HKU POP releases the latest popularity figures of Executive CouncillorsBack

The Public Opinion Programme (POP) of the University of Hong Kong conducted a double stage survey on the ratings of Executive Councillors from the middle to the end of January, by means of random telephone surveys conducted by real interviewers. The survey shows that Regina Ip continued to top the list in both naming and rating surveys. Compared to four months ago, the ratings of all “top 5” Councillors have dropped, probably due to the falling popularity of the SAR government as a whole. Among them, Bernard Chan, Regina Ip and Lam Woon-kwong registered significant changes in their popularity ratings. In terms of absolute ratings, three of the “top 5” Councillors score more than 50 marks, they are Regina Ip, Lam Woon-kwong and Bernard Chan. In terms of relative rankings, Regina Ip and Lam Woon-kwong remain at the first and second positions. Bernard Chan replaces Cheng Yiu-tong in the list and ranks third, while Starry Lee and Fanny Law each go down one position to occupy the fourth and fifth places. It should be noted, however, that our list of “top 5” only includes non-official Councillors best known to the public, ranked according to their support ratings. Some of the other Councillors may well have very high or low support ratings, but because they are not the most well-known Councillors, they do not appear on the list by design. The maximum sampling error of all percentage figures is +/-4 percentage points at 95% confidence level, while that of rating figures is below +/-2.7 marks. The response rate of the rating survey is 67%.

Points to note:

[1] The address of the "HKU POP SITE" is http://hkupop.pori.hk, journalists can check out the details of the survey there.
[2] The sample size of the first stage naming survey on top 5 Executive Councillors is 1,026 successful interviews, not 1,026 x 68.7% response rate, while that of the second stage rating survey is 1,020 successful interviews, not 1,020 x 66.5% response rate. 
[3] The maximum sampling error of percentages is +/-4 percentage points at 95% confidence level, while the sampling error of rating figure needs another calculation. “95% confidence level” means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. When quoting these figures, journalists can state “sampling error of rating not more than +/-2.7 and sampling error of percentages not more than +/-4% at 95% confidence level”. Because POP introduced “rim weighting” in 2014, during the transition period, whether changes in various figures are beyond sampling errors are based on tests using the same weighting methods. That is, to test whether the first set of figures collected in 2014 is significantly different from that of the previous survey, both sets of data are rim weighted before testing, instead of using simple computation of the published figures.
[4] Because of sampling errors in conducting the survey(s) and the rounding procedures in processing the data, the figures cannot be too precise, and the totals may not be completely accurate. Therefore, when quoting percentages of the survey(s), journalists should refrain from reporting decimal places, but when quoting the rating figures, one decimal place can be used.
[5] The data of this survey is collected by means of random telephone interviews conducted by real interviewers, not by any interactive voice system (IVS). If a research organization uses “computerized random telephone survey” to camouflage its IVS operation, it should be considered unprofessional.

POP today releases on schedule via the “POP SITE” the latest popularity figures of Executive Councillors. From 2014, POP enhanced the previous simple weighting method based on age and gender distribution to “rim weighting” based on age, gender and education (highest level attended) distribution. The latest figures released today have been rim-weighted according to provisional figures obtained from the Census and Statistics Department regarding the gender-age distribution of the Hong Kong population in mid-year 2013 and the educational attainment (highest level attended) distribution collected in the 2011 Census.

[6] Calculated at 95% confidence level using full sample size. “95% confidence level” means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. Sampling errors of ratings are calculated according to the distribution of the scores collected.
[7] The figures shown in the “latest change” column of this press release have been tested after “rim weighted” data collected in this and last survey. The structural effect of using the new weighting method is small, around -0.3 to +0.7 for rating figures, while statistical significance tests are not affected.

The research design of our “Top 5 Executive Councillors” is similar to that of our “Top 10” series, it is explained in detail under “Survey Method” in our web page. The top Councillors listed in our latest survey were all those who obtained the highest unprompted mentions in our first stage naming survey conducted in mid-January. In that survey, respondents could name, unaided, up to 5 non-official Executive Councillors whom they knew best. Latest findings of the naming survey are as follows:

