About one-fifth of the population of Wales speaks Welsh, although in some areas the proportion is very much higher than that. The Census results support the view that the position of the Welsh language now seems to have stabilised, following a period of sustained decline since the turn of the century.

Recent years have seen a growth of interest in ensuring the future of the language. These are some of the tangible signs of that interest:

• The Welsh Language Act 1993 provides for Welsh to be treated on the basis of equality with English and a statutory Welsh Language Board has been established to promote the language and facilitate its use.
• The 1993 Act places a duty on public bodies who provide services to the public in Wales to prepare Welsh language schemes. Although there is no requirement for private sector organisations to do so, far more emphasis is now being placed by financial institutions, prominent high street companies and other businesses on providing bilingual services for their customers.
• Welsh language broadcasting and publishing has grown. S4C, the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority, currently broadcasts on analogue an average of 32 hours per week and on digital 80 hours per week of Welsh language programming. BBC Cymru Wales provides a full bilingual radio and television service. Welsh language broadcasting is a significant element of the output of independent radio in Wales and a number of independent production companies have been established to produce TV programmes for S4C. There are a number of Welsh language periodicals, reporting on current affairs and lifestyle issues.
• There has been a substantial growth in the provision of Welsh medium education, ranging from nursery schools right through to the university sector. Concurrently, there has been a rapid uptake of new opportunities for adults to learn Welsh, during their leisure time or as part of their work.

Beaufort Research is based in Cardiff and many of our clients are also either based here or have an interest in Wales. Beaufort takes a pride in its Welsh roots and over the years we have developed a great deal of expertise in providing bilingual services.

We are unusual among market research companies in having executive staff who are fluent in Welsh. Whenever there is a need to adopt a bilingual approach, we can do so naturally and effectively - rather than as an after-thought.

Many of our surveys involve seeking information from individuals, organisations and businesses in Wales. There is a growing trend for clients to give the respondent the opportunity to respond in Welsh or in English, according to their choice. Although public sector bodies are most likely to do so, private sector organisations who provide services to the public also recognise the value of a bilingual approach.

Approximately 100 of Beaufort’s pool of fieldworkers are able to speak Welsh. They are well versed in the art of administering bilingual questionnaires. Through our Welsh speaking executive staff we are able to provide written instructions and personal briefings on a fully bilingual basis whenever that is required.

Beaufort has considerable experience of producing questionnaires and other survey documentation in bilingual format. Our approach varies according to the nature and the scale of the project:

• Sometimes the translation work is done in-house by Beaufort staff. We are able to produce questionnaires and other documents in either language with equal facility. This means that there is consistency of meaning and of style between the two language versions.
• On other occasions, we use the services of a specialist agency to undertake translation work on our behalf. We always use the same agency (Prysg), whose staff are now well used to dealing with the special challenges presented by questionnaire translation. Our specialist in-house researchers check the output and they are able to confer in Welsh with the translator to agree any fine points.

For focus groups to be successful, participants must be able to express themselves freely and easily - and they must also be able to understand fully the nuances of what others are saying. In practice this means that, to all intents and purposes, the discussion has to be either entirely in English or entirely in Welsh, with respondents knowing in advance what language will be used.

Beaufort is able to offer a full Welsh language qualitative research service. Should the client require, we are able to recruit respondents using bilingual interviewers, to conduct the groups entirely in Welsh and then present the findings orally and in writing in the same manner.

Welsh language focus groups are particularly useful when dealing with products or services which have an important linguistic element. Good examples are studies designed to elicit audience reactions to radio or television programme offerings in the Welsh language. Often such research involves the use of programme extracts as stimulus material, in order to seek reactions and promote discussion, and so it is essential to conduct the entire session in the language of the programme.

Beaufort has undertaken numerous focus groups in the Welsh language for such diverse clients as S4C, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, The Central Office of Information (COI), Arts Council of Wales, Food Standards Agency of Wales, The Welsh Assembly Government. We are proud of our fine reputation in this area.

Occasionally our clients require us to undertake and report research in Welsh. In 2000 we were commissioned by S4C to undertake a programme of face-to face interviews and group discussions amongst the Welsh population.  Many of the interviews were conducted with Welsh speakers and a number of focus groups were conducted in the Welsh language. All survey documentation was bilingual and all liaison meetings between Beaufort and the client were undertaken in the same mode.  Upon completion of the study the client received an oral presentation and a detailed written report in Welsh.  The project called for an ability to marshal a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data, for a discerning client.

Other Welsh language or bilingual projects undertaken recently by us include: 

• Circa 2000 face to face interviews with Welsh and non-Welsh speakers for BBC Wales about Tynged Yr Iaith (The Fate of the Language) 

• Telephone research undertaken with residents of Welsh speaking areas for ‘Week In, Week Out’. 

• 2000 interviews undertaken for the Welsh Language Board looking at attitudes towards the use of the Welsh language 

• Welsh speaking adult focus groups undertaken on behalf of S4C  

• Welsh speaking young people focus groups taking on behalf of the Welsh Language Board

Omnibus surveys enable a group of users to share the same survey vehicle, achieving the benefit of lower costs. Subscribers buy in on the basis of how many questions are to be asked of the sample and the type of questions. In effect, therefore, each subscriber shares the cost of interviewing and other overheads with fellow clients. There is also the benefit of continuity. Since these surveys are undertaken at fixed intervals, subscribers can ask the same questions time and time again, to measure long term trends.

The Omnibus Survey of Welsh Speakers began in 1993. Surveys are undertaken twice a year - in March and in September - and a fresh sample is drawn each time:

• The survey is based upon a representative quota sample, consisting of a minimum of 1,000 adults aged 16+ who are resident in Wales and are able to speak Welsh;
• Interviewing is spread across 68 separate locations throughout Wales. Sampling points are selected with probability proportionate to Welsh speaking population after regional stratification;
• Within each sampling location, there are interlocking quota controls of age and social class within sex. Quotas are set to reflect the demographic profile of Welsh speaking residents and no more than one person per household is interviewed.

Interviews are conducted face to face by bilingual interviewers. An initial filter question (in Welsh) establishes eligibility for a full interview. Thereafter, the interview is conducted in the language preferred by the respondent, using a bilingual questionnaire. More details of the Omnibus Survey of Welsh Speakers are given in a separate document.