APPENDIX II
PUBLIC ATTITUDES TO GOVERNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
SECRET
FOR INTERNAL CIRCULATION ONLY
An Inquiry made by the Wartime Social Survey for the Ministry of Information.
Interviewing was carried out between April 30 and May 13, 1942
1.
“Could you name any particular thing the Government is asking people to do at the moment?”
This question was asked to try to assess the different impacts which Government campaigns are producing. This question will be repeated at later intervals, and it is hoped that it will provide a barometer of the effects of all Government campaigns on a national scale.
72.4% of those asked were able to name at least one Government instruction. Some of these named more than one.
Answers are classified as follows:
No.
%
Salvage
628
31.0
War Savings
355
17.5
War work (including women's war work); Go To It
298
14.7
Save fuel
211
10.4
Economise, don't waste
103
5.1
Carry your gas mask
100
4.9
Dig for Victory
85
4.2
Help war effort; Do your bit (vague)
74
3.7
Food instructions; Don't waste food.
71
3.5
Avoid unnecessary travel
55
2.7
Avoid careless talk
46
2.3
Join Civil Defence, H.G., or fire-watch
45
2.2
Invasion; Stay put
27
1.3
Miscellaneous
91
4.5
None remembered
561
27.6
Sample
2034
The question was left entirely open, and interviewers were instructed not to prompt in any circumstances.
In considering these results it should be borne in mind that informants were not asked how many Government instructions they could think of, but whether they could name any being issued at the moment. Informants may, therefore, be expected to have named the one or two Government instructions that were uppermost in their minds, but he or she may in fact have been aware of others.
The percentages given above are, therefore, significant in the relations they bear to one another, and do not necessarily indicate the
proportions of the public aware of the particular Government instructions named.
a.
Sex
Breakdown by sex shows little difference, except that more women than men mentioned Salvage. The proportion of those unable to give any answer is roughly the same in both groups.
Men
Women
Total
%
%
%
Salvage
26.3(±3)
34.4
31.0
War Savings
19.2 (±2.3)
16.1
17.5
War work
16.7
12.3
14.7
Save fuel
9.6
11.0
10.4
None remembered
25.9(±3)
28.8
27.6
Sample
875
1159
b.
Age
People in the younger age groups were more often able to give a reply than those aged over 45.
Under 30
30-45
Over 45
Total
%
%
%
%
Salvage
35.6
31.6
27.0
31.0
War Savings
19.5
18.1
15.4
17.5
War Work
17.6
16.6
10.9
14.7
Save fuel
11.9
9.2
10.3
10.4
None remembered
22.5
24.4
33.7
27.6
Sample
564
685
778
c.
Geographical
People living in rural districts more frequently said Salvage than those living in urban districts.
Urban
Rural
Total
%
%
%
Salvage
29.9
44.2 (±6.2)
31.0
War Savings
18.5
12.5 (± 4)
17.5
War work
13.5
10.4
14.7
Save fuel
10.4
10.7
10.4
None remembered
28.3
25.0
(±5.2)
27.6
Sample
1750
260
2. “
Are there any Government instructions or information that you would like to have explained more fully
?”
78.5% said that there were not, or that they were unable to think of any at the moment.
In considering this result it should be remembered that the 78.5% includes both those who thought they were clear about Government instructions and did not want further explanation, and those who were apathetic.
The remaining 21.5% answered as follows:
Number
% of total Sample
War work, Reservation and call-up.
82
4.0
Women's registration. Working conditions
Invasion
61
3.0
A.R.P. and fire-watching
51
2.5
Food and food rationing
49
2.4
Income tax
44
2.2
Fuel rationing
35
1.7
Clothes rationing
20
1.0
Salvage
11
0.5
Air raid compensation
9
0.4
Miscellaneous inquiries
30
1.5
Miscellaneous criticisms of instructions
67
3.3
Sample
2034
3.
“Are you quite clear about what you should do in the case of invasion?”
No.
Yes
1550
76.4
No
270
13.3
Vague
208
10.3
Sample
2028
In the “Vague” category are included those who said that some other member of the family would take charge, or that they would do as they were told by some person in authority.
The aim of the question was to find out whether people felt they were clear about the invasion instructions, and not whether they had correctly understood the instructions. Answers were subjective on the part of the informant.
Interviewers were asked to record any remarks that informants made about what they would do. As only a proportion of those interviewed volunteered such remarks they have not been tabulated. A substantial proportion of these, however, repeated such slogans as “Stay put”, “Stay where you are”, “Carry on” and “Keep indoors”.
Those who answered “No” were asked what they were not clear about. The replies have not been tabulated as they were miscellaneous or very vague. An answer given by many was that they simply did not know what to do at all and could therefore not say precisely what it was that they were not clear about.
These results seem to indicate that those people who were satisfied with “Stay put”, etc., tended to answer “Yes”, and that those who answered “No” wanted the slogan more clearly defined.
It will be noted that in the previous, unprompted, question about Government instructions only 3.0% mentioned Invasion as a subject they wanted more information about.
a.
Sex
A higher proportion of men than women answered “Yes”; a higher proportion of women than men gave vague answers or said “No.”
Men
Women
Total
%
%
%
Yes
83.9
70.8
76.4
No
10.8
15.2
13.3
Vague
5.3
14.0
10.3
Sample
871
1157
b.
Age
A higher proportion of the middle age groups answered “Yes”. The older and younger people answered “No” more frequently. The proportion giving vague answers does not differ as between Age Groups.
Under 20
20-30
30-45
45-35
Over 65
Total
%
%
%
%
%
%
Yes
66.7
76.4(±4.3)
80.7
78.5
64.9
76.4
No
22.8
15.3
10.7
11.6
15.7
13.3
Vague
10.5
8.4
8.6
9.9
9.4
10.3
Sample
171
593
685
555
217
Breakdown by urban and rural districts shows no statistically significant differences between the two.
