UK Data Service

Catalogue

UK Data Service data catalogue record for:

Scottish School-leavers Survey: Cohort Two, Sweeps Two and Three, 1999-2004

Title details

SN: 5142
Title: Scottish School-leavers Survey: Cohort Two, Sweeps Two and Three, 1999-2004
Persistent identifier: 10.5255/UKDA-SN-5142-1
Series: Scottish School-Leavers Survey, 1992-
Depositor(s): Scottish Centre for Social Research
Principal investigator(s): National Centre for Social Research
Scottish Centre for Social Research
Sponsor(s): Scottish Government
Other acknowledgements: P1821, P2361
Collaborators: Professor Andy Furlong and Fred Cartmel, University of Glasgow; Andy Biggart, University of Ulster.

The National Centre for Social Research was the principal investigator for Sweep Two, conducted in 1999, but its counterpart, the Scottish Centre for Social Research (see further details in Abstract section) was responsible for Sweep Three, conducted in 2004.

Subject Categories

Primary, pre-primary and secondary - Education
School leaving - Education
Youth - Social stratification and groupings
General - Employment and labour

Abstract

The Scottish Executive has sponsored surveys of school-leavers and young people since the early 1970s. These include the first incarnation of the Scottish School-Leavers Survey (SSLS) which, in the mid-1980s, was subsumed within the broader Scottish Young People's Survey (SYPS - this series is held at the UK Data Archive (UKDA) under GN 33227). Following a review in 1991 of the use made of the findings by the Scottish Executive Education and Industry Department (SEEID), the survey was redesigned and resumed the title of the Scottish School-Leavers Survey. A further review in 1996 led to the establishment of the current design, which involves sampling cohorts of young people in fourth year and then collecting data from them on four occasions, at the ages of 16-17, 18-19, 21-22 and 23-24 years.

The series is conducted for the Scottish Executive by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), who were known as Social and Community Planning Research prior to 1999. The Scottish Centre for Social Research (SCSR or ScotCen) was created in 2004 by combining NatCen's existing operation in Scotland with an independent research consultancy, Scottish Health Feedback. SCSR have now taken over the running of the SSLS series.

The SSLS series obtains information on the educational and employment activities of young people after they leave school; their views and experiences of school itself; and key decisions made about whether to stay on at school or not. In addition, background characteristics are gathered, such as parents' level of education and social class, family circumstances and housing tenure. One of the main aims of the survey is to try and predict demand for higher education. The survey involves a random sample of all pupils in the relevant school year group. The only exception is that pupils at special schools (but not those in mainstream schools registered as having special educational needs) are excluded from the survey. The sample consists of all pupils born on any one of certain predetermined days of the month.
Sweep Two
Cohort Two, Sweep Two, conducted with 18-19 year-olds, was the first follow-up survey (i.e. second interview) with the first cohort of pupils selected since the series was redesigned in 1996 (Cohort One was drawn from respondents already included in the SLSS prior to the redesign). The population of interest was those pupils in the fourth year of secondary school during the academic year 1995-96. Their first interview was in 1997 aged 16-17 (that study is held at UK Data Archive under SN 4478, though the respondents were not explicitly identified by cohort number then). The names and addresses of all eligible pupils were supplied to SEEID by schools as an additional part of the school-leavers censuses. This information was then passed on to NatCen and a sample of 10% of all eligible pupils was drawn from the list by identifying all those whose birthday fell on three randomly selected dates in the month. Selected respondents were sent a questionnaire in the post to complete. It is those who returned questionnaires in 1997 that formed the population of interest for this survey. As was the case with the other 1999 surveys, students identified as having Special Educational Needs (SENs) were not included in the sample.

Sweep Three
In spring 2004, Cohort Two members were surveyed for the third and final time, via self-completion postal questionnaire, when they were aged 23-24. Questionnaires were only mailed to the 2,491 sample members who had returned their questionnaire at Sweep Two in 1999; those who had not responded were removed from the sample list for Sweep Three. For the second edition of the UK Data Archive study, data and documentation from Sweep Three were added.
Main Topics:
Sweep Two
Topics covered include:
  • educational and employment activities of young people after they left school;

  • respondents' views and experiences of school itself;

  • key decisions made as to whether to stay on at school or leave.


  • In addition, information was gathered on background characteristics such as parents' level of education and social class, family circumstances and housing tenure.

    Sweep Three
    The questionnaire for Sweep Three was based largely on versions used for previous cohorts in the series, but some additions were made. For example, additional questions on starting individual business ventures and levels of student debt were included.

