Description:

This indicator measures the percentage of adults who have participated in a cultural activity 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 participation 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 participate 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:

“Participation in a cultural activity" is defined as those adults who participated in at least one type of cultural activity asked about in the last 12 months[1]. 

The list of different types of cultural activities are:

  • Read books, poetry or graphic novels / comics for pleasure (including on a Kindle or other mobile device)   
  • Dance, either for fitness or not for fitness                                             
  • Played a musical instrument or written music                                       
  • Taken part in a theatrical performance such as a play, musical, comedy or variety performance (including production and backstage activities)                                                                               
  • Sang in a singing group or choir                                                         
  • Painting, drawing, printmaking or sculpture                                         
  • Photography as an artistic activity (not family or holiday 'snaps')             
  • Film- making/ video-making as an artistic activity                                 
  • Used a computer to produce artwork or animation                               
  • Crafts such as knitting, jewellery making, pottery, etc.                 
  • Creative writing - stories, books, comics, plays or poetry                     
  • Viewed performances (e.g. music or dance) online on a smartphone, computer, smart tv etc   
  • Viewed cultural content online (e.g. museum or heritage collections or artist’s work)               
  • Shared art or creative content online that you have created yourself (such as digital art, music, dance, videos or recordings)                                                                                                             
  • Other cultural activity                                                                     

Respondents also have the option to say ‘none’.

[1]“In the last 12 months” refers to the 12 months prior to the respondent’s interview and not the calendar year January-December.

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 uses 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. The results of the SHS 2022 survey are therefore 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:

From 2020, a new data collection method was developed for the Scottish Household Survey (SHS). Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the survey methodology changed from in-home face-to-face interviewing to remote telephone or video link interviewing.

This 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 is used to mitigate these effects. Additionally, the design of the questionnaire was not ideal for interviewing by telephone or video which will have had some effect on some estimates. The 2020 and 2021 SHS collected a smaller sample size than in previous years, meaning that confidence intervals around the estimates are wider.

Due to these changes, 2020 and 2021 results are difficult to compare with previous years. This is because it is not possible to identify whether any changes from 2020 and previous years are due to real changes in people’s views and experiences or due to sampling and measurement errors. Nonetheless, the change in data collection method strategy has not impacted the quality of 2020 and 2021 data.

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

2022 SHS Review of Cultural Participation

As part of a review of the whole SHS questionnaire, the response categories for cultural participation were amended for the 2022 survey to better understand the nature and frequency of participation in cultural activities. Some categories were reworded. 

For example, ‘Read books for pleasure (including on a Kindle or other mobile device)’ was reworded to ‘Read books, poetry or graphic novels / comics for pleasure (including on a Kindle or other mobile device)’ and ‘Taken part in a play (including backstage)’ was reworded to ‘Taken part in a theatrical performance such as a play, musical, comedy or variety performance (including production and backstage activities)’. 

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 Participation

Substantial changes were made to the participation 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 participation was defined as taking part in any of 15 different types of activity in the last twelve months. This is five more than in 2017. 

Three categories were added in 2018 to collect information on newer forms of digital cultural engagement:

  • “Viewed performances (e.g. music or dance) online on a smartphone, computer, smart tv etc”
  • “Viewed cultural content online (e.g. museum or heritage collections or artist’s work)” 
  • “Shared art or creative content online that you have created yourself (such as digital art, music, dance, videos or recordings)” 

Two categories present in 2017 were split in two in 2018:

  • “Photography as an artistic activity (not family or holiday 'snaps')” and “Film-making, video-making as an artistic activity” 
  • “Taken part in a play (including backstage)” and “Sang in a singing group or choir”

Two categories were also reworded in 2018: 

  • “Read books for pleasure (not newspapers, magazines or comics)” became “Read books for pleasure (including on a Kindle or other mobile device)”. 
  • “Used a computer or social media to produce creative work of any kind” became “Used a computer to produce artwork or animation”. 

The questionnaires can be viewed online:

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