Description:

This indicator measures the percentage of adults who have attended or visited a cultural event or place in the last 12 months prior to the respondents’ interview.

Source of Data:

Scottish Household Survey (SHS)

The SHS is a survey of households across Scotland, and provides reliable statistics over a wide range of topics. Since 2007, questions about participation in cultural activities and attendance at cultural events have been included in the SHS to provide statistically robust data on cultural engagement by adults (16+) in Scotland.

This year, the SHS Annual Report is a more concise volume, containing a one page summary of each topic area, including culture. A decision was taken to publish the results for culture and heritage in a separate, standalone report.

The culture statistics in the 2019 SHS Culture and Heritage Report are at national level, with breakdowns available for different factors (for example: age, gender, qualification level of respondents, and Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation).

As part of a substantial review of the whole SHS questionnaire, the response categories for culture were amended to better understand the nature and frequency of attendance and participation at cultural events and activities. Given the changes to the 2018 questionnaire, figures from 2018 onwards are not directly comparable with previous years and therefore the 2018 SHS Culture data provide a new baseline for this indicator.

The Scottish Household Survey is designated as an Official Statistic.

The figures for this indicator come from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS), which is a National Statistics product, produced by the Scottish Government. It is published in the Scottish Household Survey Annual Report, which can be found here. An interactive data explorer for the SHS can be found here.

Definitions:

“Attendance at a cultural event or place of culture" is defined as those adults who attended at least one type of cultural place in the previous year.

The list of different types of cultural events and places of culture is:

• Cinema
• Library (including mobile and online)
• Classical music performance or opera
• Live music event - e.g. traditional music, rock concert, jazz event (not opera or classical music performance)
• Theatre - e.g. pantomime / musical / play
• Dance show / event - e.g. ballet
• Historic place - e.g. castle, stately home and grounds, battle or archaeological site
• Museum
• Art Gallery
• Exhibition - including art, photography and crafts
• Street arts (e.g. musical performances or art in parks, streets or shopping centre)
• Culturally specific festival (e.g. Mela / Feis / local Gala days)
• Book festival or reading group
• Archive or records office (e.g. Scotland's Family History Peoples Centre)
• Streaming of a live performance (e.g. theatre or dance) into a local venue such as a cinema or community hall
• Cinema; Live music event - e.g. traditional music, rock concert, jazz event (not opera or classical music performance) Theatre - e.g. pantomime / musical / play; Library (including mobile and online); Museum; Historic place - e.g. castle, stately home and grounds, battle or
• archaeological site Gallery; Exhibition - including art, photography and crafts; Street arts (e.g. musical performances or art in parks, streets or shopping centre) Culturally specific festival (e.g. mela /Feis/ local Gala days); Dance show / event - e.g. ballet; Classical music performance or opera; Book festival or reading group; Archive or records office (e.g.
• Scotland's Family History Peoples Centre).

Criteria for Change:

Given the changes to the 2018 questionnaire, figures from 2018 onwards are not directly comparable with previous years and therefore the 2018 SHS culture data provide a new baseline for this indicator.

2018 data provide a new baseline for this indicator. Evaluation of change is based on the actual results from the Scottish Household Survey which are presented in the SHS Culture and Heritage Report and the SHS Annual Report whereby statistically significant changes are detected and reported. The calculation of the statistically significant criteria for change use the SHS estimates and their base sizes to calculate an accurate test statistic (95% confidence interval) to compare against the absolute difference between the two estimates.

• Any difference within +/- 1 percentage point of previous survey will suggest that the position is more likely to be maintaining than showing any change.
• An increase of 1 percentage point or more will suggest the position is improving;
• whereas a decrease of 1 percentage point or more will suggest the position is worsening.