Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.
The Public Attitudes Tracker (PAT) survey measures public awareness, attitudes, and behaviours relating to Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) policies such as energy, climate change, consumer rights, artificial intelligence and workers' rights.A previous version of the PAT began in March 2012 and was run on a quarterly basis with a total of 37 waves of data collection collected between 2012 and 2021. In Summer 2021, BEIS recommissioned the survey with the aim of creating a new time series based on a methodology which will allow more robust tracking of measures over the longer term. The new survey series, which began in Autumn 2021, uses Address Based Online Surveying (ABOS), a cost-effective method of surveying the general population using random sampling techniques. ABOS is a 'push to web' methodology where the primary method of data collection is online, but respondents are also able to complete a paper version of the questionnaire which enables participation among the offline population.The PAT is run four times a year. Questions on issues where attitudes are likely to shift quickly are repeated quarterly; other questions are asked annually with a few topics asked bi-annually.Data are collected from a representative sample of the UK population so that results fairly represent the views of the wider population.The main objectives of the new PAT series are:to provide BEIS with attitudinal data on their prioritiesto understand how BEIS policies affect customersto provide robust evidence for early policy developmentto monitor changes in public attitudes and awareness over timeto establish a robust methodology for tracking change, which is future-proofed, ensuring comparable data collection over timeFurther information, including topic reports, may be found on the GOV.UK BEIS Public Attitudes Tracker webpage.Latest edition informationFor the second edition (July 2023), data and documentation for Wave 4, covering Summer 2022, were added to the study.
Main Topics:
Specific topics covered vary from quarter to quarter, but general topics covered include:artificial intelligencenet zero and climate changeenergy infrastructure and energy sourcesheat and energy in the homeenergy bills and tariffsconsumer issuesworkers' rightsdemographics
Multi-stage stratified random sample
Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)
Self-administered questionnaire: Paper
