HKU POP releases popularity figures of CE and principal officialsBack

Press Release on July 10, 2018

| Detailed Findings (Rating of Chief Executive Carrie Lam) | Detailed Findings (Popularity of Principal Officials) |

Special Announcements

1. From July 2017, apart from sampling landline numbers to conduct opinion surveys, the Public Opinion Programme (POP) of The University of Hong Kong has also added mobile numbers to the sampling frame. After three months of testing, in October 2017, POP formalized the use of mixed samples as its standard for regular opinion surveys using a landline and mobile sample ratio of 4 to 1. Starting from April 2018, POP further increased the proportion of mobile sample, which the landline and mobile sample ratio became 2 to 1. The figures released today by POP have already incorporated landline and mobile samples.

2. In September 2017, POP started to use "effective response rate" to report surveys' contact information. In July 2018, POP further revised the calculation of effective response rate. Thus, the response rates before and after the change cannot be directly compared.

3. To facilitate academic study and rational discussion, POP today released via the "HKU POP SITE" (http://hkupop.pori.hk) the raw data and related respondents' demographics of the latest rating survey of CE Carrie Lam, together with those of regular rating surveys of former CEs CH Tung, Donald Tsang and CY Leung released earlier, for public examination. Please follow normal academic standards when using or citing such data.

Abstract

POP interviewed 1,001 Hong Kong people between 3 and 5 July, 2018 by means of a random telephone survey conducted by real interviewers. Our latest survey shows that the popularity rating of CE Carrie Lam is now at 55.6 marks. Her latest approval rate is 49%, disapproval rate 38%, giving a net popularity of positive 12 percentage points, which has significantly increased by 10 percentage points from two weeks ago. As for the Secretaries of Departments, the latest support rating of CS Matthew Cheung is 51.6 marks. His approval rate stands at 32%, disapproval rate 22%, giving a net popularity of positive 9 percentage points. The latest support rating of FS Paul Chan is 40.1 marks, approval rate 20%, disapproval rate 48%, thus a net popularity of negative 28 percentage points. As for SJ Teresa Cheng, her support rating is 40.9 marks, approval rate 19%, disapproval rate 37%, giving a net popularity of negative 18 percentage points. In terms of popularity rating and net approval rate, Matthew Cheung continues to be the most popular Secretary of Department. As for the Directors of Bureaux, compared to one month ago, the net approval rates of 11 among 13 Directors have gone up while 2 have gone down. Among them, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau and Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong register significant changes in their net approval rates, up by 7 and down by 11 percentage points respectively. Among all the Directors, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung and Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah register negative popularities, at negative 10 and negative 14 percentage points respectively. Sophia Chan is currently the most popular Director, with a net approval rate of positive 40 percentage points. According to POP's standard, no one falls under the category of "ideal" or "successful" performer. The performance of Carrie Lam, Sophia Chan, Edward Yau, Joshua Law, Law Chi-kwong, Wong Kam-sing, John Lee, Matthew Cheung, Frank Chan, Nicholas Yang, Lau Kong-wah, Kevin Yeung, Paul Chan and Teresa Cheng can be labeled as "mediocre". That of James Lau, Michael Wong and Patrick Nip can be labeled as "inconspicuous". No one falls into the category of "depressing" or "disastrous" performer. The maximum sampling error of all approval and disapproval rates is +/-4 percentage points at 95% confidence level, while the sampling errors of rating figures and net approval rates need another calculation. The response rate of the survey is 49%.

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 this survey is 1,001 successful interviews, not 1,001 x 49.5% response rate. In the past, many media made this mistake.

[3] "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 +/-2.3, sampling error of percentages not more than +/-4%, and sampling error of net values not more than +/-7% at 95% confidence level".

[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 the latest popularity figures of CE Carrie Lam and various Secretaries of Departments and Directors of Bureaux under the accountability system. From July 2017, POP enhanced the previous weighting method that has been used for quite a few years. Apart from age, gender and education, economic activity group is now also taken into account when adjusting data. The latest figures released today have been rim-weighted according to figures collected in the 2016 By-census regarding the gender-age distribution of the Hong Kong population and the 2017 educational attainment (highest level attended) distribution and economic activity status distribution obtained from the Census and Statistics Department. In the past, the mobile sample would be rim-weighted according to the basic Public Sentiment Index (PSI) figures collected in the landline sample. In July 2018, POP further refined the weighting method. The landline sample and the mobile sample would no longer be processed separately. The mobile would also no longer be adjusted using the basic PSI figures collected in the landline sample. The overall effect is that the importance of the mobile sample would be increased. Herewith the contact information for the latest survey:

Date of survey	Sample size	Effective response rate	Maximum sampling error of percentages^[6]
3-5/7/2018	1,001	49.5%	+/-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. Questions using only sub-samples would have bigger sampling error. Sampling errors of ratings and net approval rates are calculated according to the distribution of the scores collected.

