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Best of Britain Survey
In 2008 we asked people what they admired most about Britain and this was the response:
% = percentage of respondents who said this was one of the things they most admired about Britain.
Category | % | |
1 | FREEDOM | 12.8 |
2 | DIVERSITY | 8.9 |
3 | LEGAL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS | 8.3 |
4 | EDUCATION | 7.4 |
5 | ENVIRONMENT | 6.1 |
6 | ORDER | 6.1 |
7 | FOOD | 5.5 |
8 | TOLERANCE | 5.3 |
9 | PLACES | 5.1 |
10 | HEALTH CARE | 4.7 |
11 | MANNERS | 4.2 |
12 | OPPORTUNITIES | 3.6 |
13 | FAIR PLAY | 3.6 |
14 | WELFARE | 3.1 |
15 | PEOPLE | 2.7 |
16 | LIVING STANDARDS | 2.4 |
17 | BRITISH MUSLIM COMMUNITY | 2.3 |
18 | CULTURE | 2.2 |
19 | WEATHER | 1.9 |
20 | SHOPPING | 1.9 |
21 | LANGUAGE | 1.2 |
22 | FOOTBALL | 0.8 |
Explanation of categories
We had to group some of your answers together to make some sense of the results, but these were some of the things that you said you admired most about Britain:
1. Freedom 12.8%
freedom of speech
freedom to speak and give your faith openly
freedom of expression
freedom to practise islam
freedom of association
freedom of thought/speech
freedom to worship
freedom, social, cultural and spiritual
freedom to be whoever i want and not be judged
2. Diversity 8.9%
recognition of diversity and difference
multi cultural society
multi faith society
how cosmopolitan it is
many cultures coming together and respecting one another
diversity of people
value for all types of people
3. Legal and Political Rights 8.3%
independent and functioning judiciary
application of law to all
redress through the law
transparency and clarity
rule of law and political independence of judiciary
equal rights
democratic system
ability to participate in civil society without discrimination
greater respect for ordinary human beings
legal protection
an unarmed police force
ability of judiciary to over-rule the executive
institutions (legal, political etc)
our history
justice
rights for women
4. Education 7.4%
opportunity to explore and study whatever i want
free education
universities
freedom to endless knowledge
access to education
educational opportunities
5. Environment 6.1%
countryside
national parks
coast
outdoor life
varied landscape
6. Order 6.1%
most people respect the laws
punctuality
safe
organised society
recycling
British Summer Time
transport system
cleanliness
7. Food 5.5%
fish and chips
tetley tea
strawberries and cream
haggis
multicultural food
8. Tolerance 5.3%
tolerance and acceptance of difference
acceptance of people
tolerance and acceptance of all religions and ethnicity
promotions on community cohesion
all working towards the same goal
9. Places 5.1%
London
Buildings/traditional architecture
lots of tourist attractions
Big Ben and the London Eye
Trindish House, Glencoe, Scotland
London and Birmingham are two great cities...very exciting and multicultural!
Scotland
listed buildings
Manchester
10. Health care 4.7%
The National Health Service - free for all
Healthcare system
The Emergency services
11. Manners 4.2%
queuing
politeness
good manners and self deprecation
conservative sense of dress
12. Opportunities 3.6%
opportunities open to many
equal opportunities
life opportunities
achievement for all
opportunities, educational, religious
job opportunities
the possibility of a better future
13. Fair Play 3.6%
A fairer society
People are willing to stand up for what is right and fight injustice
A sense of 'fair play'
spaces for critical thinking (not jingoistic patriotism)
its just not cricket
anti-racism
anti-war
14. Welfare 3.1%
welfare system,
voluntary work
facilities for sick, elderly, poor
consideration of the weak in society
assisting the needy
welfare & value of life
care services for underprivileged
unemployment benefit
15. People 2.7%
friendliness of local communities
mutual trust and co-operation
the people, esp the scottish
good natured citizens
George Galloway!
our sense of humour!
16. Living standards 2.4 %
standard of living
ease of living
prosperous
less poverty
quality of living
comfort
17. British Muslim community 2.3%
scholars that have grown up locally
islam channel
muslim nondenominational schools
work of islamic institutions
openness and accessibility of mosques
18. Culture 2.2%
culture
TV
Eastenders
BBC Radio 4
Only Fools and Horses
Literary history and contemporary literature
19. Weather 1.9%
not too hot and not too cold
not too harsh weather
20. Shopping 1.9%
Shopping centres
Shopping malls
night life
The Birmingham Bull Ring
21. Language 1.2%
The English language
Language and communication
22. Football 0.8%
Footie
Notes about the survey
Quantity
There were over 500 responses to the question: What do you admire most about Britain? Respondents were asked to list 3 things in order, but some answers were not used due to being unintelligible.
On-line and physical survey
These survey results are taken from both an on-line and a physical survey; more than half the answers came from the physical survey. The physical survey was conducted in July 2008 at the Living Islam festival in Lincolnshire and the on-line survey was conducted in October/November 2008.
Religion
93% of respondents were Muslim with the rest being either Christian, Catholic, None, or not known.
Age
The age range of respondents was quite large: from 7 to 59. The average age was 30.6.
Gender
Women 62%
Men 35%
In case you’re wondering why that does not add up, 3% did not state a gender
Citizenship
87% of respondents were British/English/Scottish/Welsh
Location
Respondents came from a wide range of locations across Britain and abroad.
The three most popular locations, taking about 15% each, were:
Birmingham
London
Manchester
Other locations were: Altrincham, Bedfordshire, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Burnley, Chelmsford, Cheshire, Coventry, Derby, Edinburgh, Essex, France, Glasgow, Halifax, Harrow, High Wycombe, Holland, Huddersfield, Lancashire, leeds, Leicester, Lincoln, Luton, Middlesex, Midlands, New Zealand, Nottingham, Oswestry, Oxford, Rochdale, Sheffield, Shropshire, Slough, Stockport, Surrey, Wales, Walsall
Ethnicity
Respondents also had a varied ethnic background. The most common were:
Pakistani 45%
English/White 15%
Asian 7%
Bangladeshi 5%
Indian 5%
Other ethnicities mentioned were: Arab, Dutch, French, Indonesian, Iranian, Iraqi, Italian, Moroccan, Mixed Race, Somali
Categorisation and weighting of answers
Due to the open-ended nature of the question, the answers had to be grouped together into categories. This required a certain amount of interpretation and so the categories could be changed or split as the survey progresses. The question also asked the respondents to list things in an order, therefore a small weighting was put onto the answers to indicate their relative importance.
