Detail

Analytics Division within the Department for Communities (DfC) carried out an online public survey on the use of the culture, arts, heritage, sport and language official statistics publications:

  • Headline statistics on engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport
  • Experience of culture, arts and heritage
  • Experience of sport
  • Experience of Irish and Ulster-Scots culture and heritage
  • Knowledge and use of Irish and Ulster-Scots
  • Knowledge of Sign Language
  • Wellbeing and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport
  • Creative Industries economic estimates for Northern Ireland
  • Digest of statistics for the Public Record Office

The aim of the user consultation was to gather information on how the statistics are used, whether the range and type of outputs meet user needs, and to find out where improvements could be made.

The online survey was open for six weeks, from 27 June to 07 August 2025. A link to the survey was published on the DfC Statistics and Research webpages. The link was emailed to DfC policy areas for completion and circulation to potential users of the reports.

Survey results

Response to the survey was low. Overall, sixteen users responded to the survey. Respondents were asked:

  1. How often they used the publications;
  2. What they used the publications for;
  3. What tables they used from the publications;
  4. If the current publications and corresponding commentary met their needs;
  5. Their opinion on proposed changes to the publication schedule.

The following sections provide a summary of the results:

Headline statistics on engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport

1. How often do you use the headline statistics on engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport report?

The engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport report was used by 14 respondents, with the most common frequency of use being at least once a year (5), followed by at least once a quarter (4) and at least once a month (4).

2. What do you use the headline statistics on engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport report for?

Of the 14 respondents who use the engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport report the majority used it for policy development and monitoring (10) and for service planning and delivery (8).

3. What tables from the headline statistics on engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport report do you currently use or anticipate using in the future?

All respondents used Tables 1-3 within the engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sports report.

Table Number
Tables 1-3: Engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport (including trend data) 14

Experience of culture, arts and heritage

4. How often do you use the experience of culture, arts and heritage report?

Over a third of respondents stated they used the experience of culture, arts and heritage report at least once a year (6), followed by 4 respondents using it at least once a month and 3 respondents using it at least once a quarter. Two respondents reported not using it at all.

5. What do you use the experience of culture, arts and heritage report for?

Of the 14 respondents who used the experience of culture, arts and heritage report, the majority stated they used it for policy development and monitoring purposes (11) and service planning and delivery (9). Other reasons given for using the report included performance monitoring, and reporting.

6. What tables from the experience of culture, arts and heritage report do you currently use or anticipate using in the future?

The 14 respondents who used the report, use or anticipate using a variety of the tables as detailed below.

Table Number
Table 1.1 – 1.2: Engagement in culture, arts and heritage (including trend data) 10
Table 2.1 – 2.3: Engagement in culture and the arts (including trend data) 9
Table 3.1 – 3.3: Engagement with the arts (including trend data) 7
Table 3.4 – 3.6: Participation in arts activities (including trend data) 8
Table 3.7: Arts activities participated in 6
Table 3.8 – 3.10: Attendance at arts events (including trend data) 6
Table 3.11: Arts events attended 6
Table 3.12: Benefits of engagement with the arts 6
Table 4.1 – 4.3: Used the public library service (including trend data) 2
Table 4.4: Frequency used the public library service 1
Table 4.5: Benefits of using the public library service 1
Table 4.6: Aware of online services offered by the public library service 1
Table 4.7 – 4.8: Satisfaction with public library provision (including trend data) 1
Table 4.9: Visited a public or mobile library 1
Table 4.10: Distance travelled to visit a public or mobile library 1
Table 4.11: Method of travel to visit a public or mobile library 1
Table 4.12: Preferred method of reading a book 1
Table 4.13: What reading helps with 1
Table 5.1 – 5.3: Visited a museum or science centre in Northern Ireland (including trend data) 9
Table 5.4: Visited a National Museum 7
Table 5.5: Visited a local museum 7
Table 5.6: Local museums visited 6
Table 5.7: Visited a science centre 4
Table 5.8: Reasons for visiting a museum or science centre 6
Table 5.9: Benefits experienced from visiting a museum or science centre 7
Table 6.1 – 6.3: Used PRONI services (including trend data) 4
Table 6.4: PRONI services used 5
Table 6.5: Frequency of use of PRONI services 4
Table 7.1 – 7.3: Visited a place of historic interest in Northern Ireland (including trend data) 5
Table 7.4: Most popular historic sites visited 6
Table 7.5: Frequency of visits to a place of historic interest 6

Experience of sport

7. How often do you use the experience of sport report?

Just over four-fifths of respondents (13) said they did not use the experience of sport report, with the remaining respondents using it at least once a year (2) or less than once a year (1).

