Accredited official statistics

Annexes - Taking Part Survey 2019/20

Published 16 September 2020

Applies to England

1. Annex A

1. The Taking Part survey is commissioned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and its partner Arm’s Length Bodies. For 2011 to 2020, these are Arts Council England, Historic England and Sport England.

2. The fieldwork for the Taking Part survey has been conducted by Ipsos Mori and NatCen Social Research since 2016/17. Over the period 2005/06 to 2015/16 the survey was conducted by TNS-BMRB.

3. The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. National Statistics status means that our statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value, and it is our responsibility to maintain compliance with these standards.

4. The continued designation of these statistics as National Statistics was confirmed in February 2013 following a compliance check by the Office for Statistics Regulation. Since this assessment we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made the following improvements: (i) Continued review of survey content and format of outputs to enhance user experience. For further details see the(include tech report) survey technical reports . (ii) Removal of the longitudinal sample from the cross-sectional data (as detailed in the 5 year strategy) to ensure data collection procedures are tailored to their purpose

5. Stringent quality assurance procedures have been adopted for this statistical release. All data and analysis has been checked and verified by at least two different members of the DCMS team and NatCen Social Research to ensure the highest level of quality.

6. Guidance on the quality that is expected of Taking Part statistical releases is provided in a quality indicators document. These quality indicators outline how statistics from the Taking Part survey match up to the six dimensions of quality defined by the European Statistical System (ESS). These are: relevance, accuracy, timeliness, accessibility, comparability and coherence.

7. The Taking Part survey measures participation by adults (aged 16 and over) and children (aged 5-10 and 11-15) living in private households in England. No geographical restriction is placed on where the activity or event occurred. Further information on data for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can be found in question 2 of the “Taking Part: Guidance Note”.

8. Unless stated, participation in activities must be for the purpose of recreation or leisure, including voluntary work. It excludes involvement in activities where the prime motivation is paid work or academic studies. The exception to this is engagement with heritage which includes visits made for academic study and use of library services, which can be for any reason.

9. Sample sizes for each year and data breakdown can be found in the accompanying tables.

10. All estimates have been rounded to one decimal place within the data tables.

11. Changes over time and differences between groups are only reported on where they are statistically significant at the 95% level. Statistically significant differences have been determined in this report on the basis of non-overlapping confidence intervals. This means that we can be confident that the differences seen in our sampled respondents are reflective of the population. Specifically, the statistical tests used mean we can be confident that if we carried out the same survey on different random samples of the population, 95 times out of 100 we would get similar findings. When sample sizes are smaller we can be less confident in our estimates so differences need to be greater to be considered statistically significant.

12. The upper and lower bounds presented in this report have been calculated using a 95% confidence interval. This means that had the sample been conducted 100 times, creating 100 confidence intervals, then 95 of these intervals would contain the true value. When the sample size is smaller, as is the case for certain groups and in certain years, the confidence intervals are wider as we can be less certain that the individuals in the sample are representative of the population. This means that it is more difficult to draw inferences from the results.

13. The data are weighted to ensure representativeness of the Taking Part sample. Weighting is based on mid-2018 population estimates from the Office for National Statistics. There are two types of weighting: (i) to compensate for unequal probabilities of selection, (ii) to adjust for non-response

14. For more information about the Taking Part survey and to access previous publications and the questionnaires, see the Taking Part survey webpages.

15. The responsible statistician for this release is Alistair Rice. For enquiries on this release, please contact TakingPart@dcms.gov.uk.

16. To be kept informed about Taking Part publications and user events, please sign up to the Taking Part online newsletter here. You can follow us on Twitter @DCMSInsight.

2. Annex B

Term	Definition
2005/06	This is the time period covering April 2005 to March 2006. In this release, this refers to the date that the interviews were conducted. The activities reported on took place in the year prior to interview. Other years referenced in this way cover the equivalent time period.
Arts	A list of activities that are classified as engagement with the arts is given in Annex C.
Black and Minority Ethnic (BME)	The ‘Black and Minority Ethnic’ group includes adults who have identified as being in the following ethnic groups: Mixed (and multiple) - White and Black Caribbean, White and Black African, White and Asian, Any other Mixed/Multiple Ethnic background. Asian - Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Any other Asian background. Black - African, Caribbean, Any other Black/African/Caribbean background. Other - Arab, Any other ethnic group
Confidence interval	A confidence interval provides a range in which there is a specific probability that the true value for the population will fall. For the Taking Part survey, 95% confidence intervals are used which means, had the sampling been conducted 100 times, creating 100 confidence intervals, then 95 of these intervals would contain the true value for adults in England.
DCMS Sectors	The DCMS sectors referred to in this report are the arts, heritage, museums and galleries, libraries, archives and sport.
Digital engagement	Digital engagement in each cultural sector is defined as visiting a website or using an app related to that sector.
Digital participation	Digital participation in culture is defined as visiting websites or using apps for at least one of the reasons outlined in Annex C. The list excludes visiting websites to find out information such as location or opening hours, or to buy tickets for an event.
Engagement	This refers to either attending and/or participating in a cultural or arts sector, for example, going to the theatre (attendance) or playing a musical instrument (participation).
Gender	The 2019/20 Taking Part Survey respondents were asked if they thought about themselves as one of the following: Male, Female, In another way. The number of respondents who reported ‘in another way’ was too few to be reported on.
Heritage	A list of activities that are classified as engagement with heritage is given in Annex C.
Public library use	The list of activities that are classified as public library use is given in Annex C.
Significant increase/decrease	A significant increase/decrease at the 95% level means that if we carried out the same survey on different random samples of the population, 95 times out of 100 we would observe the increase/decrease.
Socio-economic group	This is a form of socio-economic classification based on the employment status and occupation of the household reference person. The household reference person is the person responsible for owning or renting, or who is otherwise responsible for the accommodation. In the case of joint householders, the person with the highest income is the household reference person. In the case of joint incomes, the oldest person is taken as the household reference person. More information about the NS-SEC socio-economic classification, please see this page on the Office for National Statistics website.
‘White’ ethnic group	The ‘White’ ethnic group includes adults who have identified as being in the following ethnic groups: English / Welsh / Scottish / Northern Irish / British, Irish, Gypsy or Irish Traveller, Any other White background