As different questions involve different sub-samples, the sampling errors will vary accordingly. The table below briefly shows the relationship between sample size and maximum sampling errors for the readers to capture the corresponding changes:

Sample size (total sample or sub-sample)	Sampling error of percentages^[7] (maximum values)	Sample size (total sample or sub-sample)	Sampling error of percentages^[7] (maximum values)
Sample size (total sample or sub-sample)	Sampling error of percentages^[7] (maximum values)	Sample size (total sample or sub-sample)	Sampling error of percentages^[7] (maximum values)	1,300	+/- 2.8%	1,350	+/- 2.7%
1,200	+/- 2.9%	1,250	+/- 2.8%
1,100	+/- 3.0%	1,150	+/- 3.0%
1,000	+/- 3.2%	1,050	+/- 3.1%
900	+/- 3.3%	950	+/- 3.2%
800	+/- 3.5%	850	+/- 3.4%
700	+/- 3.8%	750	+/- 3.7%
600	+/- 4.1%	650	+/- 3.9%
500	+/- 4.5%	550	+/- 4.3%
400	+/- 5.0%	450	+/- 4.7%

[7] Based on 95% confidence interval.

Recent popularity figures of CE Carrie Lam are summarized as follows:

Date of survey	16-19/4/18	4-9/5/18	21-25/5/18	4-7/6/18	14-21/6/18	*3-5/7/18*	*Latest change*
Sample base	1,001	1,017	1,009	1,001	1,000	*1,001*	--
Effective response rate*	56.4%	59.5%	55.9%	56.3%	59.6%	*49.5%*	--
Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	*Finding and error^[8]*	--
Rating of CE Carrie Lam	53.9	57.8^[9]	52.7^[9]	54.3	54.3	*55.6+/-1.7*	*+1.3*
Vote of confidence in CE Carrie Lam	45%	49%^[9]	39%^[9]	48%^[9]	44%^[9]	*49+/-3%*	*+6%^[9]*
Vote of no confidence in CE Carrie Lam	41%	35%^[9]	44%^[9]	40%^[9]	42%	*38+/-3%*	*-4%*
Net approval rate	4%	13%^[9]	-5%^[9]	7%^[9]	2%	*12+/-6%*	*+10%^[9]*

* In July 2018, POP revised the calculation of effective response rate. Thus, the response rates before and after the change cannot be directly compared.

[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 rating not more than +/-1.7, sampling error of percentages not more than +/-3%, sampling error of net approval rates not more than +/-6% at 95% confidence level" when quoting the above figures. The error margin of previous survey can be found at the POP Site.

[9] Such changes have gone beyond the sampling errors at the 95% confidence level, meaning that they are statistically significant prima facie. However, whether numerical differences are statistically significant is not the same as whether they are practically useful or meaningful, and different weighting methods could have been applied in different surveys.

Recent popularity figures of the three Secretaries of Departments under the accountability system are summarized below:

Date of survey	28/2/18 ^[10]	1-6/3/18	2-4/4/18	4-9/5/18	4-7/6/18	*3-5/7/18*	*Latest change*
Sample base^[10]	614	785-815	744-765	532-579	747-804	*531-554*	--
Effective response rate*	67.5%	64.7%	57.9%	59.5%	56.3%	*49.5%*	--
Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	*Finding & error^[11]*	--
Rating of CS Matthew Cheung	--	53.2^[12]	51.0^[12]	51.7	51.6	*51.6+/-2.1*	--
Vote of confidence in CS Matthew Cheung	--	31%^[12]	28%	32%	31%	*32+/-4%*	*+1%*
Vote of no confidence in CS Matthew Cheung	--	20%	24%^[12]	23%	23%	*22+/-4%*	--
Net approval rate	--	12%	3%^[12]	9%	8%	*9+/-6%*	*+1%*
Rating of FS Paul Chan	44.5	42.1^[12]	36.2^[12]	39.8^[12]	39.5	*40.1+/-2.3*	*+0.5*
Vote of confidence in FS Paul Chan	30%	24%^[12]	17%^[12]	15%	17%	*20+/-3%*	*+3%*
Vote of no confidence in FS Paul Chan	41%	48%^[12]	61%^[12]	52%^[12]	50%	*48+/-4%*	*-2%*
Net approval rate	-12%	-24%^[12]	-44%^[12]	-38%	-33%	*-28+/-7%*	*+5%*
Rating of SJ Teresa Cheng	--	37.5^[12]	37.9	39.8	40.0	*40.9+/-2.2*	*+0.9*
Vote of confidence in SJ Teresa Cheng	--	19%	14%^[12]	15%	18%	*19+/-3%*	--
Vote of no confidence in SJ Teresa Cheng	--	43%^[12]	45%	36%^[12]	37%	*37+/-4%*	--
Net approval rate	--	-24%	-30%^[12]	-21%^[12]	-19%	*-18+/-6%*	--

