Scottish Climate Survey: technical report 2024 to 2025
Technical report supporting the publication 'Scottish Climate Survey: main findings'
Survey response rates
Response rates
In total, 4,089 eligible surveys were received from 3,479 households (2,953 online and 1,136 postal surveys), with 1.18 adults participating per household. The household-level response rate (i.e. the percentage of households contacted in which at least one questionnaire was completed) was 19.6% and the individual-level response rate (i.e. the estimated response rate among all adults that were eligible to complete the survey) was 13.1%[1].
Table 6.1 below shows the variation in response rate by the six-fold urban/rural classification areas.
Table 6.1 Response rates by rurality
| Urban/ rural area | Issed addresses | Number of completed surveys | Number of addresses taking part | Address level response rate (%) | Number of returns per participating address |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1. Large Urban Areas |
5,420 |
1,110 |
935 |
18.8% |
1.19 |
|
2. Other Urban Areas |
4,870 |
984 |
843 |
18.8% |
1.17 |
|
3. Accessible Small Towns |
2,340 |
512 |
444 |
20.6% |
1.15 |
|
4. Remote Small Towns |
2,260 |
400 |
340 |
16.4% |
1.18 |
|
5. Accessible Rural Areas |
2,600 |
563 |
479 |
20.0% |
1.18 |
|
6. Remote Rural Areas |
1,850 |
520 |
438 |
25.7% |
1.19 |
|
Total |
19,340 |
4,089 |
3,479 |
19.6% |
1.18 |
Profile of achieved sample
The table below shows the profile of those who completed the survey online and those who completed the postal questionnaire according to five key demographics.
Table 6.2: Profile of the achieved sample (unweighted) by mode[2]
| Demographic | Percentage of online respondents | Precentage of postal respondents | Percentage of total respondents |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Gender |
|
|
|
|
Male |
48% |
44% |
47% |
|
Female |
50% |
54% |
51% |
|
Non-binary / my gender is not listed |
<1% |
<1% |
<1% |
|
Prefer not to say |
2% |
2% |
2% |
|
Age |
|
|
|
|
16 – 34 |
15% |
5% |
12% |
|
35 - 54 |
27% |
15% |
24% |
|
55 – 69 |
36% |
36% |
36% |
|
70+ |
21% |
42% |
26% |
|
Prefer not to say |
2% |
2% |
3% |
|
SIMD (quintiles) |
|
|
|
|
1 (most deprived) |
11% |
13% |
12% |
|
2 |
16% |
17% |
16% |
|
3 |
24% |
22% |
24% |
|
4 |
24% |
25% |
25% |
|
5 (least deprived) |
25% |
23% |
24% |
|
Rurality (six-fold) |
|
|
|
|
1. Large Urban Areas |
24% |
27% |
28% |
|
2. Other Urban Areas |
27% |
24% |
23% |
|
3. Accessible Small Towns |
14% |
13% |
12% |
|
4. Remote Small Towns |
8% |
10% |
10% |
|
5. Accessible Rural Areas |
14% |
14% |
14% |
|
6. Remote Rural Areas |
13% |
13% |
13% |
|
Ethnicity |
|
|
|
|
White |
93% |
96% |
94% |
|
Minority ethnic |
5% |
2% |
4% |
|
Prefer not to say |
2% |
2% |
2% |
Table 6.2 shows that those aged under 55 were more likely to complete the survey online, while those over 70 were more likely to use the postal option.
Break offs
A break-off occurs when a respondent enters the online questionnaire but does not complete it. Software allows this abandoned survey data to be captured. These data can be analysed and used to identify problems with the survey, formatting issues on devices (which can arise on an ad-hoc basis due to device updates), indicate questions that respondents find difficult to answer or where there may be technical issues.
It is possible to quantify an overall break-off rate by dividing the number who abandoned the survey by the number who started the questionnaire. It should be noted that cases which had a break-off near the end of the online questionnaire could be included in the dataset. Once the question on working status had been answered in the online questionnaire the case was treated as being productive.
The overall break-off rate among entrants to the online survey was 11.5%, which is relatively low.
The break-offs occurred during the following sections of the survey:
Table 6.3: Break-off by section
| Section | Dropout percentage |
|---|---|
|
Survey introduction |
12.6% |
|
Public views on climate change |
12.8% |
|
Experience of severe weather events |
16.8% |
|
Climate change adaptation actions |
22.0% |
|
Mitigation behaviours |
12.0% |
|
Transport |
12.0% |
|
Home energy and heat decarbonisation |
4.5% |
|
Food and diet |
2.6% |
|
Nature and the built environment |
3.7% |
|
Impacts of the transition to net zero |
1.0% |
Questionnaire length
Based on internal timings Ipsos estimated that the questionnaire would take around 20 minutes to complete. The median actual completion time was 23 minutes 57 seconds. The timings data is calculated as the difference between the survey start and finish times. This does not account for respondents who exit the survey and return to it at a later time.
[1] An estimated 8% of PAF addresses in Scotland are assumed to be non-residential (derived from the Scottish Household Survey and Scottish Crime and Justice Survey sampling assumptions). The average number of adults aged 16+ per residential household in Scotland is 1.75 (based on NRS Mid-2023 population estimates). Therefore, the following formulae were used to calculate the response rates: Household RR = number of responding households / (number of issued addresses*0.92); Individual RR = number of responses / (number of issued addresses*0.92*1.75).
[2] Where results do not sum to 100% this will be due to computer rounding.
Contact
Email: emily.creamer@gov.scot