Why should I participate?
Who is BMRB Social Research?
If I don't participate in any activities do I need to take part in this survey?
Why has my address been chosen?
Is the information I provide confidential?
What do the interviewers know about me before they arrive?
Will I be contacted again?
Who are the NDPBs?
How can I check that the interviewer at my home is one of your interviewers?
How long will the interview take?
There is more than one person in my household, do we all have to take part in this survey?
The interviewer has selected a household member aged under 18. Is parental consent required?
I want some more information, who do I contact?
- Why should I participate?
"Taking part" aims to find out how people choose to spend their own time and their views on the leisure activities and facilities available to them. It also helps with our understanding of people's lifestyle choices and the reasons behind their participation or non-participation in our sectors. See background information for more details.
"Taking part" covers a variety of topics such as: sport and active recreation; the arts; museums and galleries; heritage; and archives.
Everyone's views and experiences are valuable to "Taking part". It is important to interview you even if you do not participate in any activities or you do not think that your views are relevant. If you don't participate in any activities, we are keen to know the reasons why not, such as cost, lack of access or interest etc. By interviewing as many people as possible the survey results should reflect the experiences of the whole population of England. Everyone's views are relevant to "Taking part".
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- Who is BMRB Social Research?
BMRB is an independent agency specialising in social research. Some examples of their work include: The British Crime survey – a high profile survey completed on behalf of the Home office; and the Skills for Life survey – a major survey completed on behalf of the then Department for Education and Skills to measure levels of adult literacy and numeracy.
More information about BMRB and their work.
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- If I don't participate in any activities, do I need to take part in this survey?
One of the objectives of "Taking part" is to find out why people do not participate in activities. Your participation in "Taking part" is still crucial because we want to know why not. Also, were everybody who didn't take part in these activities to decline, we would report that 100 percent of people participate in the activities.
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- Why has my address been chosen?
Your address is one of 47,000 addresses randomly selected from the Post Office's list of addresses in England. It is important to have a strictly random selection so that the results reflect the experiences and views of the whole population.
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- Is the information I provide confidential?
We are committed to maintaining your personal information in a manner which meets the requirements of the Data Protection Act (1998) and will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your personal data is kept secure against unauthorised access, loss, disclosure or destruction.
The information you provide is entirely confidential. Your name and address details are kept separate from your answers. BMRB will not pass these details onto any other organisation, including the DCMS or our partner organisations, without your expressed permission. Also, no individual will be identifiable from the results, since individual answers will be combined with those from around 29,000 other people.
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- What do the interviewers know about me before they arrive?
The interviewers do not know anything in advance about you or your household.
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- Will I be contacted again?
A small proportion of interviews are checked to ensure that the interviewer acted in a professional manner and that the information you gave was recorded accurately. You may receive a phone call or letter to confirm this.
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- Who are the NDPBs?
NDPBs are our Non-Departmental public bodies. These public bodies have a role in the processes of national government, but are not a Government department or part of one. They accordingly operate to a greater or lesser extent at arm's length from Ministers.
Examples of these bodies are Arts Council England, English Heritage, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and Sport England – with whom we jointly commissioned the “Taking part” survey.
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- How can I check that the interviewer at my home is one of your interviewers?
All interviewers involved in "Taking part" work for Kantar Operations on behalf of BMRB. They will all carry the Market Research Society Interviewer identity card, an example of which can be found in the leaflet which is sent with the invite asking you to take part in this survey.
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- How long will the interview take?
The length of the interview will depend on your experiences. The interview should take no more than 45 minutes.
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- There is more than one person in my household, do we all have to take part in this survey?
Only those aged 16 and over are asked to take part in this survey. If there is more than one household member aged 16 or over, the interviewer will randomly select one member only to interview.
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- The interviewer has selected a household member aged under 18. Is parental consent required?
If the randomly selected person is aged 16 or 17 and still living with parent(s) or guardian(s), parental consent will be required. The interviewer will inform you of this and must ensure that they receive parental consent before any questions can be asked.
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- I want some more information, who do I contact?
BMRB Survey Information Line – for use by members of the public who have been asked to participate or who have participated in the “Taking part” survey.
Tel: 0800 015 2476
Email: takingpart@bmrb.co.uk
Interviewer ID check (office hours)
Tel: 020 8433 4214
For further details about the questionnaire and survey outputs, please contact the “Taking part” team at takingpart@culture.gsi.gov.uk.
