The Wales Life and Times Studies (WLTS) have grown out of a programme of work conducted by the Centre for Research into Elections and Social Trends (CREST) in collaboration with the Institute of Welsh Politics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, in response to the constitutional changes brought about by devolution.
In 1997 a referendum study was conducted in Wales and Scotland (held at the UK Data Archive under SN:3952), followed by election studies covering the first elections in 1999 to the Welsh National Assembly (held under SN:4180) and Scottish Parliament, both funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). When the ESRC announced its intention to carry out surveys in all parts of the UK in 2001 and 2003 under the Devolution and Constitutional Change Programme, the Welsh component became WLTS.
An earlier Welsh election study, covering the 1979 general election, is also held at the UK Data Archive under SN:1591, but is not part of the WLTS series.
The 2003 Wales Life and Times Study served as a Welsh Assembly Election Study for the 2003 Welsh National Assembly elections. There was no general election held in 2003, hence the name change of the survey compared with the previous wave held in 2001. CREST was responsible for designing compatible questions for the 2003 study that were also fielded in England on the British Social Attitudes Survey, in Scotland on the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, and in Northern Ireland on the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey.
An additional grant from the Constitution Unit, University College, London, enabled the addition of a module of questions on proportional representation, which built on similar questions asked on the Welsh Assembly Election Study 1999 (SN:4180).
Main Topics
The dataset contains the replies of 988 respondents in Wales to questions on media consumption, party identification, voting in the Welsh National Assembly election, proportional representation, leadership evaluations, retrospective evaluations, political issues, political trust, national identity, constitutional issues, effectiveness of devolved institutions, Welsh language and party images. Classificatory information was also collected on national identity, origin and Welsh speaking, sex and age, religion, marital status, housing, economic activity and job details, and income.
Standard Measures:
Left-right scale - self-completion questionnaire Q1a-f.
Wales Life and Times Study (Welsh Assembly Election Study), 2003
5052
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Jones, R. Wyn | University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Department of International Studies |
| Heath, A. | University of Oxford. Department of Sociology |
| National Centre for Social Research |
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| John Curtice, University of Strathclyde and Centre for Research into Elections and Social Trends (CREST). |
Copyright held jointly between University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and National Centre for Social Research
| Name | Abbreviation | Role | Grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economic and Social Research Council | |||
| University College London. School of Public Policy. Constitution Unit |
| Name | Affiliation | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| ESDS Access and Preservation | University of Essex. UK Data Archive |
| Name | Affiliation | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| National Centre for Social Research |
2004-12-01
Grant Number:
L219252042
Project No:
P ; 2207
| Start | End | Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| 2003-05-01 | 2003-07-31 |
Individuals
Numeric data; Individual (micro) level
Repeated cross-sectional study
1,760 (target) 988 (obtained)
Face-to-face interview; Self-completion
The main dataset (in common with all surveys based on samples from the Postcode Address File) must be weighted to take account of differing selection probabilities. Simplifying slightly: households are selected with equal probability, but only one person in each household is interviewed. People in small households therefore have a higher probability of selection than people in large households and the weighting corrects for this. Please note that the data must be weighted in all analysis. The file is not preweighted. Weighting Factor used: WTFACTOR. See documentation for further details.
The data were processed to the UK Data Archive's 'A*' standard. This is the Archive's highest standard, and means that an extremely rigorous and comprehensive series of checks was carried out to ensure the quality of the data and documentation. Briefly, the most important procedures were as follows. Firstly, checks were made that the number of cases and variables matched the depositor's records. Secondly, checks were made that all variables had comprehensible variable labels and all nominal (categorical) variables had comprehensible value labels. Where possible, either with reference to the documentation and/or in communication with the depositor, labels were accordingly edited or created. Thirdly, logical checks were performed to ensure that nominal (categorical) variables had values within the range defined (either by value labels or in the depositor's documentation). Lastly, any data or documentation that breached confidentiality rules were altered or suppressed to preserve anonymity.
ESDS Access and Preservation, UK Data Archive; Data online via UK Data Archive Download
Help desk: help@esds.ac.uk
The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage. See terms and conditions for further information.
Study Description: English; Study Documentation: English
wlts03.NSDstat
988
369
NSDstat 200203
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