[8] All error figures in the table are calculated at 95% confidence level. “95% confidence level”, meaning that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. Media can state “sampling error of percentages not more than +/-3% at 95% confidence level” when quoting the above figures. Numbers in square brackets { } indicates rankings in our naming survey. Councillors with the same recognition rate will be ranked according to the decimal place of the corresponding percentages. Please refer to the POP Site for detailed figures of the previous surveys. The error margin of previous surveys can also be found at the POP Site. The sub-sample size for this survey is 616.
[9] Not a non-official Executive Councillor during the survey period.
[10] The percentages of respondents who could name Bernard Chan and Anna Wu were 6.0% and 5.9%, so Bernard Chan ranked the 4th, while Anna Wu was placed at the 5th rank.
[11] The percentages of respondents who could name Arthur Li and Cheng Yiu-tong were 4.0% and 3.7%, so Arthur Li ranked the 6th, while Cheng Yiu-tong was placed at the 7th rank.
[12] The percentages of respondents who could name Laura Cha, Cheung Chi-kong, Franklin Lam, Andrew Liao, Chow Chung-kong and Cheung Hok-ming were 1.45%, 1.3%, 0.92%, 0.87%, 0.7% and 0.6%. Hence Laura Cha ranked the 9th, Cheung Chi-kong ranked the 10th, Franklin Lam ranked the 11th, Andrew Liao ranked the 12th, Chow Chung-kong ranked the 13th while Cheung Hok-ming was placed at the 14th rank.
[13] The percentages of respondents who could name Fanny Law and Laura Cha were 3.9% and 3.6%, so Fanny Law ranked the 5th, while Laura Cha was placed at the 6th rank.
[14] The percentages of respondents who could name Cheng Yiu-tong and Barry Cheung were 2.4% and 2.0%, so Cheng Yiu-tong ranked the 8th, while Barry Cheung was placed at the 9th rank.
[15] The percentages of respondents who could name Anna Wu, Cheung Chi-kong, Arthur Li and Andrew Liao were 1.2%, 1.1%, 1.0% and 0.5%. Hence Anna Wu ranked the 10th, Cheung Chi-kong ranked the 11th, Arthur Li ranked the 12th while Andrew Liao was placed at the 13th rank.
[16] The percentages of respondents who could name Cheung Hok-ming, and Jeffrey Lam were both 0.21%, while that for Chow Chung-kong was 0.1%. Hence Cheung Hok-ming and Jeffrey Lam were both placed at the 14th rank, while Chow Chung-kong ranked the 16th.
[17] The percentages of respondents who could name Bernard Chan, Cheung Chi-kong and Cheng Yiu-tong were 2.1%, 1.9% and 1.8%. Hence Bernard Chan ranked the 6th, Cheung Chi-kong ranked the 7th while Cheng Yiu-tong was placed at the 8th rank.
[18] The percentages of respondents who could name Anna Wu, Franklin Lam and Jeffrey Lam were 0.9%, 0.7% and 0.6%. Hence Anna Wu ranked the 9th, Franklin Lam ranked the 10th while Jeffrey Lam was placed at the 11th rank.
[19] The percentages of respondents who could name Laura Cha, Arthur Li and Andrew Liao were 0.3%, 0.2% and 0.1%. Hence Laura Cha ranked the 12th, Arthur Li ranked the 13th while Andrew Liao was placed at the 14th rank.
[20] The percentages of respondents who could name Bernard Chan and Starry Lee were 6.2% and 5.9%, so Bernard Chan ranked the 4th, while Starry Lee was placed at the 5th rank.
[21] The percentages of respondents who could name Laura Cha, Jeffrey Lam, Chow Chung-kong and Anna Wu were 1.3%, 0.834%, 0.832% and 0.6%. Hence Laura Cha ranked the 9th, Jeffrey Lam ranked the 10th, Chow Chung-kong ranked the 11th while Anna Wu was placed at the 12th rank.
[22] The percentages of respondents who could name Cheung Chi-kong and Fanny Law were 3.1% and 2.9%, so Cheung Chi-kong ranked the 5th, while Fanny Law was placed at the 6th rank.
[23] The percentages of respondents who could name Cheng Yiu-tong and Laura Cha were 2.4% and 1.5%, so Cheng Yiu-tong ranked the 7th, while Laura Cha was placed at the 8th rank.
[24] The percentages of respondents who could name Jeffrey Lam and Anna Wu were 1.4% and 0.7%, so Jeffrey Lam ranked the 9th, while Anna Wu was placed at the 10th rank.
[25] The percentages of respondents who could name Arthur Li, Chow Chung-kong, Andrew Liao and Cheung Hok-ming were 0.5%, 0.2%, 0.11% and 0.08%. Hence Arthur Li ranked the 11th, Chow Chung-kong ranked the 12th, Andrew Liao ranked the 13th while Cheung Hok-ming was placed at the 14th rank.

The naming survey conducted in mid-January showed that Regina Ip was named most frequently with a recognition rate of 16%. Lam Woon-kwong, Starry Lee, Bernard Chan and Cheung Chi-kong with recognition rates of 9%, 6%, 4% and 3%, and ranked the 2nd to 5th. However, 14% made a wrong attempt at citing Executive Councillors (non-official) while 66% had no clue.

