Summary information
Study title
Survey of Young People’s Voting Behaviour After the Introduction of Votes at 16 in Scotland, 2021
Creator
Huebner, C, University of Sheffield
Eichhorn, J, University of Edinburgh
Study number / PID
857551 (UKDA)
10.5255/UKDA-SN-857551 (DOI)
Data access
Restricted
Series
Not available
Abstract
The data collection includes a survey covering aspects of political behaviour among representative samples of cohorts of young people aged 16 to 31 who came of age in the context of and since the lowering of the voting age in Scotland. Additionally, the survey was also conducted among a comparative sample representative of adults aged 32 and older in Scotland. The survey was designed to answer research questions on young people's voting behaviour seven years after the introduction of Votes at 16 in Scotland to assess the longer-term outcomes of the lowering of the voting age to 16 in Scotland. It covered questions on political engagement (both conventional and less conventional), political attitudes (including views on institutions and self-efficacy), family background, experiences with civic education and personal circumstances.This project investigated the outcomes of the enfranchisement of 16- and 17-year-olds on young people’s political behaviour in Scotland seven years after the change of the franchise. Scotland is one of a limited number of places in the world where the voting age has been lowered to 16. When this was done initially for the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014, a rich amount of high-quality data was collected both before and after the first vote involving 16- and 17-year-olds, and this data suggested a number of changes to young people’s political behaviour following the change of the franchise.
In order to gain insights into the longevity of some of these changes in young people’s political behaviour in Scotland, this study was designed to measure the extent to which changes to young people’s political behaviour in Scotland were maintained in different cohorts seven years after the first vote that saw 16- and 17-year-olds included in the franchise. The study surveyed representative samples of cohorts of 16- to 31-year-olds in Scotland. Its objectives were to examine (1) the extent to which greater levels of political engagement...
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Keywords
Methodology
Data collection period
30/06/2021 - 01/08/2021
Country
Scotland
Time dimension
Not availableAnalysis unit
Individual
Universe
Not availableSampling procedure
Not availableKind of data
Numeric
Data collection mode
The data for this study was collected in July 2021 over a period of four weeks using an online survey and respondents from different online panels. To obtain samples sufficiently large to distinguish cohorts with very specific experiences of the voting age (enfranchised at age 16 or 18 and in the context of different kinds of elections), we worked with a survey provider who was able to combine respondents from three different online panels.Sampling was done using quotas to reflect population characteristics of 16- to 31-year-olds in Scotland. To achieve representativeness, we used quotas for age, gender, region, and (parental) social class based on the most up-to-date official population statistics (or survey-based proxies, where official statistics were not available). We also monitored the distributions of gender and (parental) social class within sub-groups of age to balance the sample across all cohorts. We used an occupational measure of parental social class – the classification according to the National Readership Survey NRS scale.The questionnaire was designed using established surveys of political and social attitudes in Scotland as well as surveys specifically designed to investigate youth political engagement – thus allowing for comparisons with other research findings. These included the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (compare SN 9066) and a survey developed, piloted and implemented specifically for young people in the context of the Scottish independence referendum (SN-854933). It covered questions on political engagement (both conventional and less conventional), political attitudes (including views on institutions and self-efficacy), family background, experiences with civic education and personal circumstances. The study has been designed in line with and reviewed by the University of Edinburgh’s School of Social and Political Science ethics committee, assuring anonymity and data protection for survey participants, full transparency on survey aims and processes (including the right to not answer questions and to not complete the survey), and the adherence to purdah period restrictions ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections.
Funding information
Grant number
Unknown
Access
Publisher
UK Data Service
Publication year
2025
Terms of data access
The Data Collection is available for download to users registered with the UK Data Service.
Related publications
Not available