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• Active People Survey
  • Active People Survey 7
  • Active People Survey 6
  • Active People Survey 5
  • Active People Survey 4
  • Active People Survey 3
    • Detailed sport results
    • Results by geographical area
    • Active People Survey 3 FAQs
  • Active People Survey 2
  • Active People Survey 1
  • Active People Diagnostic
  • NI8: Sport & Active Recreation
  • Active People consultation
• Sport satisfaction
• Market segmentation
• Sport facts
• Tracking trends
• Understanding participation
• The Value of Sport monitor
• Evaluating impact
• Research archive
• Economic Value of Sport
• Culture and Sport Evidence

Active People Survey 3 FAQs

Expand Q: Why is the Active People Survey being repeated?

A:

The Active People Survey has been so successful that Sport England decided to invest in the survey for a further three years starting from October 2007 onwards.

Active People has helped establish a strong understanding of participation in sport and active recreation - nationally, regionally and locally.

The survey has provided important evidence to support our - and our partners - strategic planning and investment decisions, and to set targets for increasing participation in sport.

Active People has been very positively received by our key partners – local authorities, country sport partnerships, national governing bodies, primary care trusts and so many others.

At the start of 2010, there were over 5,000 registered users of the Active People Diagnostic tool, from over 1,000 different organisations, testament to the interest in and usefulness of this immensely powerful data source.survey.

Expand Q: When will the Active People 2007-2008 survey finish?

A:

The Active People Survey 3 (2008/9) started interviewing on 15 October 2008 and was  completed on 14 October 2009. Active People Survey 4 (2009/10) commenced on 15 October 2009 and will be completed on 14 October 2010.

Expand Q: Are there any key differences between the Sport England Active People Survey 2005-2006 and 2007-2008 survey?

A:

The key difference between the 2005/6 survey and the 2008/9 survey is the overall scale of the survey.

In 2005/6, 363,000 interviews were completed (1,000 in each local authority in England) whereas in 2007/8 and 2008/9 we will be completing 500 interviews for each local authority, so a total of c.190,000 interviews in England. This will be replicated in the 2009/10 survey (Active People Survey 4), giving a cumulative local authority sample of 1,000 every two years.

The reason for undertaking the survey with half the sample of the 2005/6 survey is that this provides a cost effective way for us to provide continuous year-on-year results without having to wait for three years between survey periods as was originally the intention.

Expand Q: Have there been any changes to the questionnaire?

A:

Sport England consulted colleagues to obtain their feedback or suggestions around the 2007/8 questionnaire, prior to the start of Active People Survey 2, based on their experience of the survey and feedback they may have received from partners.

Having reviewed all the suggestions, and taking advice from the Active People Academic Advisory Group (a panel of academics with specialist expertise in the areas of physical activity and sport surveys), we developed a questionnaire which was piloted in August 2007 by Ipsos MORI.

Overall the questionnaire has remained largely unchanged, due to the imperative of being able to track changes/key indicators from the baseline survey in 2005/6.

However, Sport England has added some key questions to the survey which will add value to the information we collect. The following summarises the questions which were added into the 2007/8 survey and remain in the 2008/9 survey:

1. Membership of sports clubs by sport - this will enable us to examine the club membership by type of sport.
2. Type of sports club - this will enable us to split out different type of club membership.
3. Tuition and coaching by sport - this will enable a sport specific analysis of coaching and tuition.
4. Competition by type of Sport - this will provide sports specific information on competition.
5. Would people like to do more sport - this question seeks to establish latent demand. It identifies if people are pre-disposed to taking part in more sport than they currently do.
6. What one sport would people like to do more of - this will provide information on the specific sports people would like to do (this will be asked only of those who stated they would like to do more sport).
7. Demographics: stage of full time education - this will enable us to distinguish what stage of full time education respondents are in (for example, school, 6th form college, university etc).

A briefing note which outlines the questions in the Active People Survey 3 is available.

Expand Q: Who is conducting the survey on behalf of Sport England?

A:

Ipsos MORI conducted The Active People Survey 1 (2005/6) on behalf of Sport England. Following a competitive and rigorous tender process, which took place in June-September 2007, Ipsos MORI was awarded the contract to undertake the Active People Survey for the next three years, (Active People Survey 2, 3 and 4) starting in October 2007.

Expand Q: Is the methodology the same as the 2005 - 2006 survey?

A:

Yes. The survey methodology has remained the same since the start of the Active People Survey in 2005/6. Active People is a telephone based survey, and runs continuously for 12 months.