8. What do you use the experience of sport report for?

The two respondents who answered the question said they used the experience of sport report for service planning and delivery (1), and policy development and monitoring (1).

9. What tables from the experience of sport report do you currently use or anticipate using in the future?

The three respondents who used the report, use or anticipate using a variety of the tables as detailed below.

Table Number
Table 1-3: Sport participation within the previous year (including trend data) 3
Table 4: Sports/physical activities participated in within the previous year by gender 1
Table 5-7: Sport participation within the previous 4 weeks (including trend data) 1
Table 8: Sports/physical activities participated in within the previous 4 weeks by gender 1
Table 9: Sport participation and walking for recreation within the previous year 1
Table 9b: Sport participation and walking for recreation within the past 4 weeks 1
Table 10: Days normally participate in sport or physical activity each week 1
Table 11: Sport club membership 0
Table 12: Sports played in clubs/organisations by gender 0
Table 13: Benefits experienced from participation in sports by gender 0

Experience of Irish and Ulster-Scots culture and heritage

10. How often do you use the experience of Irish and Ulster-Scots culture and heritage reports?

The most common frequencies for those who use the experience of Irish and Ulster-Scots culture and heritage reports are at least once a year (5) and less than once a year (2). However, nine respondents said they did not use the reports at all.

11. What do you use the experience of Irish and Ulster-Scots culture and heritage reports for?

The 6 respondents who answered the question mainly used the experience of Irish and Ulster-Scots culture and heritage reports for policy development and monitoring (3) and service planning and delivery (2). One respondent cited general tracking as another reason for using the reports.

12. What tables from the experience of Irish and Ulster-Scots culture and heritage reports do you currently use or anticipate using in the future?

The 6 respondents who answered the question use or anticipate using a variety of the tables from the experience of Irish and Ulster-Scots culture and heritage reports as detailed in the table below.

Table Number
Table 1-2: Engaged with Irish culture (including trend data) 3
Table 3-4: Participation in an Irish cultural activity (including trend data) 4
Table 5: Types of Irish cultural activities participated in 3
Table 6-7: Attended an Irish cultural event (including trend data) 2
Table 8: Types of Irish cultural events attended 2
Table 9: Barriers to attending more Irish cultural events 3
Table 10: Level of understanding about Irish culture and traditions 3
Table 11: Level of respect for Irish culture and traditions 3
Table 1-2: Engaged with Ulster-Scots culture (including trend data) 2
Table 3-4: Participation in an Ulster-Scots cultural activity (including trend data) 3
Table 5: Types of Ulster-Scots activities participated in 3
Table 6-7: Attended an Ulster-Scots cultural event (including trend data) 2
Table 8: Types of Ulster-Scots cultural events attended 2
Table 9: Barriers to attending more Ulster-Scots cultural events 3
Table 10: Level of understanding about Ulster-Scots culture and traditions 2
Table 11: Level of respect for Ulster-Scots culture and traditions 2

Knowledge and use of Irish and Ulster-Scots

13. How often do you use the knowledge and use of Irish and Ulster-Scots reports?

The most common frequencies for those who use the knowledge of Irish and Ulster-Scots reports are at least once a year and less than once a year (both 3). However, 10 of the respondents said they did not use the report at all.

14. What do you use the knowledge and use of Irish and Ulster-Scots reports for?

The 6 respondents who used the report mainly used the knowledge of Irish and Ulster-Scots reports for service planning and delivery (4) and policy development and monitoring (2). One respondent cited planning for audiences as another reason for using the reports.

15. What tables from the knowledge and use of Irish and Ulster-Scots reports do you currently use or anticipate using in the future?

The 5 respondents who answered the question use or anticipate using a variety of the tables from the knowledge and use of Irish and Ulster-Scots reports as detailed in the table below.

