2010 survey

More than 1,200 girls and young women aged between 7 and 21 took part in the 2010 Girls’ Attitudes Survey. A cross-section of girls across the UK were asked about their attitudes to key social, political and economic issues, in a follow up to the first Girls’ Attitudes Survey carried out in 2009.

Repeating the survey year on year provides us with the information we need to track the changing experiences of girls over time and in the long-term we hope that the Girls’ Attitudes project will enable us to make a significant contribution to the overall body of knowledge about the lives of girls and young women in today’s society. However, each year’s survey represents a valuable contribution in its own right and for this reason we are providing this archive for all interested parties to use and access.

The survey covers five topic areas, which were put forward by girls within the guiding movement as areas that are important and interesting.

  • Family and Relationships 
  • Environment and World Events
  • Education, Training, Skills and Careers
  • Society, Culture and Community 
  • Health and Well-being

Questions were designed to follow up views identified at the previous survey, and explore in greater depth. To ensure the questions were relevant to girls aged 7 to 21, a panel of young women from within the guiding movement worked with the project team to develop the 2010 survey. Core questions were asked across the full age range, so that changes in attitudes as girls get older can be tracked.

The research is representative of all girls and young women across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and is not restricted to those involved in guiding. The majority of interviews were completed online, with 7- to 16-year-olds doing this in school, while the older age group was interviewed via an online panel. Additional face-to-face interviews were carried out with young women who were not in education, employment or training, to ensure that this potentially marginalised group was fully represented.

Fieldwork took place during March and April 2010.

Please feel free to use the data tables and reports in your work. All we ask is that you send us a copy of any work you publish and reference Girlguiding as follows: Published by Girlguiding. © The Guide Association 2009/2010/2011 (delete as applicable).

The survey questions, raw data and reports in pdf format from the 2010 survey can be downloaded from the box to the right-hand side of this page.