The Experiences and Expectations of Disabled People

A new research report commissioned by the Government shows that whilst progress is being made, disabled people in Britain are still more likely than non-disabled people to experience disadvantage in a variety of areas.

Experiences and Expectations of Disabled People, the first comprehensive study of disability issues in six years, looked at key policy areas including employment, education, transport, health and discrimination across Great Britain in 2007.

The research, which was commissioned by the Office for Disability Issues (ODI), provides a unique snapshot of the lives of nearly 2,000 disabled people. The study was ground-breaking in that it actively involved disabled people throughout the research process.

The report

You can download documents marked with a using Adobe Reader - available free of charge.

You can download documents marked with a using Microsoft Word viewer – available free of charge.

• Executive summary (PDF, 1.85 MB, 48 pages)
• Executive summary (RTF, 73 kB, 48 pages)
• Easy Read version (PDF, 2.58 MB, 38 pages)
• Full report (PDF, 4.66 MB, 248 pages) (updated 31 July 2008)
• Full report (RTF, 1.87 MB, 248 pages) (updated 29 August 2008)

The annexes

These annexes are available online only. If you have difficulty accessing them, please contact the Office for Disability Issues.

Annex A

Technical report (PDF, 824 kB, 21 pages)

Annex B – Survey methodology and tools

Advance letter (PDF, 91 kB, 1 page)
Advice memo (PDF, 114 kB, 2 pages)
Easy Read letter (PDF, 119 kB, 1 page)
Easy Read questionnaire (PDF, 1.5 MB, 25 pages)
Main contact sheet (PDF, 973 kB, 9 pages)
Main showcards (PDF, 866 kB, 93 pages)
Screening questionnaire (PDF, 127 kB, 4 pages)
Screening showcards (PDF, 78 kB, 3 pages)
Shortened questionnaire (PDF, 721 kB, 39 pages)
Easy Read thank you letter (PDF, 231 kB, 1 page)

Annex C – Qualitative methodology and tools

Qualitative methodology summary report (PDF, 738 kB, 8 pages)
Showcards (PDF, 90 kB, 3 pages)
Stage 1 discussion guide (PDF, 373 kB, 11 pages)
Stage 1 pre-task workbook (PDF, 131 kB,12 pages)
Stage 1 recruitment screener (PDF, 384 kB,16 pages)
Stage 2 discussion guide (PDF, 303 kB, 9 pages)
Stage 2 recruitment screener A (PDF, 523 kB, 22 pages)
Stage 2 recruitment screener B (PDF, 425 kB, 19 pages)
Stage 3 discussion guide (PDF, 275 kB, 12 pages)
Stage 3 recruitment questionnaire (PDF, 476 kB, 20 pages)

Annex D

Segmentation report (PDF, 720 kB, 8 pages)

Alternative formats

The Experiences and Expectations of Disabled People report is available in hard copy, in Braille, on audio CD and in Easy Read formats. If you would like a copy in any of these formats please contact the Office for Disability Issues. The audio version is also available for download below.

01 Introduction (mp3, 1.01MB)
02 Key findings (mp3, 1.03 MB)
03 The profile of disabled people (mp3, 814 kB)
04 Civic participation and social networks (mp3, 2.1 MB)
05 Experiences and perceptions of discrimination (mp3, 1.3 MB)
06Employment (mp3, 1.6 MB)
07Education (mp3, 1.03 MB)
08 Economic well-being (mp3, 954 kB)
09 Housing and home life (mp3, 1.22 MB)
10 Transport (mp3, 1.2 MB)
11 Health and well-being (mp3, 1.3 MB)
12 The context of the research (mp3, 1.5 MB)
13 How the research was carried out (mp3, 2.8 MB)
14 References (mp3, 1.2 MB)

Page last reviewed: 29 August 2008