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Scottish Social Attitudes 2009

Did you know?

In 2009, 33% thought the Scottish Government had most say over how Scotland is run, compared with 13% who said the Scottish Parliament had most influence a decade earlier.

from : Scottish Social Attitudes 2009

About this study

The Scottish Social Attitudes survey has tracked the views of people in Scotland on a range of social, moral and political issues since 1999. Every year, around 1,500 people are interviewed on a wide range of different topics.

Timeline

Questions on the 2009 survey

The 2009 survey was funded by the Scottish Government, NHS Health Scotland and the Leverhulme Trust. Topics covered in this year included:

• 1 | Anti-social behaviour
• 2 | Devolution and attitudes to government
• 3 | Drugs
• 4 | Local environment
• 5 | National identity
• 6 | Public services
• 7 | Violence

Findings from this Scottish Government funded set of questions are now available. You can read the full report here. This module of questions was commissioned by the Scottish Government in 2009 to inform its National Review of Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Strategy. They explore what influences people's attitudes to ASB, views about community involvement in tackling ASB, and views about the extent to which young people are responsible for committing ASB.

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SSA 2009 continues a long-running series of questions on public attitudes to government. These explore issues including political trust and the perceived impact of devolution on Scotland's voice in the UK. You can read the latest findings here or the full report here.
The 2009 survey also includes some questions, self-funded by ScotCen, on attitudes to Scottish independence. Findings from these questions were reported at a seminar held in collaboration with the Institute of Governance at Edinburgh University. Details about the seminar can be found here. You can read our press release about Scottish attitudes towards independence at our media centre.

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Questions in the 2009 survey explore public attitudes to drugs and to the possibility of recovering from problem drug use. You can read the full report here.

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What makes somewhere a good place to live? We also ask about attitudes to local greenspace to help inform future policy around 'sustainable places'. A summary of the findings is available here. A small number of questions, funded by NHS Health Scotland, explore the availability of 'escape places', where people can go to get away from their everyday problems and stresses. A report describing the development of these questions is available here.

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SSA has carried questions on National Identity on a regular basis. Many of these have been developed with David McCrone and Frank Bechhofer at the University of Edinburgh. In 2009, an additional survey running alongside Scottish Social Attitudes explored the attitudes of those living in 'Gaelic speaking areas' of Scotland to national and Gaelic identity.

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SSA regularly collects views on standards in key public services in Scotland. You can read a report that covers these latest findings here.

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NHS Health Scotland has funded ScotCen to develop a new set of questions on attitudes to violence. The final draft questions were piloted on SSA 2009. A report describing the development of these questions is available here.

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