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Frequently asked questions

Expand Q: What is the satisfaction survey

A:

The survey measures satisfaction with the quality of people's personal experience when taking part in their chosen sport.

The survey is not about people's general views for example on 'the state of the sport in England', 'services provided by local government' or 'levels of public investment in sport', although these things potentially impact on personal experiences.

Expand Q: Why is the survey being undertaken?

A:

Understanding and measuring the quality of experience is a crucial element of Sport England's strategy and is central to our commitment to developing a world-leading community sport system.

Our strategy identifies three key strategic outcomes related to:  Growth – increasing community levels of participation; Sustain – keeping people involved in sport by improving the quality of the experience; and Excel – for those with talent increasing the opportunities for their identification and progression into elite sport performance.

The Sustain outcome focuses on keeping people involved with sport. At its centre is the idea that people's continued involvement is driven by the enjoyment of taking part and that this - in turn - is heavily affected by the quality of their sporting experience.

The recognised experts in their sport, national governing bodies ( NGBs ) are at the heart of the strategy, and are commissioned by Sport England to deliver against the key outcomes describe above. NGBs set out in their 2008-11 plans how they will attempt to improve on their participants' satisfcation, based on the outcome target of ‘a measurable increase in people’s satisfaction with their experience of sport’.

The research provides a statistically robust measure of satisfaction with the quality of the sporting experience by individual sport. This has given us a basis for tracking the achievement of national targets for each sport. The survey will also support improved planning and investment decisions by providing greater understanding and knowledge of satisfaction profiles in each sport.

Expand Q: How were the draft questions and domains for the questionnaire designed?

A:

The question areas have been informed by:

1. The qualitative research carried out by the Henley Centre on 'understanding participation'
2. review we carried out of any academic research that was relevant
3. Scoping work carried out by Ipsos MORI which included the experience they have of measuring customer satisfaction in the context of brand loyalty
4. The feedback we received from a sounding board of representatives from five NGBs at an initial workshop
5. Further consultation with other NGBs and sporting partners throughout the summer of 2008.

The questionnaire was cognitively tested and piloted prior to the full recruitment of the panel and deployment of the questionnaire.

Expand Q: What sorts of questions are asked of respondents?

A:

The questionnaire is arranged into ‘domains’ or areas. These have been informed by the pre-survey reviews and NGB consultation. Each domain represents a different conceptual area related to satisfaction with the quality of the sporting experience. Within each domain are a number of specific satisfaction question items. Below is a list of the satisfaction question domains, with an example of one of the questions within the domains:

• Performance domain
  The opportunities I had to learn, practice and develop skills in my sport
• Exertion and fitness domain
  The opportunities I had to improve my fitness levels participating in my sport
• Diversion and release from everyday life domain
  The opportunities the sport gave me to relieve stress, unwind and get away from the everyday routine
• Socialising/ belonging domain
  The opportunities for me to socialise through my sport
• Organisation – people and staff domain
  How welcoming the people were at the places in which I took part in my sport
• Organisation – logistics and arrangements domain
  The ease of making a booking when I participated in my sport
• Facilities and playing environment domain
  The quality of the surfaces where I took part in my sport
• Coaching domain
  The opportunity to receive coaching from an instructor or coach at the level that suited my ability
• Officiating domain
  The availability of qualified officials when I competed in my sport
• Value for money domain
  The value for money of participating in my sport

Expand Q: Are there any other questions in addition to the satisfaction domains?

A:

Within the survey there are questions about participants’ attitudes and behaviours which will provide a better understanding of their loyalty towards their chosen sport. These questions include the following: past sporting behaviour, any recent change in sporting behaviour, and likelihood to continue participating (future intention)

The questionnaire also contains questions asked to those who no longer participate, to identify the reasons people might drop out of sport.

 

Expand Q: What flexibility is there to add questions which are specific to my sport?

A:

Each sport was offered the opportunity to include three bespoke questions for their sport – questions outside of the main satisfaction domains but items which may be particularly relevant for their sport, for example, participants’ awareness of TV coverage, services provided by the NGB. 

