The Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen) is an independent research institute located in Edinburgh, part of the National Centre for Social Research and the largest such institute in Britain. We undertake a wide range of social research throughout Scotland in the belief that the more we understand about how we live today, the better our ability to make life better. ScotCen uses a variety of ways to find out what people think how they feel, ranging from big surveys of the general population to in-depth interviews with key individuals. We address subjects ranging from heath, education and crime to politics.

As a not for profit organisation and a registered educational charity, we are politically impartial and have no particular commercial agenda to pursue. Rather, our commitment is to undertaking our research to the highest possible standards and to disseminating it as widely as possible.