The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) carries out annual social attitude surveys across Scotland, with a sample of around 1500 people per question. While it is not possible to divide responses by region, there are some interesting points to note, covering Scotland as a whole. The most recent survey relevant to Social Connections was in 2015:
- A2.1 “People from outside Britain who come to live in Scotland make the country a better place.”
Since 2006, there has been a slight increase in the number of respondents who agree with this statement, and slight decrease in the number who disagree. - A2.3 “Scotland would begin to lose its identity if more people from Eastern Europe came to live in Scotland.”
38% of respondents agreed; 41% disagreed. - A2.4 “Scotland would begin to lose its identity if more black and Asian people came to live in Scotland.”
34% agreed; 33% disagreed. - A3.1 Feelings if a close relative married or formed a long term-relationship with someone who was:
Muslim: 49% happy; 20% unhappy.
Black/Asian: 62% happy; 5% unhappy.
Gypsy/Traveller: 37% happy; 32% unhappy. - “Have equal opportunities for Black and Asian people gone too far or not far enough?”
16% of respondents believed it had gone too far; 32% believed that it had not gone far enough.
Younger people and people with higher qualifications tended to answer the latter, while older people and those with lower qualifications were more inclined to answer the former.