A History of the Ministry of Information, 1939-46

39

APPENDIX (2)

The samples

The samples were designed to represent the adult civilian population of Great Britain, which was defined as all civilians aged fourteen or over with the exception of those still at school.

Representative quotas of men and women in different broad occupation groups were set for each of the twelve Civil Defence regions, the number interviewed in each region being proportionate to its population. Within each of these regions appropriate numbers of persons living in large and small towns and in rural areas were included.

In selecting housewives, who were interviewed at their homes, interviewers were told how many should be included in different economic groups and age groups. The economic group was classified according to the basic wage-rate or salary of the chief earner in the family.

Workers were interviewed at their place of work, not more than six being selected from any one work place.

In selecting both housewives and workers, interviewers were told to adopt some random principle, such as taking every nth house in a street or selecting workers at regular intervals from a list. If the person first chosen for interview was not available another person was selected in the same way to be interviewed instead.

40

Analysis of Sample

July 1945 Jan. 1946 March 1946 May 1946
No. % No. % No. % No. %
Scotland (11) * 217 11 227 11 225 11 221 11
North (North (1) N.E. (2) 287 15 297 15 284 14 289 15
(N.W. (10) 268 14 267 13 282 14 282 14
Middle (N. Mid. (3) east (4) 253 13 268 14 268 13 264 13
(Mid. (9) Wales (8) 299 16 301 15 302 15 300 15
South (South (6) S.W. (7) S.E. (8) 327 17 330 17 340 17 324 16
(London (5) 251 13 307 15 313 16 298 15
Total 1902 100 1997 100 2014 100 1978 100

* The numbers in brackets are the numbers of the Civil Defence Region.

Age and Sex

July 1945 Jan 1946 March 1946 May 1946
No. % No. % No. % No. %
Men
Age: Up to 34 202 25 243 29 246 29 278 34
35 -54 390 48 430 50 439 51 378 46
55 & over 220 27 177 21 170 20 160 20
Unclassified 1 - 2 - 3 - 1 -
Women
% % % %
Age: Up to 34 471 43 471 41 487 42 467 40
35 -54 399 37 445 39 480 42 460 40
55 & over 219 20 219 19 187 16 233 20
Unclassified - - 10 1 2 - 1 -
% % % %
Total Men 813 43 852 43 858 43 817 41
Total Women 1089 57 1145 57 1154 57 1161 59
Sex Unclassified 2
Total : 1902 1997 2014 1978

Occupation

July 1945 Jan 1946 March 1946 May 1946
No. % No. % No. % No. %
Housewives 570 30 593 30 595 30 594 30
Factory workers 501 26 516 26 509 25 509 26
Clerical & distributive workers 317 17 321 16 330 16 320 16
Professional & Managerial workers 101 5 126 6 119 6 109 6
Other workers * 313 16 332 17 337 17 324 16
Retired & Unoccupied 100 5 109 5 124 6 122 6
Total 1902 1997 2019 1978

* Agriculture, Mining, Building, Transport, Public Services and Miscellaneous

Economic Group

Wage rate or salary of chief earner in Family. (income if no earners in family) July 1945 Jan 1946 March 1946 May 1946
No. % No. % No. % No. %
Up to £4 per week 731 38 638 32 682 34 638 32
Over £4-£5.10 per week 711 37 834 42 868 43 790 40
Over £5.10 per week 415 22 481 24 436 22 512 26
Unclassified 45 2 44 2 28 1 38 2
Total: 1902 1997 2014 1978
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Sampling Instructions given to Investigators

The population sampled is the adult civilian population of Great Britain, an “adult” being a person who has left school.

On your quota sheet you are told how many men and women you should interview in different occupation groups, and how many people you should interview in different towns or areas. It is left to you to distribute interviews with people in different occupation group between the towns or areas given as is most suitable.

Age quotas are not set, except for housewives. Bearing in mind that anybody who has left school may be interviewed, try and get a good representation of different age groups. About half should be under and about half over 45. About 8% should be under 20 and about 16% over 65.

The choice of rural areas is left to you. Any area around a town in which you are working may be chosen. Only interviews made in villages, or right out in the country, should be classified as rural. Interviews made on the outskirts of towns should count as urban and belonging to that town.

Selecting Workers

Workers should be interviewed at their place of work. Do not interview more than six workers from any one work-place. When you have obtained the co-operation of the management of a work-place select the workers on a random principle. If a list of workers can be obtained pick out one in every so many. If there is no list and you have to select workers on the spot, guard against any bias entering into your choice. On no account allow the manager or foreman to choose workers for you.

Selecting Housewives

On your quota shoot you are told how many housewives to interview in three economic groups. Choose suitable streets and as usual ascertain the wage-rate the chief wage earner in the family before classifying the economic group. Do interview more than five housewives in the same street.

The age groups are meant as a guide and need not be kept to strictly.

Retired and unoccupied

It is important that the correct number of retired and unoccupied people should be included, so please make sure that you get the full number set. You will have to use ingenuity in finding these. They may be interviewed in the homes of housewives you visit in getting your housewife quota or elsewhere.

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