Did Yes Win the Referendum Campaign?

One of the key features of the independence referendum in September 2014 is that there was a substantial increase in support for independence during the course of the campaign, with most of those who voted Yes going on to reassert their support for the nationalist cause by subsequently supporting the SNP. We might anticipate, therefore, that this seemingly significant change in the balance of public opinion on how Scotland should be governed would be reflected in the pattern
of responses to other questions that might be thought to be of relevance to how people voted in the referendum. In this paper we assess how far the increase in support in independence was accompanied by a reassessment of some of the perceived consequences of Scotland being in the Union and/or becoming an independent state. We also examine the extent to which
people’s decision to vote independence is reflected in their answer to other survey questions about Scotland’s constitutional future – and consider any mismatch that we find.

 

Read the full report: Did Yes Win the Referendum Campaign?