Table Number
Table 1-3: Knowledge of Irish (including trend data) 5
Table 4: Understand Irish 1
Table 5: Speak Irish 1
Table 6: Read Irish 1
Table 7: Write Irish 1
Table 8: Using Irish at home and socially 2
Table 1-3: Knowledge of Ulster-Scots (including trend data) 4
Table 4: Understand Ulster-Scots 1
Table 5: Speak Ulster-Scots 1
Table 6: Read Ulster-Scots 1
Table 7: Write Ulster-Scots 1
Table 8: Using Ulster-Scots at home and socially 2

Knowledge of Sign Language

16. How often do you use the knowledge of Sign Language report?

Half of all respondents (8) used the knowledge of sign language report, with the majority using it at least once a year (6).

17. What do you use the knowledge of Sign Language report for?

The 8 respondents who used the report said they used the knowledge of Sign Language report for service planning and delivery (6) and policy development and monitoring (4).

18. What tables from the knowledge of Sign Language report do you currently use or anticipate using in the future?

The 7 respondents who answered the question use or anticipate using the tables from the knowledge of Sign Language report as detailed below.

Table Number
Table 1: knowledge of Sign Language 6
Table 2: Sign language used 6

Wellbeing and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport

19. How often do you use the wellbeing and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport report?

Three-quarters of respondents (12) cited using the wellbeing and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport report with the majority of those using it at least once a year (8).

20. What do you use the wellbeing and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport report for?

The 12 respondents who used the report said they used the wellbeing report for service planning and delivery (8) and policy development and monitoring (7).

21. What tables from the wellbeing and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport report do you currently use or anticipate using in the future?

The 11 respondents who answered the question use or anticipate using a variety of the tables from the wellbeing and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport report as detailed in the table below.

Table Number
Table 1 & 2b: Life satisfaction and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport (including trend data) 11
Table 2a: Life satisfaction and engagement in culture, arts and sport 6
Table 2c: Life satisfaction and participation in volunteering 6
Table 3 & 4b: Self-efficacy and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport (including trend data) 9
Table 4a: Self-efficacy and engagement in culture, arts and sport 6
Table 4c: Self-efficacy and participation in volunteering 5
Table 5 & 6b: Low self-efficacy and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport (including trend data) 5
Table 6a: Low self-efficacy and engagement in culture, arts and sport 5
Table 6c: Low self-efficacy and participation in volunteering 5
Table 7 & 8b: Locus of control and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport (including trend data) 6
Table 8a: Locus of control and engagement in culture, arts and sport 5
Table 8c: Locus of control and participation in volunteering 4
Table 9 & 10b: Loneliness and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport (including trend data) 8
Table 10a: Loneliness and engagement in culture, arts and sport 6
Table 10c: Loneliness and participation in volunteering 6
Table 11 &12b: Very good or good general health and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport (including trend data) 7
Table 12a: Very good or good general health and engagement in culture, arts and sport 6
Table 12c: Very good or good general health and participation in volunteering 5

Creative Industries economic estimates for Northern Ireland

22. How often do you use the creative industries economic estimates for Northern Ireland report?

A quarter of respondents each used the creative industries economic estimates for Northern Ireland report at least once a quarter (3) or at least once a year (3). The remaining half of respondents (6) did not use the report at all.

23. What do you use the creative industries economic estimates for Northern Ireland report for?

The 6 respondents who used the report said they used the creative industries economic estimates for service planning and delivery (4) and policy development and monitoring (4).

24. What tables from the creative industries economic estimates for Northern Ireland report do you currently use or anticipate using in the future?

The 6 respondents who used the report, use or anticipate using a variety of the tables from the creative industries economic estimates as detailed below.

Table Number
Table 1a: Gross value added (GVA) expressed in current prices, for Creative Industries subsectors in Northern Ireland 6
Table 1b: Gross value added (GVA) expressed in chained volume measures, for Creative Industries subsectors in Northern Ireland 5
Table 2: Number of business sites in the Creative Industries in Northern Ireland 5
Table 3: Employment in Creative Industries subsectors in Northern Ireland 5
Table 4a: Gross value added (GVA) expressed in current prices, for Cultural sector in Northern Ireland 5
Table 4b: Gross value added (GVA) expressed in chained volume measures, for Cultural sector in Northern Ireland 5

Digest of statistics for the Public Record Office

25. How often do you use the Digest of statistics for the Public Record Office?

A quarter of respondents (3) stated they used the Digest of statistics for the Public Record Office. Of those, two respondents used the report less than once a year and one respondent used the report at least once a month.

