Scottish Household Survey Annual Report 2016

The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) is the largest and one of the most complex household surveys in Scotland. The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) is designed to provide reliable and up-to-date information on the composition, characteristics, attitudes and behaviour of Scottish households and individuals, both nationally and at a sub-national level. Overall, face-to-face interviews are undertaken at over 10,500 households across Scotland per annum, with an overall average interview length of 60 minutes. In over 3,000 of these households, a follow-up physical survey inspection is undertaken by a team of specially trained surveyors.

It is used for a wide variety of purposes such as developing and monitoring policy and strategy, service planning, and wider research and analysis. The data feeds into five formal outcome and performance monitoring frameworks used by public and third sector respondents, as well as in individual local authority (LA) Single Outcome Agreements (SOAs) and Partnership Improvement Plans (PIPs). The SHS also forms a significant input into other major analytical outputs that are used across sectors, including the National Records of Scotland's household projections and NHS Health Scotland/ ScotPHO public health community profiles.

Download the publication from the Scottish Government's website

Ipsos manages the survey on behalf of the Scottish Government.