3. Annex C

3.1 Arts

The respondent was asked whether they had participated in a given list of arts activities, or attended a given list of arts events. Eligible activities and events were as follows.

Participation:

• Dance – ballet or other dance (not for fitness)
• Singing – live performance or rehearsal/practice (not karaoke), singing as part of a group or taking singing lesson
• Musical instrument – live performance, rehearsal/practice or playing for own pleasure
• Written music
• Theatre – live performance or rehearsal/practice (e.g. play or drama)
• Opera/musical theatre – live performance or rehearsal/practice
• Carnival (e.g. as a musician, dancer or costume maker)
• Street arts (art in everyday surroundings like parks, streets, shopping centre)
• Circus skills (not animals) – learnt or practised
• Visual art – (e.g. painting, drawing, printmaking or sculpture)
• Photography (as an artistic activity, not family or holiday ‘snaps’)
• Film or video making (as an artistic activity, not family or holiday videos)
• Digital art – producing original digital artwork or animation with a computer
• Craft – any craft activity (e.g. textiles, wood, metal work, pottery, calligraphy)
• Creative writing – original literature (e.g. stories, poems or plays)
• Book club – being a member of one

Attendance:

• Visual art exhibition (e.g. paintings, photography or sculpture)
• Craft exhibition (not crafts market)
• Event which included video or digital art
• Event connected with books or writing
• Street arts (art in everyday surroundings like parks, streets or shopping centre)
• Public art display or installation (an art work such as sculpture that is outdoors or in a public place)
• Circus (not animals)
• Carnival
• Culturally specific festival (e.g. Mela, Baisakhi, Navratri)
• Theatre (e.g. play, drama, pantomime)
• Opera/musical theatre
• Live music performance (e.g. classical, jazz or other live music event but not karaoke)
• Live dance event (e.g. ballet, African People’s dance, South Asian, Chinese, contemporary or other * live dance)
• Screening of a live arts event, such as a theatre show or opera, in a cinema or other venue

3.2 Heritage

The respondent was asked whether they had visited any of the following types of heritage sites:

• A city or town with historic character
• A historic building open to the public (non-religious)
• A historic park or garden open to the public
• A place connected with industrial history or historic transport system
• A historic place of worship attended as a visitor (not to worship)
• A monument such as a castle, fort or ruin
• A site of archaeological interest
• A site connected with sports heritage (not visited for the purpose of watching sport)

3.3 Libraries

The respondent was asked whether they had used a public library service. If the respondent was unsure what was in scope, the interviewer had the following definition to refer to:

“Use of a public library can include:

• A visit to a public library building or mobile library to make use of library services (including to print/use electronic resources or to take part in an event such as a reading group or author visit)
• The use of on-line library resources or services remotely (i.e. used a computer outside the library to view the website, catalogue or databases)
• Access, and receipt, of the library service by email, telephone, fax or letter
• Receipt of an outreach service such as home delivery or library events outside a library building

Use of other libraries and archive services is excluded.”

3.4 Digital Participation

Digital participation included visiting websites or using apps for at least one of the following reasons:

Museum or gallery website:

• To look at items from a collection
• To find out about a particular subject
• To take a virtual tour of a museum or gallery
• To view or download an event or exhibition

Heritage website:

• To take a virtual tour of a historical site
• To learn about history or the historic environment
• To discuss history or visits to the historic environment on a forum
• To look at Historic Environment Records
• To look at the National Heritage List for England

Arts website:

• To view or download part or all of a performance or exhibition
• To view or download part or all of a film
• To upload or share a film or game that you have made or created
• To discuss the art that others have created
• To share the art that others have created
• To upload or share art that you have created yourself

• To find out how to take part or improve your creative skills

• Archive or records office website
• To complete a transaction
• To view digitised documents online
• To search a catalogue.

