PSV Survey

3.4.1. Designing the Survey

The overall design of the PSV survey in this study was informed by the early literature review, findings from stakeholder interviews (discussed in more detail below), methods used by other researchers in the field, and questions in previous relevant surveys. For example, the survey drew upon the MPS Public Attitude Survey (PAS) for questions around public confidence, and the MPS staff survey for inspiration in terms of attitudinal statements. The UK Data Service Question Bank (in particular those from the Government’s Life Opportunities Survey) was used to develop some of the demographic questions. As well as the advantages of using ‘tried and tested’ survey items, this approach offered an opportunity to contextualise survey findings alongside those from wider relevant studies. As analysis progressed this was not deemed necessary for the purposes of the current study; however, remains an option for any future exploration of the data.

Designing survey questions that will be self-completed remotely is challenging – considerably more so than face-to-face methods in which the researcher is present and able to address any misinterpretations of questions as they arise, and provide further clarification to respondents. Survey questions offer ‘one chance only’ with no opportunity to explore or probe further. With this in mind, it is essential that the researcher carefully considers the style and content that will yield the most valuable information, with questions structured and focused in a way that the target

population will understand and have the knowledge to answer (Newell, 1993; May, 1997). De Vaus (2002) suggests that surveys should group questions in to sections, commencing with factual ‘concrete’ items that are straightforward for the respondent to answer, before moving on to more abstract, opinion-based issues.

The survey included 27 questions in total (excluding the demographic ‘about you’

section), some of which were divided into sub-sections. Questions were a mixture of closed and open-ended, and explored respondent attributes, behaviours, attitudes, opinions, and beliefs (Newell, 1993) structured around four areas: volunteer role;

relationships with police officers, staff, and other Met Volunteers; policing more generally; and, the future of volunteering in the MPS. The survey started by gathering factual information around respondent roles (e.g., title, brief description, location, length of time in role) and how they found out about volunteering with the MPS, before moving on to more attitude and opinion-based questions including motivations for initially becoming and continuing to be a Met Volunteer, views of the police before and after volunteering, and volunteering plans going forward. A list of all survey questions and response options are included in Appendix C.

A number of survey questions used a Likert scale in which respondents indicated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements around their Met Volunteer tasks, supervision and support, general feelings about their role, being part of a team, being involved, and being valued. In his study of American police supervisors’ views on the use of volunteers in policing, Phillips (2013) used a series of statements to explore respondent attitudes to community policing, use of volunteers, and the concept of police work generally. Drawing on his findings, the author recommended that future studies adopt a less ‘global’ and more specific approach to the use of attitude items. This survey incorporated a mixture of wider opinion-based statements (e.g. ‘there is a positive atmosphere where I volunteer’ and ‘I feel like my role is worthwhile’), together with more specific items (e.g. ‘I received an induction’

and ‘I am not given enough tasks to do’).

Alongside closed questions collecting quantitative data, the survey included 12 open-ended questions exploring the contribution that volunteers feel they make to the MPS, views on what the MPS is trying to achieve through their volunteering programme, opinions on what has or may change in the future due to budget reductions, positives and negatives of being a Met Volunteer, views on what (if anything) would make volunteering more beneficial to the volunteer and the MPS, and a space at the end of each survey section for respondents to add any further comments. Open-ended survey questions represent the most basic form of qualitative data collection, enabling the researcher to capture respondents’ points of view without predetermined response options (Patton, 2002: 21). Indeed, although still loosely defined by the survey, the open-ended questions gave respondents the opportunity to highlight their own issues and, as Lofland (1971: 7 in Patton, 2002: 21) states, “to capture participants in their own terms” by learning “their categories.... of raw reality”. Driscoll et al. (2007: 26) suggest that the opportunity to provide additional qualitative information after closed-ended questions can offer valuable data that serves to augment structured responses. Indeed, some of the freetext comments made throughout the survey were insightful and have been included in findings chapters to develop the ‘story’ presented through patterns and themes in the quantitative data.

The final section of the survey asked respondents to provide demographic information, with a ‘rather not say’ category on all questions allowing them to opt out if they preferred. In addition to information on age, gender, ethnicity and religion, this section of the survey also included items on work status, education level, and wider experiences of volunteering – factors that have been linked to propensity to volunteer and participate in policing and community safety programmes. Analysis drew on these variables when exploring PSV behaviours and attitudes, and constructing motivation and role typologies (discussed later in the chapter). This helped to develop insightful findings around the type of person who volunteers, their reasons for doing so, and their experiences as a PSV.