The 6 Councillors who were named most frequently then entered into the second stage rating survey. During the second stage rating survey conducted in the second half of January, respondents were asked to rate each short-listed Councillor in turn using a 0-100 scale. 0 indicates absolutely no support, 100 indicates absolute support, and 50 means half-half. After calculation, the bottom 1 Councillor in terms of recognition rate was dropped; the remaining 5 were then ranked according to their support ratings attained to become the top 5 Executive Councillors. Recent ratings of the top 5 members of Executive Council are summarized as follows:

[26] All error figures in the table are calculated at 95% confidence level. “95% confidence level”, meaning that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. Media can state “sampling error of various ratings not more than +/-2.7 marks at 95% confidence level” when quoting the above figures. Numbers in square brackets { } indicates rankings. The error margin of previous survey can be found at the POP Site.
[27] Barry Cheung resigned from the Executive Council on 24 May 2013.
[28] Franklin Lam resigned from the Executive Council on 1 August 2013.
[29] Not a non-official Executive Councillor during the survey period.
[30] Recognition rate fell outside top 5 during rating stage, so per poll rating and related changes are presented only for rough reference and not counted in yearly average.
[31] Such changes have gone beyond the sampling errors at the 95% confidence level under the same weighting method, meaning that they are statistically significant prima facie. However, whether numerical differences are statistically significant or not is not the same as whether they are practically useful or meaningful.

The latest rating survey conducted in the second half of January showed that Regina Ip was the most popularly supported non-official Executive Councillor, attaining 53.2 marks. The 2nd and 3rd ranks went to Lam Woon-kwong and Bernard Chan with 51.2 and 50.3 marks respectively. The 4th and 5th ranks went to Starry Lee and Fanny Law with 45.9 and 45.7 marks respectively. The mean score obtained by these top 5 non-official Executive Councillors was 49.3 marks. For this latest survey, Cheung Chi-kong obtained a support rating of 45.1 marks, but he was dropped due to his relatively low recognition rate. The overall ratings ranked according to results obtained over the past year are tabulated as follows:

[32] “Average rating” is the average of all ratings obtained by Executive Councillors over the past 4 surveys.
[33] “Overall ranking” is first determined by their number of times on top 5, and then their average ratings.
[34] Not a non-official Executive Councillor during the survey period.

The overall rankings in the past year showed that four non-official Executive Councillors have been on the list for four times. Regina Ip, Lam Woon-kwong, Fanny Law and Starry Lee ranked 1st to 4th places respectively and achieved average ratings of 55.5, 54.3, 48.2 and 47.4 marks. Bernard Chan has been on the list for two times with an average rating of 54.1 marks, ranked the 5th. Franklin Lam and Cheng Yiu-tong have been on the list once with ratings of 42.3 and 41.6 marks, ranked at the 6th and 7th places respectively.

In January 2007, POP opened a feature page called “Opinion Daily” at the “POP Site”, to record significant events and selected polling figures on a day-to-day basis, in order to let readers judge by themselves the reasons for the ups and downs of different opinion figures. In July 2007, POP collaborated with Wisers Information Limited whereby Wisers supplies to POP each day starting from July 24, a record of significant events of that day, according to the research method designed by POP. These daily entries would be uploaded to “Opinion Daily” as soon as they are verified by POP.

For the polling items covered in this press release, the previous survey was conducted from September 9 to 12, 2013 while this survey was conducted from January 21 to 24, 2014. During this period, herewith the significant events selected from counting newspaper headlines and commentaries on a daily basis and covered by at least 25% of the local newspaper articles. Readers can make their own judgment if these significant events have any impacts to different polling figures.

Robert Ting-Yiu Chung, Director of Public Opinion Programme, observed, “The latest ‘top 5 Executive Councillors’ survey shows that Regina Ip continued to top the list in both naming and rating surveys. Compared to four months ago, the ratings of all ‘top 5’ Councillors have dropped, probably due to the falling popularity of the SAR government as a whole. Among them, Bernard Chan, Regina Ip and Lam Woon-kwong registered significant changes in their popularity ratings. In terms of absolute ratings, three of the ‘top 5’ Councillors score more than 50 marks, they are Regina Ip, Lam Woon-kwong and Bernard Chan. In terms of relative rankings, Regina Ip and Lam Woon-kwong remain at the first and second positions. Bernard Chan replaces Cheng Yiu-tong in the list and ranks third, while Starry Lee and Fanny Law each go down one position to occupy the fourth and fifth places. It should be noted, however, that our list of ‘top 5’ only includes non-official Councillors best known to the public, ranked according to their support ratings. Some of the other Councillors may well have very high or low support ratings, but because they are not the most well-known Councillors, they do not appear on the list by design. As for the reasons affecting the ups and downs of these popularity ratings, we leave it to our readers to form their own judgment using the detailed records displayed in the ‘Opinion Daily’ of our POP Site.”

• February 6, 2014 (Thursday) 1pm to 2pm: Second follow-up survey of Policy Address

• February 11, 2014 (Tuesday) 1pm to 2pm: Popularity of CE and Principal Officials