Volunteering:

Volunteering included doing any of the following types of voluntary work:

• Raising or handling money / taking part in sponsored events
• Leading a group
• Member of a committee
• Trustee
• Organising or helping to run an activity or event
• Steward at a heritage site/museum or gallery
• Visiting people
• Befriending / mentoring people
• Coaching or tuition
• Giving advice/ information/ counselling
• Secretarial, administrative or clerical work
• Providing transport or driving
• Representing – e.g. addressing meetings, leading a delegation
• Campaigning – e.g. lobbying, canvassing, letter writing
• Conservation/restoration
• Officiating – e.g. judging, umpiring or refereeing
• Other practical help - for example helping out a school, religious group, with shopping/refreshments

Social networking websites and apps

Use of social networking websites or apps includes the following platforms:

Social Media

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google+ (NOT the Google search engine)
• LinkedIn
• Myspace
• Foursquare/Swarm
• Other social media

Messaging

• WhatsApp
• Skype
• Facebook messenger

Music streaming and list sharing

• Spotify
• Last.fm
• Audioboo
• Soundcloud
• Apple Music
• Amazon Music
• Other music list sharing

Video watching and sharing

• YouTube
• Vimeo
• Dailymotion
• Other video sharing

Image sharing

• Flickr
• Instagram
• Snapchat
• Imgur
• Deviant Art
• Other image sharing

Blogs (text information sharing/publishing)

• Tumblr
• WordPress
• Blogger
• LiveJournal
• Other blogs

Site/Link sharing

• Pinterest
• Reddit
• Scoop.it
• Stumbleupon
• Other

4. Annex D

The questionnaire has evolved since its inception in 2005/06 in accordance with policy priorities and best practice for surveys. A full list of changes between the 2018/19 survey and the 2019/20 survey can be found in the change documentation to be published on the UK Data Service in due course.

Questions added for the 2019/20 survey include:

• Option of ‘It was recommended by my GP, link worker or other health worker’ as reasons for doing various activities
• Reason(s) for visiting a museum/gallery
• Reasons(s) for visiting a heritage site
• Where a respondent stayed when visiting a heritage site, the distance of this place to the heritage site, the form of transport used to get to the heritage site
• How often a respondent uses the internet, their reported ability to use the internet, and activities done online
• Trust in government and privates companies with a respondent’s personal data online
• Awareness and knowledge of emerging technologies, and which technologies owned
• Whether played video games online with or against other people, and whether communicated with others playing
• Activities done on social media
• Learning of digital skills
• Option of ‘donations made through contactless technology’ to charitable giving section
• Additional options for things which are most important in local area
• Questions about participation in National Lotteries, Society Lotteries and gambling
• ONS harmonised question on loneliness

Questions removed for the 2019/20 survey include:

• Activities done when growing up (sports activities out of school still included)
• Types of TV programmes watched
• Journey time from home to local library
• Location (country) of heritage sites and museums/galleries visited and whether any were within an hour of home
• Whether a respondent lives or works in a historic building or area
• Time spent volunteering
• Options for what makes a respondent proud of Britain
• Opinions on whether the heritage of the local area is well looked after
• Questions around knowledge of events commemorating the First World War

5. Annex E

In addition to the data included in this report, additional data tables have been published on the following:

Archives

• Proportion who had been to an archive centre or records office in the last 12 months in their own time or as part of voluntary work
• Frequency of attendance
• Reason for attending
• Area level breakdowns
• Demographic breakdowns
• Proportion who had been to an archive centre or records office in the last 12 months for all purposes
• Purpose of the visit

Volunteering

• Proportion who had volunteered in last 12 months
• Area level breakdowns
• Demographic breakdowns
• Proportion who had volunteered in DCMS sectors in last 12 months
• Frequency (all sectors)
• Type of volunteering activity
• Reason for volunteering activity

Charitable giving

• Proportion who had donated money in the last 12 months
• Proportion who had donated money in the last 12 months
• Frequency of charitable giving
• Means through which money was donated in last 12 months
• Proportion who had donated money in last 12 months to DCMS sectors
• Area level breakdowns

Community Life Survey (CLS) – the DCMS primary data source for volunteering and charitable giving data. The CLS is a key evidence source for understanding more about community engagement, volunteering and social cohesion, sampling adults (aged 16+) throughout England. DCMS took on responsibility for publishing results from CLS for 2016-17 onwards, after it was commissioned by the Cabinet Office in 2012. Please refer to the Official Statistics from CLS for headline data on volunteering and charitable giving.

6. Annex F

Respondents who had not participated in arts activities, used library services, or visited an arts event, heritage site, or museum were asked why they had not done so. These questions were added into the 2017/18 survey to help understand people’s reasons for not engaging with DCMS sectors and asked again in 2018/19 and 2019/20.

Figure F: The reasons given by adults who did not engage with each sector for not having done so in the 12 months prior to interview, 2019/20