Scottish Household Survey User Engagement Report 2020

6. Impact

Data Explorer impacts

• Improved data access and functionality for users
• Time savings for the Scottish Household Survey
• Data transparency
• Shortlisted for the ESRC Research Impact and Knowledge Exchange Award 2020

New reporting format impacts

• Increased media coverage
• Widened audience and use of Scottish Household Survey findings

There have been several positive impacts resulting from the creation of the Data Explorer and new reporting format. Firstly, the Data Explorer meets the objective of publishing local authority data at the same time as national figures that was initially set out. The online interactive tool also meets other identified user needs, such as interactive and exportable tables, graphs and PDF reports. As such, the Data Explorer contains all the functionalities of the previous dissemination product and more. During the first month of the 2019 Data Explorer, the website was active for 190 hours. While this figure cannot tell us how many people visited the data explorer, it does indicate that it has during this time period been used a significant amount with an average of over six hours per day.

Secondly, by creating the Data Explorer the Scottish Household Survey team have experienced time and workload savings. It would previously take up to three months to create the MS Excel Local Authority tables. With a high level of automation incorporated in the Data Explorer, production of annual national and local authority data takes around one week. These time savings have a positive impact on the users, as the team can now produce other reports closer in time after the data publications, such as the Technical Report and Behind the Numbers.

A third positive impact from the creation of the Data Explorer relates to data transparency. In 2015, The Scottish Government set out their Open Data Strategy, recognising the wider societal benefits of making data as open and transparent as possible. The code for the Data Explorer is publically available, which means that anyone can see how the data has been manipulated. This data transparency improves the Scottish Household Survey’s accountability to users.

The many positive impacts resulting from the development of the Data Explorer were formally acknowledged in spring of 2020, when the tool was shortlisted for the ESRC Research Impact and Knowledge Exchange Award.

The new reporting format carried with it positive impacts. The Scottish Household Survey noticed more media coverage of the annual findings. At least 22 media articles referred to 2019 findings of the Scottish Household Survey. This is an increase from the last two years and the highest amount of media coverage that the SHS team has ever received. Also images from the Key Findings Infographic were used by and shared in the media. The Tweet announcing the SHS 20 Years of Scotland’s People comic was seen by 2,634 people. Furthermore, 1,241 Twitter users viewed the Tweet about the Scottish Household Survey and Young Scot film. Compared to earlier years, both the type and size of the Scottish Household Survey audience increased, leading to the data being used to a greater potential.