Scottish Government has access to a range of data sources that provide direct and indirect evidence on levels of trust in government and potential contributing factors. This internship will focus on analysis that draws these together to build up a picture of levels of trust in government – and drivers of this – across different areas, demographics and protected characteristics in Scotland. We are interested in evidence from both quantitative and qualitative data sources, and there may be opportunity to carry out new qualitative work. It is intended that this project will result in a publishable report that provides a literature review of existing evidence on trust and sets out new analysis resulting from the project. Evidence based recommendations for improving Scotland's evidence base on trust in government will also be welcomed, along with a presentation to relevant Scottish Government staff and stakeholders.
You will be based on the Open Government team within the Improving Public Engagement Division. The Open Government team works to ensure that the public are able to see, understand, and be involved in government decisions that affect them, and does a lot of this in collaboration with external civil society organisations. The Open Government team can facilitate contact with OECD and other relevant organisations conducting work in the field of trust in government.