A History of the Ministry of Information, 1939-46
APPENDIX 1
SAMPLE FOR THE MAIN INQUIRY
The sample was intended to represent the civilian population of Great Britain excluding school children and those below school age, secondary school children are therefore excluded from the sample. For the main part, the sample secured successfully achieved the object of the sample designed. Detailed figures are given below, the percentages for the sample being based on 1902, the number of people interviewed during July 1945.
| Age | ||
| Population | Sample | |
| % | % | |
| 16 - 24 | 15 | 16 |
| 25 - 34 | 16 | 20 |
| 35 - 44 | 21 | 22 |
| 45 - 54 | 18 | 20 |
| 55 - 64 | 15 | 14 |
| 65 and over | 15 | 9 |
The oldest age group is somewhat under-represented.
| Age and Sex | ||||
| Men | Women | |||
| Population | Sample | Population | Sample | |
| % | % | % | % | |
| 16 - 34 | 25 | 25 | 35 | 43 |
| 35 - 54 | 42 | 48 | 37 | 37 |
| 55 & over | 33 | 27 | 28 | 20 |
Men in the middle age group are somewhat over-represented and the older men somewhat under-represented. The younger women are somewhat over-represented but the older women under-represented.
| Region | ||
| Population | Sample | |
| % | % | |
| Scotland | 11 | 11 |
| North | 6 | 6 |
| North East | 9 | 9 |
| North West | 14 | 14 |
| North Midlands | 7 | 7 |
| Midlands | 9 | 10 |
| Wales | 6 | 6 |
| East | 6 | 6 |
| South | 5 | 6 |
| South-West | 6 | 7 |
| South-East | 5 | 5 |
| London | 16 | 13 |
The distribution is representative except that London is 13% of the sample against 16% of the population.
This distribution is representative except that retired and unoccupied people are slightly under-represented.