These additional questions were discussed and confirmed in consultation with the NGBs, Ipsos MORI and Sport England.

Expand Q: Are all sub-disciplines within our sport sampled equally?

A:

We endeavour to sample across major sub-disciplines within a sport, sampling the approximate proportion that participate within the sport as a whole.

Expand Q: How is the sample constructed across key demographics, for example age, gender, and ethnicity?

A:

We look to obtain reasonable sample sizes across varying demographics groups, within each sport, so that analysis by key demographic sub-groups may be possible, for example, gender, and age bands. The sample sizes will however limit detailed demographic sub-group analysis. We may commission more bespoke population specific studies at a later date.

Expand Q: Is the sample constructed across varying levels of engagement in sport?

A:

Yes – it is envisaged that we will have a panel of three different types of participants, based on their level of engagement. The three groups are: general participants, affiliated club members, and the talent pool.

Expand Q: The questionnaire is quite long, how can we be sure of a reasonable response rate?

A:

The survey is detailed in order to cover the wide remit of the sporting experience. However we have assessed that it is likely to require a shorter level of time commitment to complete than Sport England’s Active People Survey (currently an 18 minute telephone survey).

The Sport Satisfaction Survey is not based on cold calling but rather a briefed panel that understand the commitment required when signing up to be part of the panel. In addition the Sport Satisfaction Survey is considered relatively short, compared to other online surveys.

Due to the nature of the subject matter and the likely enthusiasm of many respondents, we do not anticipate high attrition rates from the selected panels. On advice from Ipsos MORI we will plan for an annual attrition in the order of 25%. A reasonable amount of ’refresh’ to the panels is additionally good practice to ensure that we do not build in biases to the responses due to increased respondent knowledge and social desirability factors. 

Expand Q: Some questions are not relevant to participation in my sport, Why?

A:

 
All questions are posed to all respondents, with a small number of exceptions (eg we do not ask badminton players what they think of the pool water quality).

Everybody plays sport for their own individual reasons therefore it is the respondents’ decision as to whether a question is or is not of relevance to them. The respondent can then choose how relevant it is by completing the satisfaction and importance question, or selecting ‘not applicable’.

We do not wish to dictate what areas of sport are important to the individual participant, but this work to test and challenge assumptions on what is important to participants when thinking about the satisfaction with their sporting experience

Expand Q: We would like to ask further questions on people’s ambitions or how they got into the sport, how will this be dealt with

A:

This research was designed to determine and measure the key elements of satisfaction with the sporting experience and has been designed to cover elements relevant to that brief.

This piece of work is pivotal to Sport England’s strategy, in particular the ‘Sustain’ element, which is about keeping people engaged in sport. However each sport has the scope to add three bespoke questions for their sport, and the questionnaire includes questions on past, future participation behaviour.

Expand Q: The respondent may play a number of sports, how do we ensure they continue to answer based on that sport?

A:

The respondents are engaged as part of a panel for a particular sport that they participate in. This is made clear to them from the outset. They are recruited based on that particular sport and will continue to respond to the panel based only on that particular sport.

Expand Q: Are the question domains randomised in terms of the order in which they are asked?

A:

The domains and the questions within each of the domains are randomised in the order in which they asked, so the order will be different for each respondent.

Expand Q: How is each of the domains weighted?

A:

Each question has its own weighting determined by each individual respondent, so that weighting is based on what is important to the participant. Scores for each domain, group, sport etc can then be calculated accordingly.

Expand Q: How will the three participant groups (General Participant, Affiliated Club Members and Talent Pool) be weighted across

A:

The overall satisfaction scores for each individual sport are weighted to reflect the participation profile of each sport, based on the three engagement levels (general participant, affiliated club member and the talent pool).

Expand Q: There seems to be no difference between the General Participants and Affiliated Club Members questionnaire – why?

A:

The general participant and affiliated club member questionnaires are the same.

The questionnaire for the Talent Pool participants is different as clearly there are some elements of satisfaction which are unique/specific to being a talented athlete, such as the level of access to sports medicine to avoid or recover from injury.