* In July 2018, POP revised the calculation of effective response rate. Thus, the response rates before and after the change cannot be directly compared.

[10] The frequency of this series of questions is different from that of CE popularity ratings. Comparisons, if made, should be synchronized using the same intervals. These questions only uses sub-samples of the tracking surveys concerned, the sample size for each question also varies. The survey conducted on 28/2/2018 was the Budget instant survey and only asked rating of FS as well as his vote of confidence.

[11] 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 various ratings not more than +/-2.3, sampling error of percentages not more than +/-4%, sampling error of net approval rates not more than +/-7% at 95% confidence level" when quoting the above figures. The error margin of previous survey can be found at the POP Site.

[12] Such changes have gone beyond the sampling errors at the 95% confidence level, meaning that they are statistically significant prima facie. However, whether numerical differences are statistically significant is not the same as whether they are practically useful or meaningful, and different weighting methods could have been applied in different surveys.

Latest popularity figures of Directors of Bureaux under the accountability system are summarized below, in descending order of net approval rates:

Date of survey	4-9/5/18		4-7/6/18		*3-5/7/18*		*Latest change*
Sample base^[13]	587-637		569-646		*550-642*		--
Effective response rate*	59.5%		56.3%		*49.5%*		--
Sample base / Percentage of answer	Base	%	Base	%	*Base*	% & error ^[14]	--
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan	624	52%	622	45%^[15]	*610*	*47+/-4%*	*+3%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan	624	7%	622	10%^[15]	*610*	*8+/-2%*	*-2%*
Net approval rate	624	45%	622	35%^[15]	*610*	*40+/-5%*	*+5%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law	596	41%	588	38%	*609*	*42+/-4%*	*+4%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law	596	6%^[15]	588	8%	*609*	*11+/-3%*	*+2%*
Net approval rate	596	35%^[15]	588	30%	*609*	*32+/-5%*	*+2%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau	587	46%	584	35%^[15]	*601*	*42+/-4%*	*+7%^[15]*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau	587	10%	584	9%	*601*	*11+/-3%*	*+2%*
Net approval rate	587	37%	584	27%^[15]	*601*	*31+/-5%*	*+5%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong	589	46%	597	48%	*588*	*42+/-4%*	*-6%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong	589	11%	597	10%	*588*	*15+/-3%*	*+6%^[15]*
Net approval rate	589	34%	597	38%	*588*	*27+/-6%*	*-11%^[15]*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing	603	40%	584	37%	*602*	*40+/-4%*	*+3%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing	603	12%^[15]	584	18%^[15]	*602*	*18+/-3%*	--
Net approval rate	603	27%	584	19%^[15]	*602*	*22+/-6%*	*+3%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau	629	25%	569	21%^[15]	*550*	*28+/-4%*	*+7%^[15]*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau	629	5%	569	7%	*550*	*7+/-2%*	--
Net approval rate	629	20%	569	14%^[15]	*550*	*21+/-5%*	*+7%^[15]*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Security John Lee	592	33%	613	30%	*604*	*36+/-4%*	*+6%^[15]*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Security John Lee	592	16%	613	13%	*604*	*17+/-3%*	*+4%^[15]*
Net approval rate	592	17%	613	17%	*604*	*19+/-6%*	*+2%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Development Michael Wong	637	24%	616	21%	*642*	*26+/-3%*	*+5%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Development Michael Wong	637	14%	616	12%	*642*	*13+/-3%*	*+1%*
Net approval rate	637	10%	616	9%	*642*	*13+/-5%*	*+4%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip	637	24%	594	18%^[15]	*601*	*23+/-3%*	*+4%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip	637	15%	594	14%	*601*	*17+/-3%*	*+3%*
Net approval rate	637	9%	594	4%	*601*	*5+/-5%^[17]*	*+1%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang	607	24%	580	24%	*639*	*29+/-4%*	*+5%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang	607	25%	580	24%	*639*	*23+/-3%*	--
Net approval rate	607	-1%	580	0%	*639*	*5+/-6%^[17]*	*+5%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan	608	30%	637	25%^[15]	*603*	*31+/-4%*	*+6%^[15]*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan	608	23%^[15]	637	31%^[15]	*603*	*30+/-4%*	*-1%*
Net approval rate	608	7%	637	-6%^[15]	*603*	*0+/-6%*	*+6%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung	592	27%	587	23%^[15]	*585*	*24+/-4%*	*+1%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung	592	36%^[15]	587	32%	*585*	*34+/-4%*	*+2%*
Net approval rate	592	-8%^[15]	587	-9%	*585*	*-10+/-6%*	*-1%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah	620	27%	646	21%^[15]	*627*	*26+/-4%*	*+5%^{[15] [16]}*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah	620	39%	646	41%	*627*	*40+/-4%*	--
Net approval rate	620	-12%	646	-20%^[15]	*627*	*-14+/-6%*	*+6%*

