Data and methodology

All underlying data for these statistics, including the number of survey respondents per question, is provided in the Supporting Documents that accompany the publication.

The Scottish Household Survey is an annual survey which has run since 1999. It has a random sample, designed to be representative of the adult population in Scotland. In 2024, interviews were undertaken face to face as has been longstanding practice (except during COVID-19 when the methodology was altered and interviews took place by telephone or video link hence results for 2020 and 2021 are not directly comparable with other years).

The survey operates such that some questions are not asked every year; and not all questions are asked of all respondents (e.g. some questions are only asked to a third of respondents).

Following a review of the SHS questionnaire, access to green or blue space is the only environmental question which is asked on an annual basis. The following environmental questions will be asked every two years, falling on odd years (starting in 2025):

• Attitudes towards climate change
• Climate change behaviours
• Satisfaction with nearest green or blue space
• Frequency of use of nearest green or blue space
• Visits to the outdoors (not necessarily the nearest outdoor space)
• Land use (participation in interest groups, consultations, etc)

See the SHS webpage for further information on the survey and methodology.