Citizenship Survey - Major studies
Crime and law enforcement - Law, crime and legal systems
Community and urban studies - Society and culture
Race relations - Society and culture
Charities, voluntary organisations and voluntary work - Social welfare policy and systems
The Citizenship Survey (known in the field as the Communities Study) ran from 2001 to 2010-2011. It began as the 'Home Office Citizenship Survey' (HOCS) before the responsibility moved to the new Communities and Local Government department (DCLG) in May 2006. The survey provided an evidence base for the work of DCLG, principally on the issues of community cohesion, civic engagement, race and faith, and volunteering. The survey was used extensively for developing policy and for performance measurement. It was also used more widely, by other government departments and external stakeholders to help inform their work around the issues covered in the survey.
The survey was conducted on a biennial basis in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007-2008. It moved to a continuous design in 2007 which means that data became available on a quarterly basis from April 2007. Quarter one data were collected between April and June; quarter two between July and September; quarter three between October and December and quarter four between January and March. Once collection for the four quarters was completed, a full aggregated dataset was made available, and the larger sample size allowed more detailed analysis.
In January 2011, the DCLG announced that the Citizenship Survey was to close. As part of the drive to deliver cost savings across government and to reduce the fiscal deficit, research budgets were closely scrutinised to identify where savings can be made. For this reason, and the belief that priority data from this survey could either be dropped; collected less frequently; or collected via other means, the survey was cancelled. Fieldwork concluded on 31 March 2011, followed by publication of reports in the months after analysis of that data.
Further information about the survey, including links to publications, can be found on the National Archives webarchive page for the Citizenship Survey. The Consultation outcome: the future of the citizenship survey statement can be viewed on the gov.uk website.
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The Citizenship Survey, 2008-2009 dataset includes a total sample of 14,917 people aged 16 and over, resident in England and Wales. This comprised a core sample of 9,335 people and a minority ethnic boost of 5,582.
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Main Topics:
The 2008-2009 survey covered:- identity and social networks
- feelings about the community, including community cohesion
- trust and influence
- volunteering
- civic engagement
- race and religious prejudice, and perceptions of discrimination
- religion
- mixing between people of different backgrounds
- values
- demographic and some geo-demographic information
Standard Measures:
The questionnaire used established questions and classifications where appropriate:- demographic questions were mostly taken from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) harmonised question booklets
- questions on family relationships were adapted from the General Household Survey (GHS) family relationship grid (the GHS is held at the UK Data Archive under GN 33090)
- the hierarchy of community participation was adapted from the method used in the National Survey of Voluntary Activity, 1997 (held under SN 3931)
- Some questions on trust were adapted from the World Values Survey (see under SN 5488) and some from the British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA) (held under GN 33168)
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Dates of fieldwork:
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April 2008, March 2009 |
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Country:
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England and Wales
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Spatial units:
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Government Office Regions
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Observation units:
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Individuals
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Kind of data:
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Numeric
Alpha-numeric
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Universe:
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National
The survey covered adults aged 16 years and over, resident in England and Wales during 2008-2009.
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Time dimensions:
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Repeated cross-sectional study
Previously every two years since 2001. Since 2007, the survey has moved to a continuous design.
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Sampling procedures:
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Multi-stage stratified random sample
The survey is conducted with a core, nationally representative, sample, plus a minority ethnic boost sample, achieved through direct screening and focused enumeration.
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Number of units:
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All quarters: 14,917 cases.
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Method of data collection:
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Face-to-face interview
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Weighting:
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Weighting used. See documentation for details
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Please note, the inclusion of publications in this tab is temporary.
Publications and outputs will be searchable using the publications filter in the near future.
By principal investigator(s):
Links to publications can be found on the National Archives webarchive page for the Citizenship Survey. The Consultation outcome: the future of the citizenship survey statement can be viewed on the gov.uk website.
Prime, D., Zimmeck, M. and Zurawan, A. (2002) Active communities: initial findings from the 2001 Home Office Citizenship Survey, London: Home Office. Retrieved December 20, 2012 from http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135832/http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/acuactcomm.pdf (webarchive link)
Farmer, C. (2005) 2003 Home Office Citizenship Survey: top-level findings from the children's and young people's survey, London: Home Office/DfES.
Department for Education (2011) Citizenship Survey young person module: technical report for pilot study, Research Report DFE-RR094A. retrieved December 20, 2012, from https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DFE-RR094A
Resulting from secondary analysis:
Platt, L. (2006) Assessing the impact of illness, caring and ethnicity on social activity, CASEPaper 108, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School of Economics.
Maxwell, R. (2006) 'Muslims, South Asians, and the British mainstream: a national identity crisis?', West European Politics, 29(4), pp.736-56.
Kaufmann, E. (March 2007) A dying creed?: the demographic contradictions of liberal capitalism, ESRC UPTAP programme briefing paper. Also available at ESRC UPTAP programme .
A subset of Citizenship Survey, 2001 data has been used for the following textbook:
Tarling, R. (2008) Statistical modelling for social researchers: principles and practice, Oxford: Routledge. ISBN: 978-0-415-44840-6. The book's companion web site includes downloadable datasets and further information: retrieved 26 January, 2009, from http://www.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415448406/links.asp.
Experian/Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (2010) Unlocking the potential of the BME population: final report, Northwest Regional Development Agency.
Vizard, P. (2010) Developing and agreeing a capability list in the British context: what can be learnt from social survey data on 'rights'?, CASEpaper 142, Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE (http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/case/).
Scourfield, J., Taylor, C., Moore, G. and Gilliat-Ray, S. (2012) 'The intergenerational transmission of Islam: evidence from the Citizenship Survey', Sociology, 46(1), pp.91-108.
The Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) has produced a 'Data Dictionary' covering summary information on UK-based survey series (including the Citizenship Survey) that include any data on alcohol use. Further information and links to the dictionary documents may be found on the IAS Data Dictionary - Table of Contents web page.
