Scotland’s agriculture sector is operating in a period of significant change. Farmers and rural businesses are responding to evolving environmental priorities, changes in agricultural policy, the transition to net zero, diversification opportunities and the need to build resilient rural economies. Our clients needed robust, representative and practical insight from those directly affected by these changes to inform future strategy, policy and support.
Working with organisations including the James Hutton Institute, SRUC and VisitScotland, we have designed and delivered large-scale quantitative research programmes tailored to the needs of rural and agricultural audiences. This has included telephone and online surveys, postal and email invitations, complex questionnaire routing and randomisation, experimental survey designs, pilot testing, careful sample management and flexible fieldwork approaches to make participation as easy as possible for busy farmers and rural businesses.
Across these projects, we managed sensitive sample data securely and in line with strict data protection requirements. We also provided clients with clean datasets, sample outcome information, data tables and reporting outputs designed to support further analysis, publication and policy engagement.
Research delivered…
Together, these studies have provided a strong evidence base for understanding the needs, ambitions and practical considerations of Scotland’s farming and rural business communities. The research has helped inform Scottish Government policy development, supported sector partners in designing future schemes, contributed to publications for agricultural stakeholders and evidenced the performance and potential of Scotland’s agritourism sector.
By combining methodological expertise with an understanding of the realities of rural research, Progressive has helped ensure that farmers’ voices are heard in decisions that will shape the future of agriculture, land management and rural enterprise in Scotland.
“Our farmer surveys commissioned with Progressive must deliver meaningful information to inform and guide farmers and policy while delivering on academic objectives through use of sometimes complex state-of-the-art methods. Progressive has impressed us through the immense care and attention to detail taken in preparing for and implementing surveys with land managers and farmers. There was always a desire to understand the objectives of a survey as a foundation to developing the best solutions to achieving them during sampling, survey instrument development, programming, survey implementation and data preparation. Together with highly professional communication and delivery, this makes Progressive Partnership a highly trusted survey provider.”
Professor Klaus Glenk, Sustainable Ecosystems Team at Scotland’s Rural College
