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Preface
This report is the latest in a series based on a module of questions in the Scottish Social Attitudes survey on attitudes to government in post-devolution Scotland. The module was funded from 2004 to 2007 by the Scottish Government's Office of Chief Researcher. The report explores perceptions of government in Scotland, focusing on measures of public trust and engagement. It focuses particularly on areas where there have been substantial shifts in public attitudes in the most recent years of the survey. A separate report in the same series will explore new data on subjective perceptions of wellbeing in Scotland in 2007 (Given and Webster, forthcoming).
Note on the use of 'Scottish Executive' in this report
On 3rd September 2007 the Scottish Executive changed its name to the Scottish Government. This decision was based on clear evidence 1 that the term 'Scottish Executive' was confusing or meaningless to many members of the public. Fieldwork for the 2007 Scottish Social Attitudes survey was conducted between late May and early November 2007, with 87% of fieldwork complete before the September 3rd name change. The survey therefore asked people for their views on the 'Scottish Executive', with interviewers working after 3rd September briefed to inform respondents, if asked, that the Scottish Government is the new name for the Scottish Executive. The term 'Scottish Executive' is therefore used throughout this report where the survey findings are being presented. Analysis of the survey data which excludes the 189 respondents interviewed from 3rd September onwards indicates that the name change had very little impact on the overall results of the survey (topline findings included in this report varied by less than a single percentage point).
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