Description:

This indicator measures the percentage of adults who have attended or visited a cultural event or place in the last 12 months.

Source of Data:

The data for this indicator is gathered from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS). The SHS is a survey of households across Scotland and provides reliable statistics over a wide range of topics. Since 2007, questions about participation in cultural activities and attendance at cultural events have been included in the SHS to provide statistically robust data on cultural engagement by adults (16+) in Scotland.

The culture statistics in the 2022 SHS Report are at national level, with breakdowns available for different factors (for example: age, gender, qualification level of respondents, and Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation). 

Since 1999 the SHS has collected information on the characteristics, attitudes and behaviours of Scotland’s people, using face-to-face interviewing in people’s homes. Due to COVID restrictions, the 2020 and 2021 surveys were carried out over the telephone, rather than face-to-face, and published as experimental statistics. The change in mode introduced a response bias and a certain degree of measurement error which makes the 2020 and 2021 data difficult to compare with the 2022 survey and surveys prior to 2020, as one can’t necessarily discern where differences are a result of a different data collection method versus real changes in attitudes. The results of the 2022 survey have been published as Accredited Official Statistics for the first time since 2019. Therefore, the most recent valid comparison year is 2019.

The data collection period for the 2022 SHS was from 11 March 2022 to 6 March 2023 and participants were reflecting on their attendance over the last 12 months from the point of being asked these questions (March 2021 to March 2022). COVID-19 has had a substantial impact on Scotland’s cultural life. Measures to reduce exposure to COVID-19 included limits on large gatherings, closure of venues, and cancellation of productions or programmes and large-scale cultural events. This has had a dramatic effect on how people attend in culture since March 2020. Therefore, this should be taken into account when comparing 2022 and 2019 data.

Reports are available from the publications section of the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/ 

SHS data can be accessed via the online Data Explorer: https://scotland.shinyapps.io/sg-scottish-household-survey-data-explorer/

Definitions:

“Attendance at a cultural event or place of culture" is defined as those adults who attended at least one type of cultural place in the previous year. 

The list of different types of cultural events and places of culture is:

  • Cinema
  • Library (including mobile and online)
  • Classical music performance        
  • Opera 
  • Live music event - eg. traditional music, rock concert
  • Theatre - e.g. pantomime / musical / play          
  • Dance show / event - e.g. ballet, street dance 
  • Comedy performance       
  • Historic place – e.g. castle, stately home, archaeological site      
  • Museum       
  • Art gallery     
  • Exhibition - including art, photography and crafts         
  • Street arts (e.g. musical performances or art in parks, streets or shopping centre)
  • Culturally specific festival (e.g. Mela /Feis)        
  • Book festival                                                                                   
  • Archive or records office (e.g. Scotland’s Family History Peoples Centre)      
  • Streaming of a live performance (e.g. theatre, dance, concert or comedy performance)
  • Any other event you consider cultural (please say what)*.   

Respondents also have the option to say ‘none’.

Criteria for Change:

Evaluation of change is based on the actual results from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) which are presented in the SHS Annual Report where statistically significant changes are detected and reported. 

The calculation of the statistically significant criteria for change use the SHS estimates and their base sizes to calculate an accurate test statistic (95% confidence interval) to compare against the absolute difference between the two estimates. 

If there is no statistically significant difference then any change is likely due to variation in the data rather than actual change, so this is maintaining performance. Any statistically significant difference in either direction means that there is likely a real change that cannot be explained by variation in the data, and we can confidently assign improving/worsening in these cases. This is with 95% confidence that it's a real change.

More information on confidence intervals and statistical testing can be found alongside the data tables: https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2023/12/scottish-household-survey-2022-key-findings/documents/shs-2022-annual-report-tables-9-culture/shs-2022-annual-report-tables-9-culture/govscot%3Adocument/SHS%2B2022%2B-%2BAnnual%2BReport%2B-%2BTables%2B-%2B9%2BCulture.ods

The approach to the 2020 and 2021 Scottish Household Survey (SHS) was revised due to COVID meaning that there was lower sample sizes, a change in the profile of respondents, and also potential mode effects. For these reasons, it is not possible to determine whether differences between the 2022 and 2021 / 2020 surveys represent genuine changes in views and experiences or are due to changes in how the survey was carried out. 

The results of the SHS 2022 survey are not directly comparable to SHS results for 2021 or 2020. As such, assessment of change in performance is based on 2022 and 2019.

A guide for the general methodology of indicators can be found here: https://www2.gov.scot/About/Performance/scotPerforms/NPFChanges/Methodology

Future issues or reviews:

Change in mode to SHS

In 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the survey methodology changed from in-home face-to-face interviewing to remote telephone or video link interviewing. The annual 2020 and 2021 SHS report relied solely on telephone responses as most surveys were conducted in this way.

The change in survey methodology resulted in changes to the profile of responding sample (non-response bias) and changes to how questions are asked and answered (measurement error). In the 2020 and 2021 SHS sample, respondents were more likely to be older, living in less deprived areas, and in owner-occupation.

Weighting was used to mitigate these effects and thereby deal with the potential risks of having a responding sample that is not entirely representative of the population. Despite efforts to minimise measurement error, the mode of interview is likely to have had some effect on some estimates.

Due to the above, 2020 and 2021 results are difficult to compare with 2022 and previous years (2019 and earlier). It is not possible to discern whether any changes between 2022 and 2020 / 2021 are due to real changes in people’s views and experiences or due to sampling and measurement errors. 2022 data has therefore been compared to 2019. 

For more information on the SHS 2020 and 2021 methodology and its implications, please click here and here

2022 SHS Review of Cultural Attendance

As part of a review of the whole SHS questionnaire, the response categories for culture attendance were amended for the 2022 survey to better understand the nature and frequency of attendance at cultural events and places. Some categories were added, and some were reworded.

For example, ‘Comedy performance’ was added as a new event to attend in 2022. ‘Classical music performance or opera’ was separated out to  ‘Classic music performance’ and ‘Opera’. 

The changes to the response options are small enough that it is reasonable to make comparisons between 2019 and 2022. 

2018 SHS Review of Cultural Attendance

Substantial changes were made to the cultural attendance questions from 2018 with the aim to better capture the nature and frequency of cultural attendance. This may have affected attendance comparisons over time. Overview of the changes made to the attendance questions from 2018:

In 2018, cultural attendance was defined as visiting any of 15 types of place or event in the last 12 months. This is one more category compared to 2017:

  • “Streaming of a live performance (e.g. theatre or dance) into a local venue such as a cinema or community hall” was added to collect information on newer forms of digital cultural engagement.

    One category was also reworded:

  • “Gallery” became “Art Gallery”. 

The questionnaires can be viewed online:

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