Press Freedom Index Survey 2016Back

| Research Background | Research Team Members| Research Design | Contact Information | Summary of findings |
| Frequency tables | Demographics of respondent | Survey questionnaire | List of consultant group members |
| Presentation | Press Release | Related Study |


Research Background

The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) commissioned Public Opinion Programme at The University of Hong Kong (POP) to conduct the “Press Freedom Index Survey” in 2013 and released its first Hong Kong Press Freedom Index. It was compiled through a scientific research method designed by a group of academics (advisory panel) formed by HKJA. After 2013, 2014 and 2015, HKJA commissioned POP in 2016 again to conduct this “Press Freedom Index Survey 2016”. There are two groups of target respondents: Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong citizens aged 18 or above and the local journalists. The objectives of the survey were to gauge the public and the journalists’ views on press freedom in Hong Kong, track changes over time and calculate the “Press Freedom Index”.

 

Questionnaires of both surveys were designed by the advisory panel. Fieldwork operations and data analysis of the public survey were conducted independently by POP. For the journalist survey, HKJA was in charge of data collection while POP was responsible for conducting data analysis. It should be noted that, some questions asked in this survey are brand new and therefore not comparable to the first three surveys. The 10 question items used to calculate the Press Freedom Index in 2016 were the same as the years passed, just the weighting of the 10 items are slightly adjusted.



Research Team Members

Research Directors :
CHUNG Ting-Yiu Robert
and PANG Ka-Lai Karie

Project Manager:
LEE Wai-Kin Frank

Project Executive :
CHAN Ka-Shu Kenneth

Data Analyst :
TAI Chit-Fai Edward
and HUANG Ka-Wai Alex



Research Design

Telephone interviews of the public survey were conducted by real interviewers under close supervision. All data were collected by our interviewers using a Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) system which allowed real-time data capture and consolidation. Telephone numbers were 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 were then eliminated according to computer and manual dialing records to produce the final sample.

 

The target population of the public survey was Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong citizens aged 18 or above. The survey was conducted on 11 to 17 January 2017. A total of 1,010 eligible respondents were successfully interviewed. The response rate of this survey was 70.1% (Table 2), and the standard sampling error for percentages based on this sample was less than 1.6 percentage points. In other words, the sampling error for all percentages using the total sample was less than plus/minus 3.1 percentage points at 95% confidence level.

 

For the journalist survey, it was conducted on 14 January to February 10, 2017. HKJA was in charge of distributing questionnaires to journalists from different digital and print media, including reporters/translators/photojournalists, assignment editors, chief editors/editorial directors, etc. In total, 859 questionnaires were distributed, and 472 questionnaires were received, while 7 of them were invalid and then eliminated. Finally, a total of 465 respondents were successfully interviewed. The response rate of this survey was 54.1% (Table 4), 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.


Public Survey

Journalist Survey

Survey date:

January 11-17, 2017

Survey date:

January 14 – February 10, 2017

Survey method:

Random telephone survey conducted by real interviewers

Survey method:

Self-administered questionnaires distributed to different news organizations and collected by HKJA

Target population:

Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong citizens aged 18 or above

Target population:

Journalists from different news organizations, including reporters/translators/photojournalists, assignment editors, chief editors/editorial directors, etc.

Sampling method:

Telephone numbers were 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 were then eliminated to produce the final sample. If more than one eligible subject had been available, the one who had his/her birthday next was selected.

Sampling method:

HKJA was fully in charge of distributing questionnaires to journalists from different digital and print media. In total, 859 questionnaires were distributed. Upon completion, the respondents returned the questionnaires to HKJA. HKUPOP was not involved in the process.

Sample size:

1,010 successful cases

Sample size:

465 successful cases

Response rate:

70.1%

Response rate:

54.1%

Standard error:

Less than 1.6% (i.e. at 95% confidence level, the maximum sampling error of all percentages should be no more than +/-3.1 percentage points)

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)



Summary of findings (Chinese pdf only)

Frequency tables (Chinese pdf only)

Demographics of respondent (Chinese pdf only)

Survey questionnaire (Chinese pdf only)

List of consultant group members (Chinese pdf only)

Presentation (Chinese pdf only)

Appendix I : press release prepared by Hong Kong Journalists Association (Pdf only)



| Research Background | Research Team Members| Research Design | Contact Information | Summary of findings |
| Frequency tables | Demographics of respondent | Survey questionnaire | List of consultant group members |
| Presentation | Press Release | Related Study |