* In July 2018, POP revised the calculation of effective response rate. Thus, the response rates before and after the change cannot be directly compared.

[13] These questions only uses sub-samples of the tracking surveys concerned, the sample size for each question also varies.

[14] 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 sampling error of net approval rates not more than +/-6% at 95% confidence level" when quoting the above figures. The error margin of previous survey can be found at the POP Site.

[15] Such changes have gone beyond the sampling errors at the 95% confidence level, meaning that they are statistically significant prima facie. However, whether numerical differences are statistically significant is not the same as whether they are practically useful or meaningful, and different weighting methods could have been applied in different surveys.

[16] Such changes have gone beyond the sampling errors at the 95% confidence level because of a change in the weighting method. If the previous weighting method was used, the changes would not have gone beyond the sampling errors.

[17] Based on the figures of latest survey, in one decimal place, the respective net approval rates of Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip and Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang are 5.4 and 5.1 percentage points. Thus, they are ranked ninth and tenth this time.

The latest survey showed that CE Carrie Lam scored 55.6 marks, and 49% supported her as CE, her net approval rate is positive 12 percentage points. Meanwhile, the corresponding ratings of CS Matthew Cheung, FS Paul Chan and SJ Teresa Cheng were 51.6, 40.1 and 40.9 marks, and 32%, 20% and 19% would vote for their reappointments correspondingly. Their net approval rates are positive 9, negative 28 and negative 18 percentage points respectively.

As for the Directors of Bureaux, according to the net approval rates, results revealed that the top position goes to Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan, attaining positive 40 percentage points. The 2nd and 3rd places belong to Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law and Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau with net approval rates of positive 32 and positive 31 percentage points respectively. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong, Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau, Secretary for Security John Lee, Secretary for Development Michael Wong, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip, Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung and Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah ranked 4th to 13th, their corresponding net approval rates are positive 27, positive 22, positive 21, positive 19, positive 13, positive 5, positive 5, zero, negative 10 and negative 14 percentage points. In other words, no Director scored a net approval rate of over 50%.

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, the previous survey of some items was conducted from 4 to 7 June, 2018 while this survey was conducted from 3 to 5 July, 2018. 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.

3/7/18	China Light and Power and Hong Kong Electric are to raise their tariffs and the government will subsidize each household with $3,000.
1/7/18	The 21st anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
28/6/18	The Executive Council approves three new initiatives on housing.
16/6/18	Media continues to report on problems about the construction of the Shatin to Central Link.
14/6/18	The Legislative Council passes the third reading of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Co-location) Bill.
11/6/18	Edward Leung Tin-kei is sentenced for 6 years for rioting in Mong Kok during the Lunar New Year in 2016.
6/6/18	Dishonest practices were exposed in the coupling of steel bars in Hung Hom Station at the Shatin to Central Link.

Online Opinion Analysis

In July 2017, POP started collaborating with uMax Data Technology Limited to conduct "Online Opinion Analysis". uMax Data would provide technical support concerning social big data to track posts in Facebook pages and various major forums in Hong Kong that mentioned specific political figures or organizations. When public opinion changes very significantly, POP will summarize the popular online posts about the specific political figures or organizations between the two surveys and compile a list of related events. Readers could make their own judgment if the events listed have impact on the related public opinion figures.

Since the latest survey findings reveal that the net approval rate of CE Carrie Lam has changed significantly compared to the figure recorded in the last survey, POP conducted "Online Opinion Analysis" to identify the top ten most discussed issues on the internet. The list of most discussed items after eliminating duplications is as follows:

Carrie Lam announced new housing policies.

