British Participation Survey, 2011

UKDA study number:7163

Principal Investigator

Webb, P.
University of Sussex. School of Law, Politics and Sociology . Department of Politics

Data Collector

YouGov plc

Sponsor

British Academy

Distributed by

UK Data Archive, University of Essex, Colchester.

November 2012

Bibliographic Citation

All works which use or refer to these materials should acknowledge these sources by means of bibliographic citation. To ensure that such source attributions are captured for bibliographic indexes, citations must appear in footnotes or in the reference section of publications. The bibliographic citation for this data collection is:

Webb, P., British Participation Survey, 2011 [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor], November 2012. SN: 7163 , http://dx.doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-7163-1

Acknowledgement

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Copyright:
P. Webb

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7163 . British Participation Survey, 2011

Depositor:

Webb, P. , University of Sussex. School of Law, Politics and Sociology . Department of Politics

Principal Investigator:

Webb, P. , University of Sussex. School of Law, Politics and Sociology . Department of Politics

Data Collector:

YouGov plc

Sponsor:

British Academy
Grant Number: 159984 (Democratic Disconnect and Political Participation)

Abstract:

The British Participation Survey, 2011 project was motivated by an interest in the highly topical issue of popular disaffection with representative democracy in countries such as Britain. It hypothesizes that there are two quite distinct groups of 'disconnected' or alienated citizen, whom might be termed 'dissatisfied' and 'stealth' democrats, and that the commonly proposed remedy of engagement in high-intensity forms of participation will only work for the former of these. Building on previous research conducted in the USA, the data provides new evidence as to the nature of popular discontent with politics and the potential for enhancing the practice and legitimacy of representative democracy through greater involvement of citizens in forms of deliberative political participation.

Main Topics:

The dataset consists of 293 variables pertaining chiefly to the attitudes and activities of British adults in respect of political participation. Additional variables included in the dataset relate to demographic background, partisan preferences, left-right ideology, social liberalism-authoritarianism, voting choice at the 2010 general election, current vote preference as of July 2011, attitude towards the AV referendum held in May 2011, political efficacy, political interest and political trust of respondents are all included. Measures relating to the concepts of 'stealth democracy', 'sunshine democracy' and conflict avoidance are also incorporated in the data. The data are weighted by standard demographic factors, partisan identification and turnout at the 2010 general election to be representative of the British electorate.

Standard Measures
Standard Market Research Society social grade classification A-E.
Many Likert-type attitudinal variables in the dataset, designed to tap respondent's position on left-right, liberty-authority, political trust, efficacy and interest.
Questions about respondent's willingness to/actual practice of undertake various forms of political participation (voting, campaigning, donating, signing petitions, taking part in deliberative exercises, etc.).

Coverage:

Dates of Fieldwork: 11 July 2011 - 19 July 2011
Country: United Kingdom
Spatial Units: No spatial unit
Observation Units: Individuals
Kind of Data: Numeric data; Individual (micro) level

Universe Sampled:

Location of Units of Observation: National
Population: Electors living in the UK during 2011.

Methodology:

Time Dimensions: Cross-sectional (one-time) study
Sampling Procedures: Online panel.
Method of Data Collection: Self-completion; Web-based survey
Weighting: Standard weight variable (W8) uses age, gender, social class, region, political party identification and newspaper readership. W8_Turnout is the same but additionally adjusts for turnout at the 2010 general election so that 65% of the sample voted and 35% abstained.

Language(s) of Written Materials:

Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English

Access:

Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required. Available to all registered users. The depositor may be informed about usage.
Availability: ESDS Access and Preservation, UK Data Archive
Contact: Help desk: help@esds.ac.uk

Date of First Release:

28 November 2012

Copyright:

P. Webb

File last updated:

28 November 2012