自由指標：常見問題 Freedom Indicators: FAQs返回

答：「主觀指標」是用來量度民眾的內在感覺，而「客觀指標」一般是用來陳述外在的事實和數字。例如在量度新聞自由的時候，「客觀指標」可以是引用報章的發行數目；但如果所有報章都受到政治審查，有關數字便不能反映民眾對新聞自由的感覺。相反，某某地方可能只有幾家報章，但都運作獨立和政見多元，民眾一樣可以感覺良好。(初版：2006年1月17日新聞公報之附加資料)
A: "Subjective indicators" measure people's feeling of how good or how bad the situation is, while "objective indicators" usually refers to hard facts and figures. In measuring press freedom, for example, objective facts may include how many newspapers a society has, but that alone may not indicate how much press freedom people feel they have, especially if the newspapers are political censored. Likewise, people may feel good even if there are only a few papers, but every one of them enjoys perfect freedom and takes on different political stands. (First release: Supplementary section of our press release of 17 January 2006)

答：民研計劃的慣例是用0至100分量度某某機構、團體和人物的形象，而用0至10分量度一些比較抽象的概念，並非對與錯的問題。(初版：2006年1月17日新聞公報之附加資料)
A: It's a matter of choice, but our general practice is to measure the image of organization, groups and figures using a 0-100 scale, and to measure intangible concepts using 0-10. (First release: Supplementary section of our press release of 17 January 2006)

答：理想頻率會因應民意怎樣波動和我們是否重視該等波動而定。選舉期間，不少國際級數的調查機構會以滾動調查不斷掌握民意，每天翻新數據。民研計劃會每兩星期翻新特首評分一次，每月翻新政府民望一次，有些項目則會每年翻新一次。(初版：2006年1月24日新聞公報之附加資料)
A: It depends on how opinion fluctuates on specific items, and how serious we take those fluctuations. For example, during elections, rolling polls are often conducted by internationally renowned organizations to measure fluctuations on a daily basis. POP now measures CE's popularity once every two weeks, the popularity of the government once every month, and some items once every year.(First release: Supplementary section of our press release of 24 January 2006)

答： 定期民意調查的理想頻率取決與有關民意的波動情況和波動是否值得重視而定。民研計劃在資源有限的情況下，會不斷檢討各項定期調查的頻率。經過最新一輪檢討後，民研計劃決定由2006年開始，把自由指標調查的週期加長，由每三個月進行一次改為每半年進行一次，以便騰出資源進行其他民意調查。事實上，民研計劃在1997年回歸後開展自由指標調查時，最初是每個月進行一次調查，然後是兩個月一次，然後是每年四次，然後再減為每年兩次。這些變動，一來是基於資源的考慮，二來是基於有關指標在過去的穩定或變動情況。不過，民研計劃的政策是一旦決定某項定期調查的頻率後，便不會因為某些突發事件會影響結果而改變執行有關調查的日期，以示公允。(初版：2006年7月18日新聞公報之附加資料)
A: The ideal frequency of tracking surveys depends on how public opinion of relevant items fluctuates, and how serious we take those fluctuations. Under limited resources, HKUPOP regularly reviews the frequency of all tracking surveys. After the latest review, POP decided to extend the cycle of freedom indicators from once every 3 months to once every 6 months, in order to spare more resources for other surveys. As a matter of fact, when POP first started these surveys in 1997 after the handover, our initial frequency was once every month. It was then reduced to once every 2 months, then 4 times a year, then twice a year. The considerations in making these changes were resources constraint as well as the observed stability and fluctuations of these indicators. However, in order to be fair, POP's general policy is that once the frequency of a tracking survey is fixed, POP will not alter the fieldwork dates in order to suit particular events which may affect the results. (First release: Supplementary section of our press release of 18 July 2006)