Online media reviewed possible reclamation sites for Carrie Lam.

Carrie Lam said it was a waste of time answering journalists' questions in English.

Carrie Lam responded to questions about "doubtful debt", saying the costs of recovery and the hardship it may cause to some people need to be taken into consideration.

Carrie Lam responded to questions about one-way permits, saying that she would not reduce its quota, and that people with sympathy would not stop family reunion.

Online media compared Carrie Lam with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

Online media discussed the way Carrie Lam held a wine glass.

The results show that online public opinion had been discussing various issues. Whether or not these items could sufficiently explain the changes in CE popularity ratings, readers could form their own judgment.

Commentary

Note: The following commentary was written by Research Manager of POP, Frank Lee.

Our latest survey shows that the popularity rating of CE Carrie Lam is now at 55.6 marks. Her latest approval rate is 49%, disapproval rate 38%, giving a net popularity of positive 12 percentage points, which has significantly increased by 10 percentage points from two weeks ago.

As for the Secretaries of Departments, the latest support rating of CS Matthew Cheung is 51.6 marks. His approval rate stands at 32%, disapproval rate 22%, giving a net popularity of positive 9 percentage points. The latest support rating of FS Paul Chan is 40.1 marks, approval rate 20%, disapproval rate 48%, thus a net popularity of negative 28 percentage points. As for SJ Teresa Cheng, her support rating is 40.9 marks, approval rate 19%, disapproval rate 37%, giving a net popularity of negative 18 percentage points. In terms of popularity rating and net approval rate, Matthew Cheung continues to be the most popular Secretary of Department.

As for the Directors of Bureaux, compared to one month ago, the net approval rates of 11 among 13 Directors have gone up while 2 have gone down. Among them, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau and Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong register significant changes in their net approval rates, up by 7 and down by 11 percentage points respectively. Among all the Directors, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung and Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah register negative popularities, at negative 10 and negative 14 percentage points respectively. Sophia Chan is currently the most popular Director, with a net approval rate of positive 40 percentage points.

According to POP's standard, no one falls under the category of "ideal" or "successful" performer. The performance of Carrie Lam, Sophia Chan, Edward Yau, Joshua Law, Law Chi-kwong, Wong Kam-sing, John Lee, Matthew Cheung, Frank Chan, Nicholas Yang, Lau Kong-wah, Kevin Yeung, Paul Chan and Teresa Cheng can be labeled as "mediocre". That of James Lau, Michael Wong and Patrick Nip can be labeled as "inconspicuous". No one falls into the category of "depressing" or "disastrous" performer.

The following table summarizes the grading of CE Carrie Lam and the principal officials for readers' easy reference:

"Ideal": those with approval rates of over 66%; ranked by their approval rates shown inside brackets

"Successful": those with approval rates of over 50%; ranked by their approval rates shown inside brackets

"Mediocre": those not belonging to other 5 types; ranked by their approval rates shown inside brackets

CE Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor (49%); Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee (47%); Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah (42%)^[18]; Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law Chi-kong (42%)^[18]; Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong (42%)^[18]; Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing (40%); Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu (36%); CS Matthew Cheung Kin-chung (32%); Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan (31%); Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang Wei-hsiung (29%); Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah (26%); Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung (24%); FS Paul Chan Mo-po (20%); SJ Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah (19%)

"Inconspicuous": those with recognition rates of less than 50%; ranked by their approval rates; the first figure inside bracket is approval rate while the second figure is recognition rate

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Henry Lau Jr (28%, 35%); Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun (26%, 39%); Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen (23%, 40%)

"Depressing": those with disapproval rates of over 50%; ranked by their disapproval rates shown inside brackets

"Disastrous": those with disapproval rates of over 66%; ranked by their disapproval rates shown inside brackets

[18] In one decimal place, the respective approval rates of Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau, Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law and Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong are 42.4%, 42.3% and 41.9%.

Future Release (Tentative)

July 17, 2018 (Tuesday) 12pm to 2pm: Ratings of Top 10 Legislative Councillors

Reference - Technical Notes of "Online Opinion Analysis"

Technically, POP research team firstly determines and inputs related keywords to be searched on the platform provided by uMax Data. POP then selects targeted online platforms to be monitored (currently selected: Facebook and forums), and extract the top five most discussed items on each online platform, thus come up with a list of 10 items in total. By eliminating duplications in the top ten items, POP compiles a table which is included in the press release for readers' reference.