Young People's Attitudes to Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Northern Ireland 2024 - Background Quality Report

February 2025

Introduction

Context for the quality report.

The ‘Young People’s Attitudes to Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Northern Ireland’ Official Statistics report is published by The Executive Office’s (TEO’s) Analytical Unit. This Background Quality Report provides a summary of how the Official Statistics report adheres to various dimensions of quality.

The report, with data for 2024, was first published in February 2025 and is the second in the series. The data are taken from the Young Life and Times (YLT) survey, an annual survey run by Access Research Knowledge (ARK). ARK is a social policy hub, established in 2000 by researchers at Ulster University and Queen’s University Belfast.

The intention is to continue to publish the ‘Young People’s Attitudes to Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Northern Ireland’ report annually going forward.

Relevance

The degree to which the statistical product meets user needs in both coverage and content.

The 2024 report, published in February 2025, is the second report in the series. It presents results from the 2024 YLT survey on the extent to which young people, aged 16, living in Northern Ireland agree with the following statements:

  • I think it is our duty to provide protection to refugees who are escaping persecution in their home country (asked since 2017)
  • Northern Ireland is a society that welcomes refugees escaping persecution in their home country (asked since 2017)
  • People’s perceptions of refugees and asylum seekers are negatively affected by the media (asked for the first time in 2024)
  • I would like more opportunities to get to know asylum seekers or refugees (asked since 2023)
  • Asylum seekers have the same access to employment as the rest of Northern Ireland (asked for the first time in 2024)

This publication presents 2024 results to each question for the overall sample. Breakdowns by gender, religion, disability and ethnic group are available in the accompanying data tables.

Time series information is also available for the questions asked prior to 2024.

It is anticipated that the report will be useful to: TEO and other government departments; other public bodies; community and voluntary sector organisations; educational professionals; academics; media; and the public.

A user survey, seeking feedback on the coverage and content of the report, was published alongside the 2024 edition. It is expected that the results to this survey, as well as more targeted user engagement, will help to inform the content and design of future releases.

Accuracy and Reliability

The proximity between an estimate and the unknown true value.

Sample

The 2024 survey sample was taken from the Child Benefit Register, which contains information on all children for whom Child Benefit is claimed. Since April 2013, Child Benefit payments have been means tested. However, the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), who administer the Child Benefit payments across the UK, still hold the names and addresses of those 16-year-olds who were affected by the Child Benefit Payment changes and also those whose parents have opted out of receiving Child Benefit. As such, the Child Benefit Register is the most suitable sample frame for the YLT survey.

The 2024 survey sample included the names and addresses of all 16-year-olds from the Child Benefit Register, who were living in Northern Ireland and celebrated their 16th birthday in December 2023, and January and February 2024.

Potential participants received a letter inviting them to take part in the survey. Each letter contained a unique identifier code required to access the online survey. In the second week of April 2024, a reminder letter was sent to those who had not completed the survey.

The HMRC dataset yielded 6,254 eligible names (with correct and complete addresses). These names were randomly split into two separate samples, with respondents invited to complete either survey Version 1 or Version 2.

Following the issuing of letters, names were removed (due to letters being returned as undelivered, or young people or their parents/carers opting out/informing ARK they were ineligible). This left an overall base sample, across both versions of the survey, of 6,134 16-year olds.

A total of 2,210 valid responses were received, representing an overall response rate of 36%.

The response rate varied a little between Version 1 (35% - the refugee and asylum questions were included in this version) and Version 2 (37%).

Move to online survey

Until 2018, YLT survey was primarily a postal survey. The viability of conducting the survey online was tested in 2019. This approach proved successful, with 46% of respondents completing the online version. A decision was therefore taken to move, primarily, to online completion from the 2021 edition onwards. Postal or phone completion continue to be offered as an alternative, but in 2024 all questionnaires were completed online. The move to an online survey is not considered to constitute a break in the time series.

