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

Persons ticking none of the above answers (or several answers at once) are not included in the calculation of the results. The question on sports participation involved 84 persons in the 2022 edition.

In addition, those who indicated that they practice sports 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

The data can be broken down by gender, age, 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: persons with at most a certificate of upper secondary education or a certificate of post-secondary non- higher education

- Highly educated persons: Hold a higher education diploma or a university degree.

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 out the questionnaire online. The questionnaire is designed in such a way that it is easy to fill out 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 questions on sports participation were also previously included in the 2^nd edition of the SF survey conducted in autumn 2021. In that survey, 1,718 people participated. Compared 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.

In presenting the results, the evolution of the total score and the differences by background characteristics of the most recent year are depicted (such as by gender, age, household position, education level, province and degree of urbanisation). To assess whether there is a statistically significant difference between the total scores of different years or the scores of different groups within a given background characteristic (e.g. between men and women), the Cramer’s V-test is used. If the corresponding p-value is smaller than 0.050, the correlation is considered significant. In the figures, this is indicated by giving the bars a blue colour.

Because of the changed method, the results of the SF survey cannot be compared to the results of the Survey ‘Social-cultural shifts in Flanders’ (SCV-survey), which was conducted annually from 1996 to 2018 by Statistics Flanders. 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

Sports participation