Scottish Surveys Core Questions 2013

The SSCQ gathers survey responses from identical questions in the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, the Scottish Health Survey and the Scottish Household Survey into one output. SSCQ provides reliable and detailed information on the composition, characteristics and attitudes of Scottish households and adults across a number of topic areas including equality characteristics, housing, employment and perceptions of health and crime, and enables detailed sub-national analysis.

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Annex B. Comparison of the pooled surveys

In this section, key outcome variables are assessed across the three surveys to determine if there is broad agreement between the constituents of the SSCQ. Where the quoted confidence intervals overlap, we can assume that differences in the estimates are not statistically significant.

Estimates in these tables will be close to but may not be identical to figures published by the individual surveys. This is due to differences in the valid sample size and weights being applied before pooling (see section 6.1).

The three surveys and the pool broadly agree on the distribution of self-assessed health (Table B.1) and on the proportion of the adult population that smoke (Table B.2).

Respondents to the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) are somewhat more likely to say that they suffer from a long-term limiting health condition (Table B.3). Respondents are more likely to identify long-term conditions when asked about them in the context of an interview about numerous aspects of their health and wellbeing.

Respondents to the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) are more likely to perceive an increase in the crime rate of their local area and somewhat lower levels of confidence in the police overall (Tables B.4 & B.5).

Table B.1: Self-assessed general health by survey (row % and margin of error)

Very good Good Fair Bad Very Bad
SSCQ 36.0 ± 0.8 38.6 ± 0.8 17.8 ± 0.6 5.9 ± 0.4 1.7 ± 0.2
SCJS 37.4 ± 1.4 38.0 ± 1.4 17.2 ± 1.1 5.9 ± 0.6 1.4 ± 0.3
SHS 36.1 ± 1.2 38.3 ± 1.2 18.3 ± 0.9 5.6 ± 0.5 1.8 ± 0.3
SHeS 34.0 ± 2.0 40.3 ± 1.7 17.3 ± 1.5 6.4 ± 0.9 1.9 ± 0.5

Table B.2: Current smoker (row % and margin of error)

Yes No
SSCQ 22.7 ± 0.7 77.1 ± 0.7
SCJS 23.0 ± 1.2 76.8 ± 1.2
SHS 23.1 ± 1.0 76.9 ± 1.0
SHeS 21.4 ± 1.7 78.0 ± 1.7

Table B.3: Long-term limiting health condition (row % and margin of error)

Condition and limits a little or lots No condition/condition that doesn't limit
SSCQ 22.6 ± 0.6 77.1 ± 0.6
SCJS 19.3 ± 1.1 80.5 ± 1.1
SHS 21.8 ± 0.9 77.7 ± 0.9
SHeS 31.1 ± 2.0 68.8 ± 2.1

Table B.4: Perception of local crime rate (row % and margin of error)

A lot more A little more About the same A little less A lot less
SSCQ 4.3 ± 0.4 12.5 ± 0.6 66.9 ± 1.0 8.2 ± 0.5 1.7 ± 0.3
SCJS 5.7 ± 0.7 13.7 ± 1.1 64.6 ± 1.7 9.4 ± 0.9 1.7 ± 0.4
SHS 3.1 ± 0.4 11.4 ± 0.8 68.9 ± 1.3 7.4 ± 0.7 1.6 ± 0.4
SHeS 5.0 ± 1.2 13.0 ± 1.6 66.0 ± 3.3 8.3 ± 1.5 2.0 ± 0.8

Table B.5: Confidence in the Police to… (row % and margin of error)

Very confident Fairly confident Not very confident Not at all confident
A: Prevent crime
SSCQ 9.4 ± 0.5 47.9 ± 0.9 25.2 ± 0.8 7.6 ± 0.5
SCJS 8.1 ± 0.8 46.8 ± 1.4 28.1 ± 1.3 10.2 ± 0.9
SHS 10.5 ± 0.8 47.3 ± 1.2 23.2 ± 1.0 6.5 ± 0.6
SHeS 8.7 ± 1.4 53.9 ± 2.5 25.4 ± 2.0 3.8 ± 0.8
B: Respond quickly to appropriate calls and information from the public
SSCQ 17.6 ± 0.7 49.1 ± 0.9 16.4 ± 0.6 6.4 ± 0.4
SCJS 19.2 ± 1.1 47.3 ± 1.4 18.9 ± 1.1 8.0 ± 0.8
SHS 16.8 ± 0.9 48.8 ± 1.2 15.1 ± 0.9 5.8 ± 0.6
SHeS 16.9 ± 1.9 55.9 ± 2.2 14.7 ± 1.6 4.4 ± 0.9
C: Deal with incidents as they occur
SSCQ 14.7 ± 0.6 53.6 ± 0.9 17.2 ± 0.7 5.1 ± 0.4
SCJS 15.0 ± 1.0 53.3 ± 1.4 19.7 ± 1.2 5.9 ± 0.7
SHS 14.8 ± 0.9 52.6 ± 1.2 15.5 ± 0.9 5.0 ± 0.5
SHeS 14.0 ± 1.7 58.7 ± 2.3 16.3 ± 1.9 3.5 ± 0.9
D: Investigate incidents after they occur
SSCQ 15.1 ± 0.6 54.3 ± 0.9 15.4 ± 0.6 4.3 ± 0.4
SCJS 14.9 ± 1.0 57.4 ± 1.4 15.7 ± 1.1 4.8 ± 0.7
SHS 15.3 ± 0.9 51.3 ± 1.2 14.9 ± 0.9 4.3 ± 0.5
SHeS 15.2 ± 1.8 57.7 ± 2.4 15.8 ± 1.8 2.8 ± 0.8
E: Solve crimes
SSCQ 9.7 ± 0.5 52.9 ± 0.9 19.3 ± 0.7 4.9 ± 0.4
SCJS 8.4 ± 0.8 55.0 ± 1.4 20.8 ± 1.2 5.5 ± 0.7
SHS 10.8 ± 0.8 50.4 ± 1.2 18.1 ± 0.9 4.9 ± 0.5
SHeS 9.2 ± 1.4 56.9 ± 2.6 20.2 ± 2.0 3.1 ± 0.8
F: Catch criminals
SSCQ 9.4 ± 0.5 51.0 ± 0.9 21.5 ± 0.7 5.4 ± 0.4
SCJS 7.9 ± 0.8 53.0 ± 1.4 23.8 ± 1.2 6.3 ± 0.7
SHS 10.7 ± 0.8 48.8 ± 1.2 19.6 ± 1.0 5.2 ± 0.5
SHeS 9.0 ± 1.4 54.8 ± 2.5 21.5 ± 2.0 3.8 ± 0.8

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