HKU POP releases the latest trust and confidence indicators Back
Press Release on June 22, 2017
| Detailed Findings (People's Trust in the HKSAR Government) |
Detailed Findings (People's Trust in the Beijing Central Government) |
Detailed Findings (People's Trust in the Taiwan Government) |
Detailed Findings (People's Confidence in HK's Future) |
Detailed Findings (People's Confidence in China's Future) |
Detailed Findings (People's Confidence in "One Country, Two Systems") |
Special Announcements
1. To facilitate academic study and rational discussion, the Public Opinion Programme (POP) of The University of Hong Kong has already released for public examination some time ago via the HKU POP SITE” (http://hkupop.pori.hk) the raw data of all 124 regular rating surveys of CE CY Leung, as well as the 181 regular rating surveys of former CE Donald Tsang and 239 regular rating surveys of former CE CH Tung, along with related demographics of respondents. Please follow normal academic standards when using or citing such data.
2. POP’s usual practice is to issue more frequent releases before and after the middle and also the end of each year, under the names of “HKSAR anniversary” and “Year-end” survey series for public consumption. Recently, POP issues a number of releases under the “HKSAR anniversary” survey series. Please see POP Site and also the “Future Releases” section of this press release for more information. Since the figures released today by POP come from the last tracking survey on this topic conducted before July 2017, the half-yearly averages published in the website are good for HKSAR anniversary stories. Because the handover of Hong Kong occurred on July 1, it may be more appropriate and accurate to analyze macro changes of Hong Kong society using half-yearly rather than yearly figures. Moreover, a chronology of major events as reported by the local newspapers over many years past can be found in the “Opinion Daily” at the “POP Site”. This may also be useful in running HKSAR anniversary reviews.
3. The list of new Principal Officials of the SAR government was announced yesterday. Thus, POP will immediately start a survey to gauge their suitability as designate Principal Officials, and the result will be released on June 28. Kindly take note.
Abstract
POP interviewed 1,004 Hong Kong people between 13 and 15 June 2017 by means of a random telephone survey conducted by real interviewers. Our latest survey in mid-June shows that Hong Kong people’s net trust in the local government has decreased significantly by 17 percentage points compared to three months ago to negative 1, back to the level registered in June last year. People’s net trust in the Central Government and the Taiwan Government has not changed much, now stands at negative 3 and negative 27 percentage points respectively. As for the confidence indicators, people’s confidence in the future of China remains the highest among the three, with a net confidence of positive 40 percentage points, up 6 percentage points compared to three months ago, while the net confidence in the future of Hong Kong is positive 9 percentage points. Meanwhile, people’s net confidence in “one country, two systems” has decreased by 3 percentage points to positive 6 percentage points. Further analysis shows that the older the respondent, the more one trusts the HKSAR and the Central Governments and the more confident in “one country, two systems”. The maximum sampling error of all percentages is +/-4 percentage points at 95% confidence level, while that of net values needs another calculation. The response rate of the survey is 70%.
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 survey is 1,004 successful interviews, not 1,004 x 69.8% response rate. In the past, many media made this mistake.
[3] The maximum sampling error of all percentages is +/-4 percentage points at 95% confidence level. “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 percentages not more than +/-4% at 95% confidence level, sampling error of net values not more than +/-8%”.
[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.
Latest Figures
POP today releases on schedule via the POP Site the latest findings on people’s trust in the HKSAR, Beijing Central and Taiwan Governments, and their confidence in Hong Kong’s future, China’s future and “one country, two systems”. 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 2016 year end and the educational attainment (highest level attended) distribution collected in the 2011 Census. Herewith the contact information of various surveys:
|
Date of survey |
Overall sample size |
Response rate |
Maximum sampling error of percentages[6] |
|
13-15/6/2017 |
1,004 |
69.8% |
+/-3% |
[6] Errors are 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.