In designing the questionnaire content we looked as far as possible to, and in a framework that makes sense, to get consistency in the question content across the level of engagements and across different sports. This is so the overall results can be analysed across the varying levels of engagement. For example how does satisfaction amongst tennis general participants compare to tennis affiliated club members – this comparison is made easier if the survey content is the same.

Expand Q: Are we sure that respondents understand the language used within the questionnaire?

A:

Whilst we are confident of the language within the questionnaire, the questions were cognitively tested among a sample of respondents in Jan/Feb 2009.

Cognitive testing is a process by which people answer the questions and then are interviewed to establish their interpretation, thought processes in giving the answers they did. This ensures that the questions are constructed effectively, and are easy to interpret.

The results of the cognitive testing highlighted that overall the questions and the domain structure worked very well. Some minor tweaking to some of the questions happened as a result of the feedback from the cognitive testing.

Expand Q: If we discover that a large number of respondents show dissatisfaction with a particular aspect or element of satisfacti

A:

The design of the research as a panel survey means that from time-to-time if specific elements of the results from the Satisfaction Survey require qualitative information to understand the root of the problem/success or the means to a solution, then such bespoke research can be commissioned.

 

Expand Q: Why does this survey measure participants’ satisfaction but not the satisfaction of coaches, volunteers and officials?

A:

The Sport Satisfaction Survey is designed to measure one of Sport England’s five strategic commitments; ‘A quantifiable increase in satisfaction’. As specified in our strategy, this means satisfaction with the sporting experience from the perspective of a participant, not of a coach or an official.

However, the questionnaire does contain domains regarding the satisfaction with the quality of each of these three groups, (from the perspective of the participant) as they are each an important part of the sporting landscape.

In order to improve participant satisfaction with these domains or to sustain participation, there may be the need for bespoke work to understand the satisfaction of these groups within the wider sporting workforce.

Expand Q: Some sports do not own their facilities; is this taken into account in the scoring and analysis?

A:

We accept that the situation with regards to facility ownership is different across sport, however we expect the governing bodies to appreciate the context of their sport and respond appropriately to improve, whether that be through investment, influencing delivery partners, or any other means.

The satisfaction index reflects the participants’ satisfaction and will not be weighted to account for whether sports do or don’t own facilities.

Expand Q: Are affiliated club members or talented athletes only asked about their experience at their home club or as NGB members?

A:

No, of course an individual's experience as part of a club or a particular program contribute to a respondents overall satisfaction with the quality of the sporting experience. However all survey respondents are asked to consider their sport, and their experience as a whole within the past 12 months, whether playing home or away, inside a NGB program or not.

Respondents are not asked to focus on any specific location or programme they have engaged in or participated in. For example, a golfer is asked about their satisfaction as a golfer wherever they have played within the last 12 months, not purely their experience at the course where they are a member.

Questions posed in the talented athlete survey such as ‘access to sports medicine’ may only be relevant in relation to a specific ‘talent development program’, however for the survey as a whole they are asked to consider their experiences as an athlete, not as a member of a specific ‘talent development’ program.

Expand Q: What if a survey respondent in the talent pool has been turned down for funding and is disappointed?

A:

The questionnaire has been formulated to reflect the end outcome of the quality of the sporting experience rather than satisfaction with the national governing body itself.

In theory this survey could be applied to a sport without any governing body, and indeed the General Participant element of the survey will measure the satisfaction of those who participate with relatively little or no direct interaction with their governing body.

We recognise that certain issues may sour one’s overall opinion, however we are confident that the sample size and construction (the survey will involve selecting a random sample of respondents) is such that one individual score of dissatisfaction would be ironed out within the overall sample.

However if there is genuine general dissatisfaction with the openness of a funding process, then it is appropriate that this should be reflected, so that the goverming body can act accordingly.

Expand Q: Can I use the survey as an evaluation tool for use in specific interventions?

A:

Yes – Sport England will be developing a version of the questionnaire that can be applied to measure satisfaction of participants involved in a specific intervention. The focus however will remain a ‘satisfaction with the quality of the sports participants experience’ rather than a standard ‘customer service’ perspective.

