a) The sample and data collection

The universe was the population of Catalonia aged 15 and over, the sample was of 3,005 people and the data was collected from February to May 2002. The sample was constructed by means of a random multistage process and its distribution was proportional. At the first stage the sample was stratifed by province and settlement size. At a second stage, the municipal areas were chosen, such that all settlements of more than 50,000 inhabitants were included while all those with fewer inhabitants were selected randomly at each stratum. Subsequently the sample was stratified according to gender and age group to select the people who were to be interviewed, and this selection was done at random, using lists from the census register. The interviews were face-to-face.

b) The questionnaire

In terms of linguistic questions, there are questions on Catalan, Spanish and English, on linguistic affiliation and on the language of the home, with children and at work. There are also questions on the language of the media usually watched or read and when using the Internet. Furthermore, a monolingualism/bilingualism variable was introduced into the study, comprising of 5 categories ranging from monolingual in Catalan to monolingual in Spanish.

Planned exploitation of the data

For the moment, what has been done is to write an extensive research report, commenting on information from the survey and the main results of the explanatory analysis of the Web Society. Now a second report is in preparation, which will deal in depth with certain limited but highly significant aspects of Catalan society.

One of the most central conclusions of the study is that the use of the Internet is an important element in the changing nature of Catalan identity, since there is a quite close relationship between use of the Net, language perceptions and the practice and implementation of Catalan identity. Thus, for example, it emerges that the sector of society that most uses the Internet are young people with Catalan language and identity.

Means of gaining access to the data

It was decided that the information from the complete report should be made public and published on the Internet via the UOC (Open University of Catalonia. The on-line version of the first report is available at http://www.uoc.edu/in3/pic/1/

3.6. Two surveys by the Institut d’Estudis Regionals i Metropolitans de Barcelona

The 1995 survey of the metropolitan area of Barcelona

Director, Marina Subirats

Institut d’Estudis Metropolitans de Barcelona

The 2000 survey of the Barcelona region

Director, Salvador Giner

Institut d’Estudis Regionals i Metropolitans de Barcelona

The administrative offices in charge of managing the development of the different neighbourhoods of Barcelona, need to have statistics that will provide information on the trends now underway and need to publicise their decisions. For that reason in 1985, l’Institut d’Estudis Regionals i Metropolitans de Barcelona (formerly the Institut d’Estudis Metropolitans de Barcelona) carried out extensive surveys on different social aspects, including languge. These surveys have increasingly and progressively taken in more territory, until in the year 2000 the whole province of Barcelona was included.

a) Sample and Data collection

The methodology applied here is basically the same as in other surveys in the series. The universe was the population age 18 years and over. Selection of the sample, based on the electoral census, was effected by means of a stratified random process with non-proportional distribution. The stratification of homogenous groups was based on a series of socio-economic variables derived from the electoral census. The questionnaire was filled out in the course of a personal interview in the subjects' homes.

The main difference between the 1995 and year 2000 surveys was the geographical area covered. The first was restricted to the metropolitan area of Barcelona, which includes 7 counties (Alt Penedès, Baix Llobregat, Barcelonès, Garraf, Maresme, Vallès Occidental and Vallès Oriental), while the second included the whole of the province of Barcelona, that is, including 4 counties more (Anoia, Bages, Berguedà and Osona). In the first case, the sample consisted of 5,263 individuals and in the second there were 6,830 individuals.

b) The questionnaire

The questions on language were the same in the two editions. Language use was asked about in the following contexts: in the home, with the father, with the mother, with the children. Also asked about was knowledge of Catalan and language affiliation. Furthermore, tables were presented to obtain details of language and language use of the different types of couples (couples who were the main householders) based on the language of each member of the pair, as well as on the different types of home in terms of the language combinations of the members, and on the language transmission from parents to children in case of different language characteristics of the home.

The two editions of the survey formed the basis for several different published volumes, some of which derive directly from the research of the project itself while others have been commissioned by outside bodies with an interest in specific aspects. In the case of each edition, the results of the language questions (without comment) have been published in three volumes called the Sèrie Dades Bàsiques (Basic Data Series), with the data for major subdivisions of the area covered by one (the capital, metropolitan area...), while another covers the counties and a third deals with the districts of the city of Barcelona. Sociolinguistic information can be found in each of the two surveys in question. In one this is in the general report and in the other in the volume on the lives of young people.

