About the Scottish Household Survey

Information about the Scottish Household Survey, including methods used and questions asked.

Introduction

The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) is an annual, cross-sectional survey that provides robust evidence on the composition, characteristics, attitudes and behaviour of private households and individuals as well as evidence on the physical condition of Scotland’s homes. The SHS asks questions of a random sample of people in private residences in Scotland. Questions are asked by an interviewer in homes all over Scotland. Its large sample size allows analysis of all Scotland's 32 local authorities.

Participation is voluntary, and is important in helping us make representative estimates for Scotland.

The topics covered in the survey include housing, neighbourhoods, finances, internet, physical activity, local services, environment, volunteering, culture, childcare.

For survey results, please visit the Scottish Household Survey results web page.

More detail on the questions asked in the SHS and the methods used are provided in the questionnaires and methodology sections below.

Survey methods used

The structure of the survey is a continuous cross-sectional survey. As well as keeping down the annual cost of the survey and making the volume of fieldwork more manageable, a continuous survey will, in time, enable national trends to be detected sooner than would periodical surveys. Below are documents which detail the methodology and fieldwork done.

Survey questions asked

The questionnaires and questionnaire reviews for the Scottish Household Survey.

User engagement

Information and slides from the most recent user days hosted by the Scottish Government. You can view information relating to previous user days in our archive.

Contact

Please email the Scottish Household Survey at shs@gov.scot to provide feedback on the SHS or to request further information on any issue, including ad-hoc requests for analysis.

Interviews

If you do not wish to take part in the survey, please use the freephone number or email Ipsos MORI at shs@ipsos.com to have your household address removed from our lists.

Telephone: 0808 238 5376

More information from Ipsos MORI: The Scottish Household Survey (SHS)

ScotStat

If you wish to be added to the e-mail mailing list to be kept informed of details of SHS developments, you should register your interest in 'Population and Household Surveys' and/or the Scottish Household Survey' sub-topic on the ScotStat Register.

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