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* "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.
** Collapsed from a 5-point scale.
Results of survey conducted in mid-March revealed that 28% of the respondents were satisfied with the overall performance of the Legco members, and 27% were dissatisfied. As for the performance of the HKPF, 82% were satisfied while 5% were dissatisfied. Besides, 61% were satisfied with the performance of the PLA stationed in Hong Kong, whereas only 2% were dissatisfied.
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Commentary
Robert Ting-Yiu Chung, Director of Public Opinion Programme, observed, "Compared to that five months ago, people's satisfaction with Legco members in general has maintained at record high for this session, but the dissatisfaction rate has slightly increased. With about 30% for both rates, the current situation is considered as much praised as blamed. As for the two disciplinary forces, there is not much change in people's satisfaction of the PLA, while a significant increase is registered for the Hong Kong Police Force, with a satisfaction rate of 82% which is record high since the survey began in July 1997. One point to be noted is that although the murder of a policeman happened during the survey period and gained much sympathy from people, it occurred near the end of the survey and involved only 53 sub-samples, so the case should have very little effect on the figures. On contrary, the performance of Police Force during the WTO conference last December might have better explained the rise in people's satisfaction of the Force."
News about POP
POP's normal practice is to release the results of our regular surveys every Tuesday afternoon via our POP Site, except during public holidays, each time with a forecast of the items to be released in the next 7 days. According to schedule, our next release of regular survey findings will be April 4, 2006, Tuesday, between 1pm to 2 pm, when the latest ratings of the top 10 political figures in Mainland China and Taiwan as well as people's appraisal of past Chinese leaders will be released.
Our general practice is to answer all questions on the research design of
the surveys published in the POP Site as soon as we receive them, but we
will not further comment on the findings. We welcome questions for follow-up
purpose, please email them to us at <[email protected]>.
We will keep such an arrangement under constant review, suggestions most
welcome. Please note that everything carried in the POP Site does not
represent the stand of the University of Hong Kong. Dr Robert Ting-Yiu
Chung, Director of POP, is responsible for everything posted herewith,
except for column articles which represent the stand of their authors.
Starting from the last regular press release, we have included a small educational section for the purpose of general civic education, the content of which was based on previous questions and comments we have received from the public. The subject of our education section today is "FAQs of Opinion Research".
Some FAQs of Opinion Research
Q: Why does POP conduct surveys on "people's satisfaction with the performance of Legco members in general"?
A: After the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, POP has not only continued to track the changes of core subjective indicators like "democracy", "freedom", "prosperity" and "stability", we have also tracked in parallel the performance of the SARG on "pace of democratic development", "protecting human rights and freedom", "maintaining economic prosperity" and "improving people's livelihood". On the level of officials and councillors, POP also concurrently measures people's appraisal of the performance of "policy secretaries", "Executive Councillors" and "Legislative Councillors" in general, as indicators of people's recognition of different power organs in the government. With the subsequent emergence of the accountability system for principal officials, and the differentiation of Executive Council members into different categories, the first two items became gradually replaced by popularity ratings for different individuals. The surveys on people's satisfaction with the performance of Legco members in general have been kept up to this date.
Q: Is there any overlap between the surveys on "people's satisfaction with the performance of Legco members" and "ratings of top 10 Legco members"?
A: There is no logical connection between them. The performance of Legco members in general indicates people's impression of all 60 councillors, including members returned by geographical and functional constituencies. "Ratings of top 10 Legco members" refer to individual rating of the 10 most well-known councillors.
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