What you should know about the 2008 Survey on Language Uses of the Population

The 2008 Survey on Language Uses of the Population (EULP-2008) is an official statistical activity that is part of the 2008 Annual Statistical Action Programme implemented by the Law on the Statistical Plan for Catalonia 2006–2009. The organisation in charge is the Department of the Vice Presidency, by means of its Secretariat of Language Policy. This operation is being conducted in conjunction with Idescat.

The EULP-2008 is the second edition of the statistics on language uses in Catalonia, the first of which was conducted in 2003. Thus, this edition consolidates the four-year cycle of this operation. In this edition, a series of changes has been introduced in both the contents of the statistics and the information gathering methodology, which shall be explained in the relevant sections below.

The main goal of the EULP-2008 is to find out the population of Catalonia's language identification and uses of Catalan and other languages in the different spaces where people interact. These statistics aim to meet the need to have official data which are needed for language planning and for undertaking and assessing actions in the framework of the social use of language.

In order to achieve these goals, the information below is gathered and organised into the following thematic areas on a questionnaire:

• Initial language, language with which one identifies, and usual language of the population of Catalonia and language knowledge
• Language uses at home
• Family language uses: mother or guardian, father or guardian and grandparents
• Family language uses: partner and children
• Language uses in social settings
• Language uses as a consumer or user
• Language uses in the media
• Quantification of language use
• Sociolinguistic group
• Self-assessment of knowledge of Catalan and Spanish
• Socio-demographic data

A secondary goal, linked to the fact that this is an operation conducted every four years, is to observe changes in language uses over time.

The survey will be administered to people aged 15 and over who were included in Catalonia's Population Register as of 1st January 2007. A total of 7,300 people from all over Catalonia will be interviewed.

To choose the interviewees, Catalonia's Population Register was used, a government register that contains the compulsory updated information on residents included in the municipal population censuses of all the town halls around Catalonia. This register is in the care of Idescat and is regulated by the Law on Statistics in Catalonia.

The system used is called sampling, which consists of randomly choosing a small number of people to represent Catalonia as a whole. In order to ensure that the sample chosen is a faithful reflection of the population at large, it is very important for all the people chosen to participate in the survey.

The individual information on the survey is protected by statistical confidentiality in the terms set forth in the Law on Statistics in Catalonia. This means that the individualised data gathered on the questionnaires may not be made public or shared with any person or entity, including the public administration, with the exception of any person or entity that is also bound by statistical confidentiality and exclusively for the purpose of using this information for statistical purposes. In this sense, all the personnel of Idescat and other organisations participating in official statistics in Catalonia must take a solemn oath to keep this information confidential, and they are subjected to stringent punishment should they violate this oath.

The obligation for statistical confidentiality also extends to publishing the results, meaning that both Idescat and the remaining organisations that are part of the statistical system of Catalonia must take special care to ensure that individual information cannot be deduced from the tabulated information that is published.

Given the public interest of the information of all the statistics included in the Statistical Plan of Catalonia, as determined by the Parliament of Catalonia, cooperation by both citizens and companies in responding to questionnaires is legally binding. The purpose of this obligation is to ensure an appropriate number of responses and, in consequence, reliable statistical results (chapter 5 of the Law on Statistics in Catalonia).

The survey is conducted by means of a methodology that combines telephone and person-to-person interviews, depending on the difficulty involved in reaching the interviewee. If the respondent is reached by telephone a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) will be administered. In the latter case, the interviewer is required to carry the credentials issued by Idescat with his or her photograph, full name, national identity number and interview ID code, which he or she is required to show to the interviewee.

The individuals chosen as interviewees will have previously received a letter from Idescat informing them that they will be interviewed.

Only the person chosen may respond to the interview; no one else may respond on his or her behalf. If the person chosen is not available, another member of the household may not be interviewed in his or her place.

The results will first be disseminated on the Idescat website (www.idescat.cat) and later in publications or other specific digital media.