The survey questions are the copyright of Sport England, so permission to utilise the questions within the survey must be obtained from Sport England.

Expand Q: When will survey results be available?

A:

Headline results from the fourth year of the survey (which took place between February and May 2012) will be published in June 2012.

Detailed results from the 2012 survey will be made available in September 2012.

Survey results from the previous three survey waves (2009, 2010, and 2011) are available on our website. Click here.

Expand Q: How is the survey conducted?

A:

An online panel survey methodology was chosen due to ease of administration, cost and speed of response. This approach also lends itself to a longitudinal panel design, ie respond to the questionnaire at one point each year, over the three year period.

The online methodology is also supplemented with a small proportion of paper based questionnaires. Additionally, for some sports, face-to-face recruitment at events and leisure centres is used.

Expand Q: Who is undertaking the survey?

A:

Following a rigorous tender process in August – October 2008, and in 2009, Ipsos MORI was awarded the contract to undertake this research.

Expand Q: When is the survey conducted?

A:

The first wave of the survey started in March 2009, with early baselines collected by June 2009. Prior to the main survey starting in March 2009, Ipsos MORI conducted cognitive testing of the questionnaire and a full pilot survey. Fieldwork for the first wave of the survey was conducted between March and May 2009.

The second year of the survey (2010) took place at the same time as the 2009 survey, with fieldwork from March to May 2010.

The third year of the survey (2011) took place between March and May 2011.

The fourth year of the survey (2012) took place between February and May 2012.

Expand Q: What type of sports participants are surveyed?

A:

The survey looks at three different types of participant, based on their level of engagement:

General participant

These are recruited randomly from respondents to the Active People Survey (APS) (approximately 60% of respondents indicated that they are happy to be re-contacted). For small participant sports a ‘snowball’ sampling approach is used where each selected respondent identified in APS names two or three other known participants in the sport from which an additional sample is drawn. Respondents are also recruited using additional methods, such as placing banner advertisements on Facebook, attending sport specific events and sourcing participants at leisure centres and universities.

Affiliated club members

These are recruited working with the NGB and club secretaries to ideally draw a random sample of clubs and then within each sampled club a random sample of individual club members. Data protection requirements are adhered to in the provision of this information on affiliated club members. Some affiliated club members are also recruited from club-based events/competitions for certain sports.

Talent pool

A random sample of athletes in the talent pool will be selected from a sampling frame provided by the governing body. Again Data Protection requirements are adhered to in the provision of this contact information from the governing body.

Panel members are recruited based on a certain level of current participation. For the majority of sports this level is participation at least once a week, but in recognition that some sports are not predominantly characterised by weekly participation (eg sailing, skiing) the participation frequency is based on monthly (at least once in the last four weeks) participation.

Expand Q: How many participants are surveyed?

A:

Across each sport, the overall sample size was intended to be 900 respondents, to be split across the three engagement levels; 300 general participants, 300 affiliated club members, and 300 from the talent pool in each sport.

In many cases, the achieved sample for the talent pool is less than 300, as many have small talent pools (of less than 300 people).

For smaller participant sports it was also a challenge to obtain a sample of 300 general participants so the sample was therefore smaller than 300 (and less than a total of 900 overall) for some sports.

The overall number of people (sample) who completed the surveys is as follows:

2009: 44,390

2010: 44,960

2011: 38,559

Expand Q: Is a sample size of 300 large enough to produce an accurate result in a large participant sport?

A:

The survey is conducted by Ipsos MORI, an organisation with a high level of experience in this field.

It has advised Sport England that a sample of 300 is the optimum sample size to provide the results required. In those sports with a smaller pool of participants we will endeavour to interview as close to 100% of those participants, ie as close as possible to interview the whole ‘universe’.

 

Expand Q: Is the survey for adults only?

A:

Yes. The survey is being designed primarily as a survey of adults (age 16 and over) in England. However, where there is a strong case for lowering the age threshold we have extended the survey to include 14 and 15 year olds (this is only the case for those in the talent pool).