About this study
The Citizenship Survey, carried out on behalf of Communities and Local Government, explores peoples’ views of their local community in England and Wales.
The survey started in 2001 and has taken place every two years. Since April 2007 it has been run as a continuous survey. Key topics have included:
- household characteristics,
- social networks,
- fear of crime,
- views about the local area,
- volunteering and charitable giving,
- involvement in civil renewal activities,
- perceptions of racial and religious prejudice and discrimination,
- attitudes to immigration, and
- interactions with people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds.
We carried out the 2005, 2007-08 and 2008-09 Citizenship Surveys. For information on the current survey please see the Communities and Local Government website.
Five topic reports were published based on the 2007-08 survey. You can see a summary of the findings here. The topic reports and the technical report can be downloaded from the Communities and Local Government website.
Potential policy impact
The Citizenship Survey is designed to contribute to the evidence base across a range of important policy areas including cohesion, community empowerment, race equality, volunteering and charitable giving.
It provides information about what issues are important to different communities and how views on these issues have changed over time.
Method
The survey involves face-to-face fieldwork with adults aged 16 or over. It's based on a nationally representative sample of approximately 10,000 adults in England and Wales with an additional sample of around 5,000 adults from ethnic minority groups.
The results of the 2007-2008 survey were published in 2009. Results of the 2008-09 survey will be published in spring 2010.