Confidence intervals and statistical significance

The supplementary data tables include detail on the 95% confidence intervals for each estimate. Statistically significant differences over time have been highlighted in the report, with full detail, including differences between demographic groups, presented in worksheets 6a to 6e in the supplementary data tables. Further information on how to interpret the confidence intervals and significant differences is included in the ‘Technical notes’ section of the main report and the ‘Metadata’ worksheet in the supplementary data tables.

Timeliness and Punctuality

Timeliness refers to the time gap between publication and the reference period. Punctuality refers to the gap between planned and actual publication dates.

Data for the 2024 YLT survey was collected between 27 March and 27 April 2024. The ‘Young People’s Attitudes to Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Northern Ireland 2024’ report was published in February 2025, which is 9 months after the end of the reference period. It is anticipated that this gap will reduce for future reports.

The report was published on the planned date, as pre-announced on TEO’s website and Gov.uk.

Accessibility and Clarity

Accessibility is the ease with which users are able to access the data, also reflecting the format in which the data are available and the availability of supporting information. Clarity refers to the quality and sufficiency of the metadata, illustrations and accompanying advice.

The 2024 report was published in an HTML format on TEO’s website on the pre-announced publication date. The report is also available in alternative formats upon request. Contact details are provided within the published report.

A link to the publication was emailed to a list of key users and was published on NISRA’s social media sites on the morning of its release.

Within the report, charts include titles, axis names and footnotes, where relevant.

Additionally, the main report includes a ‘Technical notes’ annex which provides summary background information, definitions, and methodological explanations.

Supplementary data tables accompanying this publication are available in Microsoft Excel and OpenDocument Spreadsheet formats on TEO’s website. The tables also contain breakdowns by demographic characteristics, which are not contained within the main report. They also include a ‘Metadata’ worksheet providing definitions and methodological explanations.

Coherence and Comparability

Coherence is the degree to which data that are derived from different sources or methods, but refer to the same topic, are similar. Comparability is the degree to which data can be compared over time and domain.

The statistics contained within this report are derived solely from the YLT survey. This is the only publicly available source of data, representative of the young population in Northern Ireland, on public attitudes to refugees and asylum seekers. As such, there are no direct comparisons with other data sources.

Two of the five questions analysed within the main report have been included consistently since 2017. One was asked for the first time in 2023. The remaining two questions were included for the first time in the 2024 YLT survey.

No directly comparable data for Great Britain or the Republic of Ireland are currently published.

Trade-offs between Output Quality Components

Trade-offs are the extent to which different aspects of quality are balanced against each other.

It is the nature of sampling variability that the smaller the group whose size is being estimated, the less precise (proportionately) that estimate is. Estimates for groups where the sample base is less than 50 have been omitted from the report.

To provide a more robust and in-depth analysis, response options ‘Strongly agree’ and ‘Agree’ were combined as ‘Agree’ for each statement. Response options ‘Strongly disagree’ and ‘Disagree’ were combined as ‘Disagree’.

Additionally, where appropriate, demographic categories were combined to achieve a group sample suitable for publication.

Assessment of User Needs and Perceptions

The processes for finding out about users and uses, and their views on the statistical products.

A user survey, seeking feedback on the coverage and content of the report, was published alongside the 2024 edition. It is expected that the results to this survey, as well as more targeted user engagement, will help to inform future releases.

Performance, Cost and Respondent Burden

The effectiveness, efficiency and economy of the statistical output.

The costs involved in administering the YLT survey are shared across all those purchasing modules of questions in the survey. TEO Analytical Unit procures several modules each year, and one of these includes questions on refugees and asylum seekers.

Respondent burden is shared across all public sector organisations purchasing modules within the survey. The total time to complete these modules is subsequently apportioned across all public sector organisations required to report respondent burden.

Confidentiality, Transparency and Security

The procedures and policy used to ensure sound confidentiality, security and transparent practices.

The YLT data provided by ARK are anonymised (name/address and any other identifiable information is removed from the database). The data are held within TEO’s secure record management system and secure shared drive, with restricted access and subject to approved record retention protocols.

Responses are presented as percentages and analysis is only carried out if the sample size in the population sub-category is large enough.

Statistical outputs are only seen by authorised staff prior to their publication.