HKU POP SITE releases second survey on Express Rail Link in cooperation with Justice & Peace Commission of the HK Catholic DioceseBack
| Press Release on January 14, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Background | Analysis of findings |
Since its establishment in 1991, the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong has been conducting different types of opinion studies on social and political issues, as well as providing research services for different organizations, on condition that POP would design and conduct all studies independently, and could also release their findings for public consumption. In December 2009, the Justice & Peace Commission of the HK Catholic Diocese (the Commission) commissioned POP to conduct the first survey related to the planning of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Express Rail Link). In January 2010, the Commission again commissioned POP to conduct the second survey. The survey results are first released by the Commission, followed by a POP press release for public consumption. The survey comprises three opinion questions, plus a few demographic variables. This press release focuses on the analysis of the frequency findings and cross-tabulation results of the second survey, and the changes between the two surveys. The latest survey findings released today have been weighted according to the provisional figures obtained from the Census and Statistics Department regarding the gender-age distribution of the Hong Kong population in mid-2009. Herewith the contact information for this survey:
Date of survey Sample base Overall response rate Sampling error of percentages[1] 11-13/1/2010 1,008 70.3% +/-3% Frequency findings of the survey questions are as follows: Q1. Do you think current discussions about the Express Rail Link (Hong Kong Section) are adequate or inadequate? Adequate 38% +/-3% Half-half 5% +/-1% Inadequate 50% +/-3% Don't know/ Hard to say 7% +/-2% Total 100% Q2. The government is seeking for LegCo funding of HK$ 66.9 billion, which is equivalent to HK$10,000 per HK citizen, for the Express Rail Link construction project. Do you think the price is reasonable, too cheap or too expensive? Reasonable 26% +/-3% Too cheap 1% +/-1% Too expensive 59% +/-3% Don't know/ Hard to say 14% +/-2% Total 100% Q3. Do you incline to support or oppose the funding, or prefer to suspend it? Support 50% +/-3% Oppose 20% +/-3% Suspend 24% +/-3% Don't know/ Hard to say 6% +/-2% Total 100% Survey findings show that 38% of respondents say that current discussions on the Hong Kong Section of the Express Rail Link are adequate, while 50% say inadequate. Regarding government's request for LegCo's funding of HK$ 66.9 billion for the project, equivalent to HK$10,000 per HK citizen, 26% think the price is reasonable, 1% say too cheap, 59% say too expensive. Besides, 50% support LegCo funding, 20% oppose, while 24% prefer to suspend it. The cross-tabulation analyses of the respondents' attitude towards funding against their evaluation of the project cost are shown as follows: Q2. Do you think the construction cost of HK$ 66.9 billion is reasonable, too cheap or too expensive? [2] Reasonable[3] Too expensive[3] Overall sample[3] Q3. Do you incline to support or oppose the funding, or prefer to suspend it? Support 91% 28% 50% Oppose 2% 31% 20% Suspend 6% 37% 24% Don't know/ Hard to say 1% 4% 6% Total 100% 100% 100% Analyses showed that among those who consider the price to be reasonable, a respective of 91%, 2% and 6% say they support, oppose and prefer to suspend funding. Among those who consider the price to be too expensive, a respective of 28%, 31% and 37% support, oppose and prefer to suspend funding. This reveals that the evaluation of the construction cost by the respondents is closely related to their attitude towards funding. Nonetheless, more than a quarter of those who think the price is too expensive (or more than 15% of the overall sample) support the funding. Seemingly there are other considerations behind. Comparison of the respondents' attitude towards funding across the two surveys is as follows: Date of survey 29/12/2009-5/1/2010 11-13/1/2010 Latest Change Sample base 1,018 1,008 -- Overall response rate 67.5% 70.3% -- Sampling error (95% confidence level)[4] +/-3% +/-3% -- Q3 Do you incline to support or oppose the funding, or prefer to suspend it? [5] Support 47% +/-3% 50% +/-3% +3% Oppose 23% +/-3% 20% +/-3% -3% Suspend 22% +/-3% 24% +/-3% +2% Don't know/ Hard to say 9% +/-2% 6% +/-2% -3%[6] Results showed that the percentages of those who support, oppose and prefer to suspend funding have not changed much, they all vary within sampling errors. The percentage of those without a view has dropped a bit, just beyond sampling error. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