Recent popularity figures of SAR, Beijing Central and Taiwan Governments and people’s confidence in the future as well as “one country, two systems” are summarized below:
|
Date of survey |
10-16/6/16 |
19-25/8/16 |
12-15/12/16 |
21-24/3/17 |
13-15/6/17 |
Latest Change |
|
Total sample size[7] |
1,007 |
1,003 |
1,001 |
1,073 |
1,004 |
-- |
|
Overall response rate |
71.2% |
71.4% |
71.6% |
72.4% |
69.8% |
-- |
|
Finding |
Finding |
Finding |
Finding |
Finding |
Finding & error[8] |
-- |
|
Trust in HKSAR Government[9] |
36% |
40% |
40% |
48%[10] |
37+/-4% |
-11%[10] |
|
Distrust in HKSAR Government[9] |
37%[10] |
40% |
36% |
32% |
38+/-4% |
+6%[10] |
|
Net trust |
-1% |
1% |
4% |
16%[10] |
-1+/-7% |
-17%[10] |
|
Mean value[9] |
2.9 (Base=606) |
2.9 (Base=577) |
3.0 (Base=621) |
3.2[10] (Base=616) |
2.9+/-0.1 (Base=595) |
-0.3[10] |
|
Trust in Beijing Government[9] |
27%[10] |
30% |
39%[10] |
40% |
37+/-4% |
-3% |
|
Distrust in Beijing Government[9] |
43% |
47% |
37%[10] |
38% |
40+/-4% |
+2% |
|
Net trust |
-16% |
-17% |
2%[10] |
3% |
-3+/-7% |
-6% |
|
Mean value[9] |
2.6 (Base=612) |
2.6 (Base=540) |
2.9[10] (Base=601) |
3.0 (Base=630) |
2.9 +/-0.1 (Base=552) |
-0.1 |
|
Trust in Taiwan Government[9] |
19%[10] |
17% |
15% |
22%[10] |
19+/-3% |
-3% |
|
Distrust in Taiwan Government[9] |
33%[10] |
32% |
41%[10] |
43% |
46+/-4% |
+3% |
|
Net trust |
-14%[10] |
-15% |
-26%[10] |
-21% |
-27+/-6% |
-6% |
|
Mean value[9] |
2.7[10] (Base=476) |
2.7 (Base=377) |
2.5[10] (Base=499) |
2.6 (Base=564) |
2.5+/-0.1 (Base=488) |
-0.1 |
|
Confidence in HK’s future |
41% |
48%[10] |
51% |
52% |
49+/-4% |
-3% |
|
No-confidence in HK’s future |
50% |
43%[10] |
39% |
43% |
40+/-4% |
-3% |
|
Net confidence |
-9% |
5%[10] |
12% |
10% |
9+/-8% |
-1% |
|
Confidence in China’s future |
56% |
58% |
64%[10] |
64% |
66+/-4% |
+2% |
|
No-confidence in China’s future |
37% |
31%[10] |
29% |
30% |
26+/-4% |
-4% |
|
Net confidence |
19% |
28%[10] |
36%[10] |
34% |
40+/-7% |
+6% |
|
Confidence in “one country,
|
45% |
48% |
47% |
52%[10] |
49+/-4% |
-3% |
|
No-confidence in “one country,
|
50% |
43%[10] |
45% |
43% |
43+/-4% |
-- |
|
Net confidence |
-5% |
5%[10] |
2% |
9% |
6+/-8% |
-3% |
[7] Starting from March 2011, these questions only use sub-samples of the tracking surveys concerned. The sub-sample sizes of the surveys range from 579 to 628, and the increased sampling errors have already been reflected in the figures tabulated.
[8] All error figures in the table are calculated at 95% confidence level. “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. Media can state “sampling error of percentages not more than +/-4% and of net values not more than +/-8% at 95% confidence level” when quoting the above figures. The error margin of previous survey can be found at the POP Site.
[9] Collapsed from a 5-point scale. The mean value is calculated by quantifying all individual responses into 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 marks according to their degree of positive level, where 1 is the lowest and 5 the highest, and then calculate the sample mean.
[10] 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.
Latest survey revealed that 37% of the respondents trusted the HKSAR Government, 37% trusted the Beijing Central Government, and 19% trusted the Taiwan Government. The net trust values are negative 1, negative 3 and negative 27 percentage points, while the mean scores of these trust indicators are 2.9, 2.9 and 2.5 respectively, meaning close to “half-half” in general. On the other hand, 49% of the respondents had confidence in Hong Kong’s future, 66% had confidence in China’s future, while 49% of the respondents were confident in “one country, two systems”. The three net confidence values are positive 9, 40 and 6 percentage points respectively.
