England and Wales’ questions for adults who
have experienced abuse during childhood
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics and
the recognised national statistics institute (www.ons.gov.uk). We conduct the Crime Survey
for England and Wales (CSEW) which produces widely used statistics on levels of crime,
including those not reported to the police (www.crimesurvey.co.uk).
We are looking for adult volunteers who have experienced abuse during childhood to
take part in research to help us explore whether questions are appropriate. We’d like to
hear your views on the questions in the survey and how they are phrased.
Why help us?
Your feedback will be invaluable. Testing these questions is essential for us to
understand how effectively they collect data, potentially improve the questions and, in turn,
provide robust estimates of crime that can inform policy. It will also help us explore how the
questions are perceived and how people think and feel about answering them.
We will give you a £50 e-voucher as a thank you for your time.
What will the research involve?
The research will involve taking part in a face-to-face interview with an ONS
researcher. This would take place at a convenient time for you in a mutually agreed private
and safe location. It will take around 90 minutes.
During the research session, you will be asked to look at, and provide answers to, the
survey questions. The interviewer will then ask you questions covering your past
experiences, your thoughts on the questions, how you understand the questions, and if you
think any improvements could be made to the questions. You do not have to discuss any
details of your experiences that you are not comfortable disclosing.
The interviews will be recorded, with your permission, and a second researcher will be
present to assist with notetaking if you are comfortable with this.
The interviewing period will start from around 12th September and continue for
approximately 4-6 weeks.
How will we look after your data and protect your identity?
Your personal information and everything discussed during the interview will be kept strictly
confidential (see below for information on our duty to safeguard you). This includes giving
you a pseudonym, so your personal details are not attached to your interview recording or
interview notes. It also includes storing interview recordings and notes securely where they
can only be accessed by the small research team involved in this project.
We may publish a report detailing the findings of this research and that report may use
direct quotes gathered from interviews. However, will we not publish any information or
quotes that could be used to identify a person who has taken part. You may withdraw your
information provided prior to analysis. All information collected will be deleted on completion
of the project.
How will we support you during the research?
Your wellbeing is extremely important to us. It’s possible that discussing some
questions which are personal and sensitive may be upsetting or cause recall of traumatic
experiences. You will have the option of selecting the sex of your interviewer and choosing
your preferred interview location and mode from different options. We would also welcome
any other preferences you may have and will look to implement them where possible.
You will not have to answer any questions that you do not want to. You will be able to
take breaks, pause or stop the interview at any time.
We have a duty to safeguard you. Please note that during the interview if you say
anything, or if anything happens that causes the researcher to believe that you, a child, or
children are at current and immediate risk of harm, abuse, or neglect, they will need to pass
this information on, including your name and what you have told them, to the organisation
that had recruited you and an ONS safeguarding contact. They will then decide on the
appropriate action to take which could involve liaising with police and/or Local Authority.
This will occur even if you decide to withdraw from the interview.
What do you need to do next?
If you are interested in taking part, please email TakePart@ons.gov.uk. Please let us know how we should
contact you safely. We want to include a range of experiences and characteristics, so we
will ask you to fill in a questionnaire. Then we will contact you again to let you know if you
are eligible for the research, and to arrange an interview if you are.
W a s : a c t n o r m a l
It’s not your fault