Metadata: Sports participation

Statistics Flanders: SF survey

Participation in organised sports is measured in the SF survey by the following 2 questions:

1. How often do you practice sports? Sport can be interpreted broadly, also walking and cycling. (1 answer possible)

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

People who do not tick any of the above answers (or multiple answers at once) are not included in the calculation of the results. The question about sports participation involved 22 people in the 2024 edition.

In addition, those who indicated that they exercised at least once a year were also asked the question below.

2. Which sports do you currently practice? You may indicate several answers.

Walking

Cycling

Running

Working out at the gym

Swimming

Football

Volleyball

Basket

Tennis

Padel

Yoga

Combat sports

Dance

Gymnastics

Other sport (describe): …

Don’t know/no answer

We received an answer to this question from 1608 respondents.

The data can be divided by gender, age, and education level, among other things. The education level concerns the following groups:

• low-skilled: persons without a diploma or at most a lower secondary education diploma
• medium-skilled: persons with at most a higher secondary education diploma or with a post-secondary non-higher education diploma
• high-skilled: persons with a higher or university education diploma.

Based on the place of residence of the respondents, the data can be divided by province and degree of urbanisation. For the degree of urbanisation, a division is made into 6 groups of municipalities: large cities, central cities, urban fringe, smaller cities, transitional areas and countryside. This division is based on the Spatial Structure Plan Flanders, in which on the one hand a number of categories are combined in ‘smaller cities’ and on the other hand the rural area is divided into ‘transitional areas’ and ‘countryside’ on the basis of the Strategic Plan for Spatial Economy.

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

For each survey, 6,000 people are randomly selected from the National Register. The SV survey is a so-called ‘mixed mode’ survey. This means that respondents can complete the questionnaire in different ways. The selected people are first invited by letter to complete the survey online. The questionnaire is designed in such a way that it can be easily completed via smartphone (‘mobile first’ design). Those who do not participate online will receive a written questionnaire in the mail. 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 are based on the 11^th edition of the SV survey that was conducted in the autumn of 2024 (between October 2024 and December 2024). 1,858 people participated in this edition. Compared to the initial sample of 6,000 people, this corresponds to a response rate of 31.0%. The questions about sports participation were previously included in the 2^nd, 5^th and 8^th editions of the SV survey that were conducted in the autumn of 2021, 2022 and 2023. 1,696, 2,043 and 2,076 people participated in these surveys respectively. Compared to the initial sample of 6,000 people, this corresponds to a response rate of 28.3%, 34.0% and 34.6% respectively.

Due to the inevitable differences in the response according to background characteristics, the final sample is weighted for the calculation of the results. This means that the underrepresented groups are given more weight, while the overrepresented groups are given less weight. In this way, the proportions between the different target groups in the final sample are restored and brought into line with the sampling frame. This results in a representative sample for the intended target population. When weighting the SV survey, the following 4 background characteristics are taken into account: gender, age, nationality (Belgian/non-Belgian) and degree of urbanisation.9

When interpreting the results of the SV survey, an uncertainty margin must be taken into account. This uncertainty margin is greater as the sample on which the figures are calculated is smaller. The uncertainty margins are shown in the figures by means of a 95% confidence interval. This means that if the measurement were to be repeated 100 times in the same population with different samples, the true value among the population would lie within the interval for approximately 95 samples.

To calculate the confidence intervals, the percentage was first converted from a scale between 0 and 1 to a scale between minus and plus infinity (via the so-called logit transformation). This conversion allows the uncertainty distribution of the percentage to be approximated by a normal distribution, the easiest way to calculate confidence intervals. Without conversion to the scale from minus to plus infinity, you often get distorted confidence intervals for small and large percentages or for small groups. When calculating the confidence intervals, the influence of the weights is also taken into account. After all, the weights are intended to reduce distortion in the estimated percentages, but they also ensure that there is more uncertainty around these estimates.

Figures calculated on fewer than 100 respondents are not shown in the tables and figures because they are not reliable enough and may also produce distorted confidence intervals.

When presenting the results, the evolution of the total score and the differences according to background characteristics of the most recent year are shown (by gender, age, household position, education level and degree of urbanisation). In order to judge the differences between the total scores of different years or the scores of different groups within a certain background characteristic (for example between men and women), the confidence intervals of the measurement are examined. If the confidence intervals do not overlap, we speak of a statistical difference. However, this does not necessarily mean that the difference is also noteworthy in terms of content, as this involves a subjective evaluation.

Due to the changed method, the results of the SV survey are not comparable with the results of the Survey ‘Social-cultural shifts in Flanders’ (SCV survey) that was conducted annually from 1996 to 2018 by the Research Department of the Flemish Government and later by Statistics Flanders. The SV survey is a ‘mixed mode’ survey (online and on paper), while the SCV survey is a ‘face-to-face’ survey (with interviewers at home).

Statistics Flanders: SF survey

Sports participation