3.4.2. Disseminating the Survey

The survey was created online with a link emailed to potential respondents. Online survey methods present a number of benefits including reduced costs, ease of access to a large number of participants, and automatically inputted ‘ready to analyse’ data (Hine, 2000; Fricker and Schonlau, 2002; Wright, 2005). Furthermore, with a large proportion of people in the developed world facilitating many parts of their life online (e.g. job applications, holiday reservations etc.), Tourangeau et al. (2013: 2) highlight how participants can “rely on familiar routines and conventions when completing questionnaires this way”. A key disadvantage of online survey methods is that it only captures the views of those who have access to and are able to use the internet (Coomber, 1997; Illingworth, 2001; Wright, 2005). The fact that all Met Volunteers have an MPS email address and access to a computer went some way to limiting the negative impact of this, although it is still not possible to guarantee that all of the target population were able to complete an online survey. Word versions (either paper or electronic) of the survey were available on request, which generated two requests (one paper and one electronic).

The survey was piloted in February 2015 with members of the target population: five PSVs identified by the Met Volunteer Programme Manager and a colleague of the researcher who was working on a project alongside PSVs. Pilot participants gave feedback on the length of the survey (slightly too long) and commented that the section around views on policing, collective efficacy, and concerns about crime (initially included in the main body) disrupted the focus and ‘flow’ of the survey. In response, the survey was considerably scaled back with some questions deleted or collapsed, and the section around collective efficacy moved to the ‘about you’ section at the end of the survey. The MPS were not able to release a list of all PSVs’ contact details externally, therefore the Met Volunteer Programme Manager emailed the survey link (with offer of a paper copy on request) to all Met Volunteers on behalf of the researcher in April 2015, with a second reminder invitation the following month.

All volunteers have a Metropolitan Police email account and access to the internet, therefore, in theory, each had an equal chance of being part of the sample; however,

it was likely that volunteers who regularly accessed their email accounts and those in desk based roles (thus having the required ‘tools at hand’) were perhaps more compelled to complete the survey (May, 1997). A request was also sent to individual Met Volunteer Managers to forward the request on to PSVs’ personal email accounts (where available and where PSVs had agreed for their volunteer managers to contact them in this way) to reach those volunteers who preferred this method of communication. The survey did not include a close date, with the hope that this would maximise responses. By the autumn of 2015 responses had slowed considerably and a decision was taken to extract data to begin the first stages of survey analysis in order to prepare for the next phase of fieldwork – PSV interviews. The final PSV survey response was received on 18^th November 2015.

3.4.3. Survey Data Collected

The survey received 140 responses: 139 submitted online, with the remaining one a paper completion. This represented 13 per cent of total PSVs in the Metropolitan Police Service around that time (n=1,047, data to February 2016). Almost half (48%, n=63/132) of the survey sample were in roles defined as community engagement or focused in nature (e.g., front counter/reception services, quality of service calls to victims) followed by almost a third (29%, n=38/132) in administration roles. When aggregated up, over half (58%, n=76/132) of these roles were operational in nature, with the remainder classified as ‘non-operational’. In terms of PSV ‘service’, over half (57%, n=70/122) of survey respondents had volunteered for three years or more, and half (50%, n=61/122) gave on average more than 20 hours per month to their role.

Turning to personal demographics, the survey attracted a notably older, female, white cohort of PSV respondents with almost half (48%, n=56/117) aged 65 years or older, almost two-thirds (61%, n=70/115) female, and the majority (83%, n=96/115) defining their ethnic group as White (British n=86, any other white background n=9; Irish n=1), with the remainder Black or Black British (Caribbean n=6; African n=4), Asian or Asian British (Indian n=2; any other Asian background n=2; Pakistani n=1; Bangladeshi n=1) or mixed ethnicity (any other mixed background n=2; white and Asian n=1). Over a

third (37%, n=42/113) of respondents were educated to degree level or equivalent.

Given the older age profile of the survey cohort, it was unsurprising that the largest category of ‘work status’ responses were ‘retired’ (58%, n=67/115).

Available data for all PSVs in the MPS at the time of fieldwork pointed to comparable proportions overall in terms of gender and length of time in role; however, a slight over representation of white PSVs, and those aged 65 years and over in the survey sample (albeit in line with previous studies (e.g., Britton et al., 2018; Millie, 2018, 2019) which consistently report an older PSV profile, particularly when compared to Special Constables). While it is not possible to ascertain the extent to which the sample was representative of broader PSV experiences (nor, of course, the views of PSV

‘leavers’ which may differ considerably from those who have chosen to remain), the data presents useful insights in to the experiences of some PSVs – an important addition to a currently under researched space. Aggregate tables outlining PSV survey respondent demographics and roles (together with comparable MPS data where available) are included in Appendix D.