Metadata: Cultural participation

SF survey, Statistics Flanders

Cultural participation is monitored in the SF survey via the following question:

How often in the past 12 months have you…?

- attended a musical performance, concert or festival

- seen a film in the cinema

- attended an opera performance

- attended a dance or ballet performance

- attended a theatre performance

- attended a circus show

- attended a musical

- attended a cabaret show, stand-up comedy or revue

- visited a museum, exhibition or gallery

- visited a monument or building of interest

- borrowed a book in the library

The possible answers are in each case:

- never

- 1 or more times a year

- 1 or more times a month

- 1 or more times a week

- daily or almost daily

- don’t know/No answer

Persons who do not tick any of the above answers (or tick more than one at a time) are not included in the calculation of the results.

For the calculation of the different types of participants, a distinction is made between:

The ‘core audience’: participates at least 1 time per month in 2 of the 11 activities.

‘Interested participants’: participate at least once a year in 3 different types of activities.

‘cultural passers-by’: participate in culture less intensively and diversely than interested participants.

‘Non-participants’: do not participate in any cultural activities.

The data can be broken down by gender, age, household position and level of education, among others. With regard to the level of education, the following groups are involved:

- low educated persons: persons without a diploma or with at most a diploma of lower secondary education

- Medium educated: persons with at most an upper secondary school certificate or holds a certificate of post-secondary non- higher education

- highly educated persons: persons with a diploma of higher or university education.

Based on the place of residence of the respondents, the data can be classified according to province and degree of urbanisation. The degree of urbanisation is divided into six groups of municipalities: major cities, central cities, urban periphery, smaller cities, transitional areas and rural areas. This division is based on the Spatial Structure Plan for Flanders, in which, on the one hand, some categories are included in ‘smaller cities’ and, on the other hand, the rural area is divided into ‘transitional areas’ and ‘rural areas’ on the basis of the Strategic Plan for Spatial Economy.

The data presented are estimates based on the results of the Statistics Flanders survey (SF survey). This is a survey conducted several times a year among the inhabitants of the Flemish Region aged 18 and older. The survey gauges the opinions, convictions and behaviour of the population with regard to social and policy-relevant themes.

Per survey, 6,000 persons are randomly selected from the National Register. The SF survey is a so-called ‘mixed mode’ survey. This means that the respondents can fill out the questionnaire in different ways. First, the selected persons are invited by letter to fill in the questionnaire online. The questionnaire is designed in such a way that it is easy to fill in via the smartphone (‘mobile first’ design). Those who do not participate online will receive a written questionnaire in their mailbox. The combination of an online and paper questionnaire ensures that people who have no or insufficient digital access are also included in the survey.

The results presented here are based on the 5^th edition of the SF survey, which was conducted between November 2022 and December 2022. In the end, 2,183 people participated in this edition. Compared to the initial sample of 6,000 people, this corresponds to a response rate of 36.4%. The question on cultural participation was also previously included in the 2^nd edition of the SF survey conducted in autumn 2021. In that survey, 1,718 people participated. Relative to the initial sample of 6,000 people, this corresponds to a response rate of 28.6%.

Because of the inevitable differences in the response by background characteristics, the final sample is weighted when calculating the results. This means that the under-represented groups are given more weight, while the over-represented groups are given less weight. In this way the proportions between the various target groups in the final sample are restored and brought into line with the sampling frame. In this way, a representative sample for the intended target population is obtained. The following 5 background characteristics are taken into account when weighting the SF survey: gender, age, educational level, nationality (Belgian/non-Belgian) and degree of urbanisation.

When interpreting the results of the SF survey, a margin of uncertainty must be taken into account. The smaller the sample on which the figures are calculated, the greater is this margin of uncertainty.

Because of the changed method, the results of the SF survey cannot be compared with the results of the Survey ‘Socio-cultural shifts in Flanders’ (SCV survey), which was conducted annually by Statistics Flanders from 1996 until 2018. The SF survey is a ‘mixed mode’ survey (online and on paper), whereas the SCV survey was a ‘face-to-face’ survey (with interviewers at home).

Statistics Flanders: SF survey

Cultural participation