504 responses were submitted. These were all mainly from individuals, however a small number (fewer than 14) selected they were responding as an organisation. Table 1 shows a summary of the sample characteristics (see Annex B for a more detailed breakdown of the sample).

Analysis

Responses were downloaded from the Citizen Space platform and analysed thematically by a team of social researchers. This involved reading and rereading the responses to become familiar with the data and then identifying patterns and codes. The researchers discussed their coding frameworks to ensure there was consensus and consistency. Themes were then reviewed and finalised. Quotes are used throughout the report to illustrate these themes, where consent was provided by respondents.

The open text survey was used to gather a diverse range of views. The analysis did not aim to quantify the issues and views that were raised. The aim was to summarise some of the views and perspectives held by different people and show patterns or themes. To help with clarity, the report uses descriptive language such as ‘many’, ‘some’ or ‘a small number’ to refer to views that were shared across a large section of the responses, or for an idea or viewpoint that came up less frequently. The authors recognise that insights expressed by a smaller number of people are in no way less meaningful or useful.

Limitations

There are some limitations that should be noted. As this was an online survey, it excludes people who do not have internet access. While the survey was promoted through other, non-digital, forms (e.g. within community venues), it was primarily designed for those who could then complete it via the internet on an electronic device.

The sample was self-selecting. This resulted in a high representation of female respondents, a high proportion of people who were educated to degree level or higher and a small number of respondents who were under 24 or over 84 years old. It is also likely that there was a greater response from people who held strong views on the subject area, including those that work within the cultural and creative sectors. The survey did not ask respondents whether they work in the cultural/creative sector, so we cannot quantify this. The survey asked respondents completing the survey as an organisation, rather than as an individual, to cite their organisation.

The different organisations who promoted the survey may have also impacted on who completed it, and the issues that were raised. For example, the survey was promoted though library networks across Scotland, resulting in some responses that focused on the positive role of libraires.

The aim of this survey was to try and gather views from people who engage with culture in a variety of different forms, and those who do not. Whilst it is likely that there was a skew towards people who accessed the survey link due to their engagement or interest in organisations associated with things like dance, music, museums, reading, theatre and so on, the link was also shared with organisations with no direct affiliation to ‘culture’. It is hoped that this helped to gather a wide spectrum of viewpoints and experiences.

Structure of the report

This report is structured into 5 sections:

1. Free time and barriers - What do people like doing in their free time and does anything stop them?

2. Meanings of culture and creativity – How do people describe culture and creativity?

3. Importance and feeling – Do people think cultural engagement is important and how does it make them feel?

4. How – How do people like to take part in different activities?

5. Place and space – What do people think about the places where they can access cultural activities (locally and nationally)?