Sport participation
Scottish Household Survey
Under the national strategy for sport, Reaching Higher, the Scottish Government is responsible for gathering statistical data on sports participation through the Scottish Household Survey (SHS).
The SHS has collected information on sports participation as part of the continuous household survey since 2007. Data is collected on a two year cycle, and the annual reports can be found on the Scottish Government website.
What the survey collects
The survey asks adults aged 16 and older two questions on participation in sport:
- Participants are asked to nominate whether or not they have participated in a number of sports
- If a participant has participated in sport, they are asked to nominate the number of days they have participated in the previous four weeks.
Those who had participated in sport during the last four weeks are also asked to provide detail on the number of days they had participated.
Since January 2009, the SHS has also asked questions about whether young people in the household aged 8-21 regularly participate in sport or sporting activity, whether competitively or not. There are slight variations in the question depending on whether there is more than one household member aged 8-21 and whether the household respondent is aged 8-21 years and selected to answer the questions about themselves.
In 2007-08 the SHS included a module of questions on culture and sport. The sport questions were far more detailed than those included in the core SHS (outlined above). The survey collected participation data on a wide range of sports (for the last four weeks and the last 12 months) and included questions on:
- club membership
- tuition
- competition
- motivations
- barriers and childhood encouragement
- availability of local sports facilities
The Culture and Sport Module results are also broken-down by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), gender and age.
Historical data
From 1987-2008 sportscotland collected participation data via the Scottish Opinion Survey. From 1997, this included data on children and young people. Upon the release of Reaching Higher in 2007, the Scottish Government took responsibility for collecting participation data.
Data from the Scottish Opinion Survey remains a good source of trend information over time.
Further information on the survey can be found in the Sports Participation Data Methodological Review.
The publications on sportscotland’s website can be defined into two categories, those which are based on annually run participation data, and those which are primarily based on data collected during a boosted sample in 2003-04.
Annual participation data
Basic participation data can be found in the overview papers.
Annual analysis of participation and trends by gender, age, social class and physical activity can be found in the research digests.
Boosted sample analysis
In 2003-04, the sample for the sports questions was substantially boosted, and all questions were asked each month, to ensure an adequate sample over the year in each of the 32 local authorities.
Publications which use these data are:
Physical activity
Scottish Health Survey
The Scottish Heath Survey (SHeS) collects data on physical activity levels of Scottish adults and children. This data is particularly important as it is the only information collected on children’s physical activity levels. Detailed annual reports and topic reports can be found on the Scottish Government website.
What the survey collects
The SHeS asks children aged 2 to 15 questions about:
Walking – information is collected on walks of at least 5 minutes duration. Children aged 13-15 are also asked about their usual walking pace.
Time spent on housework and gardening – information is collected for children 8 and older only and where the activity lasts at least 15 minutes.
Sport and exercise – this refers to structured and organised sporting activities.
Active play – this encompasses less structured activities, such as riding a bike.
School-based activities – this includes walking, sport and exercise and active play undertaken at school as part of school lessons by school-aged children. This has been included in the SHeS since 2008.
Because it is difficult to assess the intensity of physical activity in children, it is assumed that all reported activities are at least moderate intensity. To meet physical activity recommendations, children must be active for 60 minutes on 7 days in the last week.
Since 2008, the SHeS has asked adults aged 16 and older questions about:
- Home-based activities (housework, gardening, building work and DIY) – information is collected for activities of at least ten minutes duration.
- Walking – information is collected for activities of at least ten minutes duration. Information is also collected about the number of days people had taken more than one walk of at least ten minutes duration.
- Sports and exercise – information is collected for activities of at least ten minutes duration.
- Activity at work – people in full or part time employment are asked how active they are at work.
Each of these activities is classified according to their intensity level – vigorous, moderate, light or inactive.
Glasgow City Schools Health and Wellbeing Survey
The 2010 Glasgow City Schools Health and Wellbeing Survey (GCSHWS) collected current demographic information on the pupil population (S1-S4) and gathered trend data on key areas of health. It was primarily focused on the health behaviours of young people and the issues that influence their well being.
The 2010 GCSHWS included questions about physical activity and sport participation in sports clubs at school and away from school. Results of the survey are available from the Public Health Resource Unit of NHS Glasgow and Greater Clyde.
Outdoor recreation
Scottish Recreation Survey
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has measured the levels of participation in walking and other outdoor recreational activities through the Scottish Recreation Survey (ScRS) since July 2003. Detailed annual reports can be found here on the SNH website.
What the survey collects
The survey collects information on general trends in:
- number, frequency and location of visits to the outdoors
- participation in a range of activities, including walking, cycling, running/jogging, golf, fishing and watersports
- transport used and distances travelled to visit locations
- party composition
- expenditure on visit
- awareness and understanding of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code and access to the countryside.