Scottish Surveys Core Questions 2022

1.7 Treatment of Item Non-Responses

Item non-responses occur when a person participates in a survey but does not provide an answer to a specific question. These responses are typically coded as ‘refused’, ‘don’t know’ or ‘prefer not to say’.

Although the SSCQ includes item non-responses in their calculations, ‘refused’ and ‘don’t know’ responses are excluded from any data presentations. Row totals in the Annex or the supplementary tables may therefore not add to 100%, and numbers of adults and sample may not add to the Scotland total for each cross-variable.

Individual surveys may take a different approach to coding non-responses which can mean slight differences in the results presented in SSCQ. To adopt a more consistent approach within the SSCQ and align the SSCQ with its constituent surveys, we plan to review the SSCQ methodology and handling of item non-responses.