Possibly the most striking finding of the two surveys is that in the Barcelona metropolitan area, carried out in 1995 and 2000, the figures show a decrease in the percentage of the population that consider Catalan to be their language, compensated by an increase in those who state they are bilingual. This finding has been taken as sounding the alarm for the Catalan language.

Publications with sociolinguistic data or analysis relating to the 1995 survey:

NEL·LO, O; RECIO, A.; SOLSONA, M.; SUBIRATS, M. (1998). La transformació de la societat metropolitana. Contains a Macintosh-PC compatible CD-Rom. Diputació de Barcelona. Institut d’Estudis Metropolitans de Barcelona.

This presents the general report arising from the 1995 survey.

INSTITUT D’ESTUDIS METROPOLITANS DE BARCELONA (1996). Dades estadístiques bàsiques de la ciutat, l’àrea i la regió metropolitana de Barcelona, 1995. Volume 1. Diputació de Barcelona.

INSTITUT D’ESTUDIS METROPOLITANS DE BARCELONA (1996). Dades estadístiques bàsiques de les comarques metropolitanes, 1995. Volume 2. Diputació de Barcelona.

INSTITUT D’ESTUDIS METROPOLITANS DE BARCELONA (1996). Dades estadístiques bàsiques dels districtes de Barcelona, 1995. Volume 3. Diputació de Barcelona.

BARANDA, L.; SALVADÓ. A. (1997). Les condicions de vida dels joves metropolitans. Diputació de Barcelona. Institut d’Estudis Metropolitans de Barcelona.

Publications with sociolinguistic data or analysis relating to the 2000 survey:

GINER, S.; CEBOLLADA, À.; DOMÍNGUEZ, M.; MASATS, M.; MIRALLES, C.; MONTAGUT, T.; NEL·LO, O.; RECIO A.; SÁNCHEZ, C.; SOLSONA, M.; SUBIRATS, M. (2002). Enquesta de la Regió de Barcelona 2000. Informe General. Diputació de Barcelona. Institut d’Estudis Regionals i Metropolitans de Barcelona.

GINER, S.; BARANDA, L. (2002). Dades estadístiques bàsiques 2000. Ciutat, Regió Metropolitana i província de Barcelona. Volume 1. Diputació de Barcelona. Institut d’Estudis Regionals i Metropolitans de Barcelona.

GINER, S.; BARANDA, L. (2002). Dades estadístiques bàsiques 2000. Comarques de la província de Barcelona. Volume 2. Diputació de Barcelona. Institut d’Estudis Regionals i Metropolitans de Barcelona.

GINER, S.; BARANDA, L. (2002). Dades estadístiques bàsiques 2000. Districtes de Barcelona. Volume 3. Diputació de Barcelona. Institut d’Estudis Regionals i Metropolitans de Barcelona.

RIBA, A. R.; SINTES, E. (2002). Condicions de vida dels joves de la província de Barcelona. Diputació de Barcelona. Institut d’Estudis Regionals i Metropolitans de Barcelona.

The General Report for 2000 and the three reports with Dades Bàsiques (Basic Data) for 2000 may be consulted online at the IERMB website (http://campus.uab.es/iermb/Estudis/indexe.htm).

Furthermore, any of the above-mentioned reports can be purchased from the IERMB itself, or from the Diputació book shop (Llibreria Diputació. Carrer Londres, 55, Barcelona).

3.7. "Sobre el comportament lingüístic de l’alumnat a 52 escoles de tot Catalunya"
(On the linguistic behaviour of students at 52 schools in all Catalonia)

Santi Vial (SEDEC) and F. Xavier Vila (CUSC).

Analyse linguistic behaviour of the school population at the end of primary education in Catalonia in the late nineties.

a) The sample

A sample of 52 schools throughout Catalonia was selected, with three selection criteria: knowledge of Catalan in the area, language usage of the school and the composition of the schools according to percentage of one language or the other spoken by the families. The authors consider that the survey gives insight into the major trends, but is not strictly representative of the universe studied. The collection of the information was carried out during school years 96-97 and 97-98.