Participation Survey: Information for Survey Participants
What you need to know about being part of the Participation Survey.
Applies to England
Overview
The Participation Survey covers a range of issues such as people’s participation in sport and physical activity, visiting museums, galleries and heritage sites, use of libraries, and attending arts events and activities. It also helps with understanding people’s lifestyle choices and the reasons why they do and don’t participate in activities. Verian will conduct the survey on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
We need people from all age groups and backgrounds to take part and no matter how active you are in your community, your views are important to us to make sure we have a representative picture of the communities that people live in.
The survey data is used to produce and publish statistics which are used by the government, charities and other public sector organisations to track trends over time and inform decision making. The data may also be used by other government departments or other organisations to produce statistics to inform policy making.
Being chosen for interview
Addresses are randomly selected from the Post Office’s list of addresses in England, so that the results reflect the experiences and views of the whole population. If your address is selected you will receive a Participation Survey invitation letter which will include your reference number and password, as well as instructions about how to take part.
We would be very grateful if you would take the time to complete the survey online. To do so you will need your reference number and password which you can find on your survey invitation letter.
If you would prefer to fill in a paper version of the questionnaire, you can request this by calling the Verian survey help team on 0800 904 7726 and they will arrange for a paper version to be posted to your household.
Up to four adults age 16 or over can take part per household.
Who is conducting the survey
Verian is carrying out the survey on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Further information
If you have been invited to take part in the survey and would like more information please contact the survey support team at: participationsurvey@dcms.gov.uk
Confidentiality
The statistics produced will not identify you or anyone in your household. Your answers will be combined with those of all others who take part in the survey. Your name and contact details will only be known to the team processing the survey results at Verian, and the relevant data controllers of this information. We will not pass on your details to any organisation without your agreement, unless otherwise listed in the Privacy Notice for the survey. De-identified survey information may be provided to other government departments, and approved partner organisations or researchers for statistical purposes only. All information will be processed in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulation for the performance of official authority and public interest.
Data Protection and Privacy Notice
For general information on how DCMS handles personal data, please read DCMS’s personal information charter.
More detailed information about how your personal data is processed, as well as your rights under the data protection legislation, is available in the Privacy Notice for the Participation Survey.
For any data protection queries please contact the DCMS Data Protection Officer: <dcmsdataprotection@dcms.gov.uk.>.
The Information Commissioner’s Office have produced a guide to your rights. If you are not happy with the way we are processing your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office about our practices, or you can call their helpline on 0303 123 1113.
Enquiries
For general queries about the questionnaire and survey outputs, please contact the Participation Survey team at DCMS: participationsurvey@dcms.gov.uk.