Overall cross tabulation and filtering data analysis

Overall, cross-tabulation and filtering data analysis revealed few sig-
nificant correlations between public perceptions of social services and
demographic factors (as measured across age, gender, education, social
classification, work status and ethnicity). However, a statistically signifi-
cant correlation was identified in the relation between education and
opinion of social services. Respondents with lower qualifications tended
to report a more negative opinion of social services, while people with
at least a degree-level qualification tended to report a more positive
opinion. No correlation was found between education and contact with
Public Perception about Social Services 1157
Downloaded from by 81695661,
OUP on 04 July 2020

social services, indicating that social services were used across all levels
of educational attainment.
Linked to the above, a difference was identified between perceptions
of social services by readers of different newspapers. The most positive
opinion was identified with readers of The Guardian , The Independent
and Financial Times with more than 60 per cent of readers reporting
generally positive impression of social services (see Figure 4 ). This com-
pares to readers of the Daily Express and Daily Mail , of which less than
50 per cent (37 and 45 per cent, respectively) reported a good impres-
sion of social services.
The findings also identified a statistically significant correlation be-
tween the gender of the respondent and reported opinions of the
Scottish Government’s role in improving the care for people’s lives.
Overall, a higher percentage of men disagree and strongly disagree that
social services improve the care of people’s lives. However, analysis of
basic respondent characteristics did not turn up broad or consistent pat-
terns ‘across’ the survey findings. For example, neither education nor
how well-off a household is appear to matter much. This underscores
the importance of looking at intersectional influences, when it comes to
perceptions of social services, as opposed to simple, one-dimensional
characteristics.
Finally, and importantly, a statistically significant correlation was iden-
tified between the participant’s opinion of the provision in their own lo-
cal area and their perception of the overall provision in Scotland. This
seems to indicate that people’s opinion of the broader provision in
Scotland is formed from their opinion of specific provision in their local
Figure 4: General impression of social services in Scotland of different newspaper readers
( n ¼ 2,505)
1158 Trish McCulloch and Stephen Webb
Downloaded from by 81695661,
OUP on 04 July 2020

context. People’s tangible experience with a social service—which
includes how well it performs and levels of satisfaction and problems ex-
perienced—tells us something about how social services is perceived
more broadly. Thus, next to purpose, the strongest patterns emerge