This website provides information and insight into research currently being undertaken by Professor Murray Leith and Dr Duncan Sim at the University of the West of Scotland.

We have been researching the Scottish Diaspora for some time, and we have published a number of articles and books around these issues.  We have been fortunate to have had many people engage with our research studies over the past few years, and without the input from these people, the Scottish Diaspora, our work would not have been possible.

Our latest study takes, as its focus, the possibility of a second Independence referendum in 2023, as proposed by the Scottish Government. We are interested in knowing the views and voting intentions of individuals within the current (and returned) Scottish Diaspora should another Independence Referendum take place.

There have been (and no doubt will continue to be) numerous studies about the voting intentions of people living in Scotland. However, there have also been, at various times, arguments about who should get to vote on this issue, such as Scots living outside of Scotland. The Scottish Diaspora remains a somewhat neglected group for study about voting intentions around Scottish Independence and our research seeks to remedy this.

The aims of our research are to:

• Explore the background of those we interview, in terms of their place of birth, the reasons for their emigration, and where they are currently living, outside Scotland.
• Explore voting patterns around the 2014 Independence Referendum.
• Ask the extent to which views may have changed in recent times.
• Ask about voting intentions in future Independence Referendum.
• Ask about attitudes towards voting eligibility for Scots living outside Scotland

We have undertaken considerable related research on the diaspora in recent years and have been very successful in contacting diaspora members abroad – and this is why we have contacted you again. The research is highly significant in both academic and policy terms. We seek to contribute to the understanding of attitudes towards Scottish Independence and voting eligibility. Previous diaspora research has been widely welcomed among diaspora groups and associations and strongly promoted as informative and helpful and we hope our study here will continue to be.

It is important to remember you are being asked to take further part in a research study and before you decide if you wish to take part, it is important that you understand why the research is being done, and what you are being asked to do. This information can be found on our information page.

Now, please go to the Questionnaire page and fill out the appropriate questionnaire – thank you!