Indepth Analysis
In the survey, we also asked respondents for their age. If they were reluctant to give their exact age, they could give us a range. According to their answers, we grouped them into 18-29, 30-49, and 50 years or above. Herewith further analysis of respondents’ trust in HKSAR Government, Beijing Central Government and confidence in “one country, two systems” by age:
|
Date of survey: 13-15/6/2017 |
18-29 |
30-49 |
50 or above |
Overall Sample |
|
|
Percentage of trust /
|
Trust |
17+/-7%
|
34+/-6%
|
47+/-6%
|
37+/-4%
|
|
Half-half |
26+/-9%
|
27+/-6%
|
20+/-5%
|
24+/-3%
|
|
|
Distrust |
56+/-10%
|
38+/-6%
|
31+/-6%
|
38+/-4%
|
|
|
Don’t know /
|
1+/-1%
|
1+/-1%
|
2+/-2%
|
1+/-1%
|
|
|
Total |
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
|
|
Mean value |
2.3+/-0.2
|
2.8+/-0.2
|
3.2+/-0.2
|
2.9+/-0.1
|
|
[11] Differences among sub-groups are tested to be statistically significant at 99% confidence level.
|
Date of survey: 13-15/6/2017 |
18-29 |
30-49 |
50 or above |
Overall Sample |
|
|
Percentage of trust /
|
Trust |
10+/-6%
|
40+/-7%
|
44+/-6%
|
37+/-4%
|
|
Half-half |
25+/-9%
|
16+/-5%
|
19+/-5%
|
19+/-3%
|
|
|
Distrust |
66+/-10%
|
41+/-7%
|
30+/-5%
|
40+/-4%
|
|
|
Don’t know /
|
0+/-0%
|
3+/-2%
|
7+/-3%
|
4+/-2%
|
|
|
Total |
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
|
|
Mean value |
2.1+/-0.2
|
2.8+/-0.2
|
3.2+/-0.2
|
2.9+/-0.1
|
|
[12] Differences among sub-groups are tested to be statistically significant at 99% confidence level.
|
Date of survey: 13-15/6/2017 |
18-29 |
30-49 |
50 or above |
Overall Sample |
|
|
Percentage of confidence / no-confidence
|
Confidence |
30+/-8%
|
46+/-7%
|
59+/-6%
|
49+/-4%
|
|
No-confidence |
63+/-9%
|
45+/-7%
|
34+/-6%
|
43+/-4%
|
|
|
Don’t know /
|
6+/-5%
|
9+/-4%
|
7+/-3%
|
7+/-2%
|
|
|
Total |
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
|
[13] Differences among sub-groups are tested to be statistically significant at 99% confidence level.
Opinion Daily
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, some items within the previous survey were conducted from March 21 to 24, 2017 while this survey was conducted from June 13 to 15, 2017. In between these two surveys, 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.
|
1/6/17 |
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying attends his final question and answer session at the Legislative Council. |
|
27/5/17 |
Zhang Dejiang reiterates the relationship between the central government and the HKSAR at a symposium commemorating the 20th anniversary of implementing the Basic Law of the HKSAR. |
|
23/5/17 |
ICAC arrests 21 over faked concrete test results for Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge project. |
|
22/5/17 |
Cathay Pacific Airways to lay off 600 staff members. |
|
14/5/17 |
The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation opens in Beijing. |
|
12/5/17 |
The government issues the First Quarter Economic Report 2017. |
|
17/4/17 |
China’s GDP increases 6.9% in the first quarter from a year earlier. |
|
11/4/17 |
President Xi Jinping meets with Chief Executive-elect Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in Zhongnanhai. |
|
27/3/17 |
The police charge nine protesters of the Occupy Central movement. |
|
26/3/17 |
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is elected as the fifth Chief Executive of Hong Kong. |
Commentary
Frank Lee, Research Manager of POP, observed, “Our latest survey in mid-June shows that Hong Kong people’s net trust in the local government has decreased significantly by 17 percentage points compared to three months ago to negative 1, back to the level registered in June last year. People’s net trust in the Central Government and the Taiwan Government has not changed much, now stands at negative 3 and negative 27 percentage points respectively. As for the confidence indicators, people’s confidence in the future of China remains the highest among the three, with a net confidence of positive 40 percentage points, up 6 percentage points compared to three months ago, while the net confidence in the future of Hong Kong is positive 9 percentage points. Meanwhile, people’s net confidence in ‘one country, two systems’ has decreased by 3 percentage points to positive 6 percentage points. Further analysis shows that the older the respondent, the more one trusts the HKSAR and the Central Governments and the more confident in ‘one country, two systems’. As for the reasons affecting the ups and downs of various figures, readers are welcome to make their own judgment using the detailed records displayed in our ‘Opinion Daily’.”
Future Releases (Tentative)
