Scottish Household Survey 2021: methodology and fieldwork outcomes

Methodology of the 2021 Scottish Household Survey and information on fieldwork targets and outcomes.


Survey response

Scotland level

The final number of social survey interviews achieved was 9,952. This is lower than the target of 10,450 interviews and represents an overall response rate of 11%.

Normally response rates are reported as total interviews over eligible addresses. However, it is not possible to get accurate estimates of deadwood (ineligible addresses) from the alternative SHS approaches (since without face-to-face visits, we cannot identify what proportion of addresses were vacant or derelict or otherwise ineligible). The best comparison between the different approaches is to use total interviews achieved divided by all addresses. This is sometimes referred to as the "unadjusted response rate".

Table 5: Unadjusted response rates by year and sub-sample
2018 2019 2020 2021
All 56.3% 57.2% 19.7% 11.0%
Opt-in n/a n/a 14.5% 10.0%
Telephone-matched n/a n/a 37.1% 25.2%

The response to the opt-in only sample reduced over time, from 12-13% in the earlier waves to 10% in the later waves.

Table 6: Unadjusted response rates by wave and sub-sample
W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 Total
Portal / telephone opt-ins 14.0% 15.6% 14.3% 11.8% 12.9% 11.2% 10.1% 9.2% 9.6% 11.3% 11.8%
Opt-ins resulting in interviews 85.0% 83.0% 78.8% 88.6% 87.5% 85.4% 82.5% 85.8% 87.2% 86.8% 85.1%
Overall unadjusted response rate 11.9% 13.0% 11.2% 10.5% 11.3% 9.5% 8.3% 7.9% 8.4% 9.8% 10.0%

The conversion from household interview to random adult completion was 91.5% in 2021 (compared to 92% in 2019 and 2020).

Local authority level

Table 7: Unadjusted response and interview numbers by local authority
Local authority Response rate – Opt-in Response rate – Telephone-matched Response rate - overall Household interviews Random adult interviews
Aberdeen City 8.4% 14.8% 8.9% 311 298
Aberdeenshire 11.7% 19.9% 12.6% 315 283
Angus 9.3% 21.6% 9.9% 256 231
Argyll and Bute 11.6% 19.7% 12.1% 267 244
Clackmannanshire 9.9% 33.5% 12.1% 249 233
Dumfries and Galloway 11.1% 21.1% 11.9% 244 219
Dundee City 7.4% 20.5% 7.9% 229 206
East Ayrshire 9.3% 17.1% 9.8% 219 200
East Dunbartonshire 13.4% 29.5% 14.6% 231 197
East Lothian 14.0% 24.6% 15.0% 242 214
East Renfrewshire 13.1% 25.2% 14.1% 259 242
Edinburgh City 14.1% 28.9% 15.0% 788 725
Na h-Eileanan Siar 9.1% 38.1% 11.0% 221 209
Falkirk 8.9% 23.5% 9.9% 227 202
Fife 9.7% 30.8% 11.3% 556 500
Glasgow City 8.4% 18.1% 8.8% 900 825
Highland 12.8% 34.0% 14.6% 359 329
Inverclyde 8.6% 24.0% 10.0% 223 200
Midlothian 9.0% 19.2% 9.6% 250 223
Moray 13.3% 26.8% 14.5% 233 216
North Ayrshire 8.7% 23.1% 9.7% 231 208
North Lanarkshire 6.9% 23.7% 7.9% 447 398
Orkney 12.4% 35.7% 14.1% 242 222
Perth and Kinross 11.5% 26.1% 12.2% 278 258
Renfrewshire 9.9% 25.2% 10.7% 270 238
Scottish Borders 14.3% 42.0% 17.2% 242 222
Shetland 12.9% 33.1% 14.4% 234 211
South Ayrshire 11.0% 29.6% 12.7% 238 208
South Lanarkshire 8.7% 24.8% 9.7% 486 441
Stirling 14.0% 27.6% 15.0% 254 233
West Dunbartonshire 6.3% 21.2% 7.0% 238 208
West Lothian 9.9% 18.9% 11.0% 213 191
TOTAL 10.0% 25.2% 11.0% 9952 9034

Physical survey

Table 8 shows the percentage and number of those asked to take part in the physical survey who went on to complete it. There was a target of at least 80 completed physical surveys for each local authority along with a target of 3,004 surveys for Scotland. The total number of completed physical surveys was 3,174, exceeding the target of 3,004.

The coversion rate from household survey to physical survey was 80% overall. This is considerably high than normal because of the change of approach to the social and physical survey. Overall, 83% of eligible households taking part in the social survey agreed to a surveyor appointment and 96% of these resulted in an External+ physical survey being achieved.

Table 8: Conversion to full physical survey
Local authority Physical surveys Conversion rate
Aberdeen City 82 76%
Aberdeenshire 82 74%
Angus 85 86%
Argyll and Bute 100 81%
Clackmannanshire 88 87%
Dumfries and Galloway 69 77%
Dundee City 92 81%
East Ayrshire 75 82%
East Dunbartonshire 76 84%
East Lothian 94 77%
East Renfrewshire 80 74%
Edinburgh City 201 76%
Na h-Eileanan Siar 80 67%
Falkirk 80 78%
Fife 144 84%
Glasgow City 286 80%
Highland 89 82%
Inverclyde 79 81%
Midlothian 91 82%
Moray 80 82%
North Ayrshire 92 79%
North Lanarkshire 124 82%
Orkney 100 86%
Perth and Kinross 103 82%
Renfrewshire 87 86%
Scottish Borders 89 76%
Shetland 81 86%
South Ayrshire 86 80%
South Lanarkshire 122 73%
Stirling 87 87%
West Dunbartonshire 77 77%
West Lothian 73 79%

Contact

Email: shs@gov.scot

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