Survey on Infant Allergy 2015Back

Research Background

In December 2014, The Hong Kong Allergy Association commissioned the Public Opinion Programme (POP) of The University of Hong Kong to conduct this “Survey on Infant Allergy” targeting Cantonese-speaking mothers in Hong Kong of age 18 or above who are raising at least one kid of age 3 or below. The survey aimed to understand Hong Kong mothers’ knowledge of infant allergy and opinions on reducing the risk of allergy.

The research instrument used in this study was designed entirely by the POP Team after consulting The Hong Kong Allergy Association, while both POP and The Hong Kong Allergy Association had equal say in the final instrument. Moreover, fieldwork operations, data collection and data analysis were conducted independently by the POP Team, without interference from any party. In other words, although the content of the questionnaire mainly came from the commissioning organization, POP was given full autonomy to design and conduct the survey, and POP would take full responsibility for all the findings reported herewith.

Research Design

Telephone interviews were conducted by interviewers under close supervision. All data were collected by our interviewers using a Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) system invented by the research team which allowed real-time data capture and consolidation. To ensure data quality, on top of on-site supervision, voice recording, screen capturing and camera surveillance were used to monitor the interviewers' performance.

Telephone numbers are randomly generated using known prefixes assigned to telecommunication services providers under the Numbering Plan provided by the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA). Invalid numbers are then eliminated according to computer and manual dialing records to produce the final sample.

The target population of this survey was Cantonese-speaking mothers in Hong Kong of age 18 or above who are raising at least one kid of age 3 or below. When telephone contact was successfully established with a target household, one eligible subject was interviewed. If more than one eligible subject had been available, selection was made using the "next birthday rule" which selected the person who had her birthday next. The survey was conducted during the period of February 16 to March 26, 2015. A total of 511 eligible subjects were successfully interviewed. The effective response rate of this survey was 65.3%, and the standard sampling error for percentages based on this sample was less than 2.2 percentage points. In other words, the sampling error for all percentages using the total sample was less than plus/minus 4.4 percentage points at 95% confidence level.

Research team members

Research Directors :	Project Executive:	Data Analyst :
CHUNG Ting-Yiu Robert and PANG Ka-Lai Karie	CHAN Wai-man Joyce	TAI Chit-Fai Edward

Contact Information

Survey Date	:	16/2-26/3/2015
Target Population	:	Cantonese-speaking mothers in Hong Kong of age 18 or above who are raising at least one kid of age 3 or below
Survey Method	:	Random telephone survey conducted by real interviewers
Sampling method	:	Telephone numbers are randomly generated using known prefixes assigned to telecommunication services providers under the Numbering Plan provided by the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA). Invalid numbers are then eliminated according to computer and manual dialing records to produce the final sample. If more than one eligible subject had been available, the one who had her birthday next was selected.
Sample size	:	511 successful cases
Effective response rate	:	65.3% (based on the number of eligible target respondents)
Standard error	:	Less than 2.2% (i.e. at 95% confidence level, the maximum sampling error of all percentages should be no more than +/-4.4 percentage points)

Frequency Report (Chinese only)

Demographic profile of respondent

Questionnaire (Chinese pdf format only)

Appendix 1 : Press release provided by sponsor (Chinese pdf format only)

Appendix 2 : Powerpoint slides provided by sponsor (Chinese pdf format only)