    Standard Measures
  • Standard Occupational Classification 1990/2000 (SOC90/2000) depending on the sweep;

  • Standard Industrial Classification 1992 (SIC92);

  • National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC).
  • Coverage, universe, methodology

    Dates of fieldwork: Sweep Two: April-May 1999; Sweep Three: May-August 2004.
    Country: Scotland
    Spatial units: Scottish Regions
    Observation units: Individuals
    Kind of data: Numeric
    Alpha-numeric
    Universe: National
    Pupils
    School leavers
    Young people from the SLSS Cohort Two sample, aged 18-19 years in 1999, and 23-24 in 2004.
    Time dimensions: Longitudinal/panel/cohort
    this study currently contains data from Sweeps Two and Three of Cohort Two ('19 in 1999' and '24 in 2004').
    Sampling procedures: One-stage stratified or systematic random sample
    Number of units: Sweep Two: 4303 (target), 2491 (obtained); Sweep Three: 2352 (target), 1007 (obtained).
    Method of data collection: Postal survey
    Weighting: Weighting used. See documentation for details.

    Keywords

    ADOLESCENTSATTITUDESBUSINESS FORMATION
    CARE OF DEPENDANTSCAREER DEVELOPMENTCAREERS GUIDANCE
    CHILDRENCULTURAL GOODSDEBTS
    ECONOMIC ACTIVITYEMPLOYEESEMPLOYMENT
    EMPLOYMENT HISTORYEMPLOYMENT PROGRAMMESFAMILIES
    FIELDS OF STUDYFULL-TIME EMPLOYMENTFURTHER EDUCATION
    FUTUREHIGHER EDUCATIONHOUSING TENURE
    INCOMEINDUSTRIESJOB HUNTING
    LEAVING HOME (YOUTH)OBJECTIVESOCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
    OCCUPATIONAL TRAININGPARENTSPART-TIME COURSES
    PART-TIME EMPLOYMENTPRIVATE SECTORPUBLIC SECTOR
    QUALIFICATIONSSCHOOL-LEAVINGSCHOOL-LEAVING GUIDANCE
    SCOTLANDSECONDARY SCHOOL CURRICULUMSECONDARY SCHOOLS
    SELF-EMPLOYEDSELF-ESTEEMSMALL BUSINESSES
    SOCIAL CLASSSTUDENT LOANSSTUDENTS
    TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENTTRANSITION FROM SCHOOL TO WORKUNEMPLOYED
    WAGESWORK ATTITUDEWORKING TIME

    Administrative and access information

    Date of release:
    First edition: 31 March 2005
    Latest edition: 18 August 2005 ( Edition 2 )
    Copyright: Crown copyright held jointly with the National Centre for Social Research. Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland
    Access conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage. See terms and conditions of access for further information.
    Availability: UK Data Service
    Contact: Get in touch

    Documentation

    TitleFile NameSize (KB)
    User Guide 5142userguide.pdf 513
    Study information and citation UKDA_Study_5142_Information.htm 25
    READ File read5142.htm 11

    Related studies:

    Scottish School-leavers Survey, 1993 : 1992 Leavers (SN 3296)
    Scottish School-leavers Survey, 1994 : 1993 Leavers (SN 4428)
    Scottish School-leavers Survey : 16-17 Year Olds in 1997 (SN 4478)
    Scottish School-leavers Survey : Cohort One, Sweep Three, 1999 (SN 5141)
    Scottish School-Leavers Survey: Cohort Three, Sweeps One to Four, 1999-2006 (SN 5143)
    Scottish School-Leavers Survey: Cohort Four, Sweeps One and Two, 2003-2005 (SN 5144)
    Youth Cohort Time Series for England, Wales and Scotland, 1984-2002 (SN 5765)

    Publications

    Lynn, P. (1994) The Scottish School-Leavers Survey: the 1992 leavers, Edinburgh: Scottish Office Education Department.

    Lynn, P. and Purdon, S., An analysis of factors related to non-response in a postal survey of young people, paper presented to the RSS International Conference, Newcastle upon Tyne, 14 September, 1994.

    Lynn, P. and Farrant, G. (1994) The Scottish School-Leavers Survey series: the survey of 1992 leavers, technical report, SCPR.

    Lynn, P. (1995) The Scottish School-Leavers Survey series: the survey of 1993 leavers, technical report, SCPR.

    Lynn, P. (1995) Scottish School-Leavers Survey series: the 1993 leavers, Edinburgh: Scottish Office Education and Industry Department.

    Courtenay, G. and Lynn, P. (2000) Scottish School-Leavers Survey, 17 in '97: the experiences of Scotland's 16-17 year olds in 1997, London: National Centre for Social Research (formerly SCPR).

    Anderson, S. et al. (2004) 17 in 2003 - Scotland's young people: findings from the Scottish School-Leavers Survey, Edinburgh: Scottish Centre for Social Research.

    Biggart, A. et al. (2005) 19 in 2005 Scotland's young people: findings from the Scottish School-Leavers Survey, Edinburgh: Scottish Executive (web-only publication).

    Dobbie, F. (2007) 24 in 2006 - Scotland's young people: findings from the Scottish School-Leavers Survey, Edinburgh: Scottish Centre for Social Research.

    Anderson, S. et al. (2007) 24 in 2006 Scotland's young people: findings from the Scottish School-Leavers Survey, Edinburgh: Scottish Executive (web-only publication).

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