26. What do you use the Digest of statistics for the Public Record Office for?

The 3 respondents who used the report said they used the Digest for service planning and delivery (2) and policy development and monitoring (2).

27. What tables from the Digest of statistics for the Public Record Office do you currently use or anticipate using in the future?

The 2 respondents who answered the question use or anticipate using a variety of the tables from the Digest of statistics for the Public Record Office as detailed in the table below.

Table Number
Table 3.1: Linear feet of records reviewed 1
Table 3.2: Records catalogued 1
Table 3.3: Records published 1
Table 3.4: Digital Preservation 1
Table 4.1: Digital frames captured 1
Table 4.2: Digital frames captured by project 1
Table 5.1: Number of documents requested and produced 2
Table 5.2: Document production target 1
Table 5.3: Written correspondence target 1
Table 6.1: New visitors registered 2
Table 6.2: Country of origin new visitors in PRONI 2
Table 6.3: Visits to PRONI 2
Table 6.4: Customer feedback rating the archive’s service overall as good or very good 2
Table 7.1: Number of page views 2
Table 7.2: Breakdown of page views by category 2
Table 8.1: Public lectures, events and group visits 2

Overview of Statistical Publications

28. To what extent do the current statistical outputs meet your needs?

A quarter of respondents who used the experience of sport report stated their needs were met either completely or mostly. Whereas, at least half of the respondents who used each of the other publications stated that the current statistical outputs met their needs either completely or mostly.

The following comments were provided by 7 respondents to explain why the publications did not fully meet their requirements and what improvements could be made:

  • It would be useful to have access to the raw data to allow interrogation of data (3 responses)
  • With reference to the arts and culture components it would be useful to include public art/street art and digital participation as a category (1 response).
  • Tracking distance travelled and method used to attend arts venues to capture carbon footprint (1 response).
  • Insufficient confidence in the database and sample sizes (1 response).
  • Lack of geographic distribution (1 response).
  • Lack of economic data being produced (2 responses).
  • More specific groupings of relevant SIC/SOC codes would be beneficial (1 response).
  • Need for more specific definitions of heritage, qualitative data for heritage and inclusion of architecture and the built environment (1 response).

29. Is there sufficient commentary on the website or in the publications to assist you in understanding the statistics?

At least half of respondents who used each of the statistical publications said there was sufficient commentary on the website or in the publications to understand the statistics.

The following suggestions were received from 3 respondents who said there was not sufficient commentary:

  • More timely information (1 response).
  • Access to relevant tourism data that aligns with culture, arts and heritage (1 response).
  • Useful to have access to the raw data to allow cross correlation (2 responses).
  • LGD figures can’t be related to particular activities (1 response).
  • Better graphics and a more easily accessible index. The website is not very user friendly - it would be helpful to be able to click back and forth visually (1 response).

30. Please provide details of any additional analysis, tables or charts that you feel would be useful to include within the publications

The following comments were provided by 2 respondents:

  • Raw data should be available to allow for self directed analysis (2 responses).
  • Qualitative data (1 response)

Proposed changes to the publication schedule

31. Would you be content with the removal of the ‘Headline statistics on engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport report’?

Just over half of respondents (8) said they would be content to remove the headline statistics on engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport.

The following comments were received from 2 respondents who were not content with the removal of the report:

  • Seems odd to remove any data when there is already so little available (1 response).
  • It is unlikely to address what we view as shortcomings in the statistic reports (1 response).

32. With regards to the more detailed ‘Experience of culture, arts and heritage report’ and the ‘Experience of sport report’, which option would you prefer:

Half of the respondents (8) had no preference over how the reports were published, whilst 7 respondents stated they wanted separate reports published on the same day.

The following comment was provided by one respondent:

  • Merging the reports would potentially weaken the visibility and distinctiveness of each area.

Analytics Division response

Analytics Division will consider the responses to the user survey that are detailed above and use the feedback provided to inform future outputs.

Contact us

Should you have any queries or require any further information on this consultation please contact Analytics Division.

Email:
Tel: 028 9082 3572

Please rotate your screen for optimal experience