The NatCen Blog

Here we’ll be talking about our research in the context of the latest news, opinion and
analysis through comments from our team of experts. We’d love to hear from you, so post comments or get in touch with us.

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Posted on 19 March 2021 by Dhriti Mandalia, Senior Researcher

Sweet dreams aren’t made of these: the pandemic, mental health and sleep problems in children and young people

Many parents experience the daily struggles of children’s bedtime routines, especially when they concern younger children. If you’re a parent, you will know how frustrating this can be. The COVID-19 pandemic, together with nation-wide lockdowns and school closures, have not made it any easier on family dynamics.
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Tags: Mental Health of Children and Young People, health, mental health, sleep
Posted on 01 March 2021 by Jonah Bury, Senior Researcher

Education catch-up: is online tuition the future?

Last year the Online Tuition Pilot aimed to support disadvantaged pupils at primary and secondary schools across England through fully subsidised online tuition. The pilot saw established tutoring providers deliver online lessons to over 1400 learners throughout the summer of 2020.
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Tags: education, evaluations, pilot
Posted on 02 February 2021 by Maria David, Researcher

Future of Britain: facilitating dialogue on post-Brexit policy during the pandemic

As part of our ongoing research about public attitudes towards post-Brexit policy, NatCen ran a large scale Deliberative Poll in October 2020, bringing together over 200 members of the British public online.
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Tags: Future of Britain, deliberative polling, deliberative research, online methods
Posted on 28 January 2021 by Joshua Vey, Researcher

Future of Britain: bringing participants and moderators online during the pandemic

As part of our ongoing research about public attitudes towards post-Brexit policy, we ran a large-scale Deliberative Polling event in October 2020, bringing together over 200 members of the British public online.
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Tags: Future of Britain, deliberative polling, deliberative research, online methods
Posted on 15 January 2021 by Natasha Phillips, Researcher

Conducting remote cognitive interviews: telephone or video conferencing?

NatCen’s Methodology & Innovation Hub includes a team of experts who specialise in developing and testing survey questions to ensure measures elicit high quality data. Our day-to-day work often involves conducting interviews with members of the public to assess whether they understand survey questions as intended and can provide valid and reliable answers.
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Tags: COVID-19, cognitive interviewing, fieldwork, methodology, telephone interviews, video interviews
Posted on 16 December 2020 by Sir John Curtice, Senior Research Fellow

Has COVID-19 shifted public attitudes?

Now that the prospect of an end to the pandemic is in sight, the question of what post-pandemic Britain should look like will soon become a pressing one. Should everyday life and public policy return to ‘normal’ – or does COVID-19 represent an opportunity to reshape the country’s social and economic life and the role that government plays in facilitating it?
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Tags: British Social Attitudes, COVID-19, income and welfare, social and political attitudes
Posted on 20 November 2020 by Franziska Marcheselli, Senior Researcher

Life during the COVID-19 pandemic for children and young people

In October, NHS Digital – in collaboration with NatCen, the Office for National Statistics, University of Cambridge and University of Exeter – published the latest survey in a series which provides England’s Official Statistics on trends in child mental health.
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Tags: COVID-19, anxiety, children, loneliness, mental health, public health, young people
Posted on 03 November 2020 by Sir John Curtice, Senior Research Fellow ScotCen

Is Brexit fuelling support for independence?

The rise in support for independence is now well established in the polls. The trend first became apparent last year, when the level of support for Yes increased from around the 45% mark at which it had appeared to be stuck ever since the 2014 independence referendum to an average of 49%. This figure then edged up a little further to 50% by the end of January this year, when the UK formally left the European Union.
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Tags: Brexit, Scottish Social Attitudes, Scottish independence, What Scotland Thinks, political attitudes
Posted on 29 October 2020 by Sir John Curtice, Senior Research Fellow ScotCen

Is Scotland More Egalitarian than England?

It is often argued that Scotland is more left-wing than England. After all, the relative weakness of the Conservative party north of the border would seem a clear testament to that being the case. And the claim, which has often been made by SNP spokespersons, fits one of the key arguments that the party presents in favour of independence, that is, that for so long as it is part of the Union, Scotland is always at risk of having the realisation of its preferences stymied by the less progressive views of those living south of the border.
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Tags: BSA37, British Social Attitudes, ISSP, International Social Survey Programme, Scottish Social Attitudes, inequality
Posted on 08 October 2020 by Sir John Curtice, Senior Research Fellow ScotCen

The Legacy and Future of Brexit

Today sees the publication of two chapters on Brexit as part of the latest British Social Attitudes report. One examines the legacy of Brexit, that is, the impact that the process of leaving has had on our attitudes towards how we are governed. The other looks at what people hope Brexit will bring in future, that is, what they think the UK government should do with the new powers and responsibilities that it will acquire at the end of the transition period in December.
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Tags: BSA 37, Brexit, British Social Attitudes, political attitudes, public trust