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Title:
Wales Life and Times Study (Welsh Assembly Election Study), 2003

Subject Categories:
Election and campaign studies - Politics
Social attitudes and behaviour - Society and culture

Depositor(s):
National Centre for Social Research

Principal Investigator(s):
Jones, R. Wyn, University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Department of International Studies
Heath, A., University of Oxford. Department of Sociology
National Centre for Social Research

Data Collector(s):
National Centre for Social Research

Sponsor(s):
Economic and Social Research Council
University College London. School of Public Policy. Constitution Unit

Grant Number:
L219252042 (Devolution and Constitutional Change Programme)

Project Number: P ; 2207


Other Acknowledgements:
John Curtice, University of Strathclyde and Centre for Research into Elections and Social Trends (CREST).

Abstract:
The Wales Life and Times Studies (WLTS) have grown out of a programme of work conducted by the Centre for Research into Elections and Social Trends (CREST) in collaboration with the Institute of Welsh Politics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, in response to the constitutional changes brought about by devolution.

In 1997 a referendum study was conducted in Wales and Scotland (held at the UK Data Archive under SN:3952), followed by election studies covering the first elections in 1999 to the Welsh National Assembly (held under SN:4180) and Scottish Parliament, both funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). When the ESRC announced its intention to carry out surveys in all parts of the UK in 2001 and 2003 under the Devolution and Constitutional Change Programme, the Welsh component became WLTS.

An earlier Welsh election study, covering the 1979 general election, is also held at the UK Data Archive under SN:1591, but is not part of the WLTS series.

The 2003 Wales Life and Times Study served as a Welsh Assembly Election Study for the 2003 Welsh National Assembly elections. There was no general election held in 2003, hence the name change of the survey compared with the previous wave held in 2001. CREST was responsible for designing compatible questions for the 2003 study that were also fielded in England on the British Social Attitudes Survey, in Scotland on the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, and in Northern Ireland on the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey.

An additional grant from the Constitution Unit, University College, London, enabled the addition of a module of questions on proportional representation, which built on similar questions asked on the Welsh Assembly Election Study 1999 (SN:4180).
Main Topics:
The dataset contains the replies of 988 respondents in Wales to questions on media consumption, party identification, voting in the Welsh National Assembly election, proportional representation, leadership evaluations, retrospective evaluations, political issues, political trust, national identity, constitutional issues, effectiveness of devolved institutions, Welsh language and party images. Classificatory information was also collected on national identity, origin and Welsh speaking, sex and age, religion, marital status, housing, economic activity and job details, and income.

Standard Measures:
Left-right scale - self-completion questionnaire Q1a-f.

Coverage:
Dates of Fieldwork: May 2003-July 2003
Country: Wales
Spatial Units: Welsh National Assembly Constituencies; Local Authority Districts
Observation Units: Individuals
Kind of Data: Numeric data; Individual (micro) level

Universe Sampled:
Location of Units of Observation:National
Population:Adults aged 18+ living in private households in Wales during 2003.

Methodology:
Time Dimensions: Repeated cross-sectional study
Sampling Procedures: Multi-stage stratified random sample
Number of Units: (A) 1760 (target) 988 (obtained)
Method of Data Collection: Face-to-face interview; Self-completion
Weighting: Weighting factor used: WTFACTOR

Language(s) of Written Materials:
Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English

Access:
Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage. See terms and conditions for further information.
Availability: ESDS Access and Preservation, UK Data Archive
Contact: Help desk: help@esds.ac.uk

Date of Release:
First Edition: 1 December 2004

Copyright:
Copyright held jointly between University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and National Centre for Social Research

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