Press Freedom Index Survey2018Back

| 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 of findings | 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. Since 2013, HKJA commissioned POP for six consecutive times to conduct this “Press Freedom Index Survey”. There are two groups of target respondents: Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong citizens aged 18 or above and 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 last five surveys. The 10 question items used to calculate the Press Freedom Index in 2018 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

Data Analyst :
TAI Chit-Fai Edward



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 (including landline and mobile numbers) 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 21 to 24 January 2019. A total of 1,003 eligible respondents were successfully interviewed, including 675 landline and 328 mobile cases. The effective response rate of this survey was 60.6%, 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 3.2 percentage points at 95% confidence level.

 

For the journalist survey, it was conducted on 5 January to 28 February, 2019. HKJA was in charge of distributing questionnaires to journalists from 35 local digital and print media, including reporters, translators, photojournalists, assignment editors, chief editors, editorial directors, etc. In total, 743 questionnaires were distributed. Finally, a total of 535 respondents were successfully interviewed. The response rate of this survey was 72.0%, and the standard sampling error for percentages based on this sample was less than 2.1 percentage points. In other words, the sampling error for all percentages using the total sample was less than plus/minus 4.1 percentage points at 95% confidence level.


Public Survey

Journalist Survey

Survey date:

January 21-24, 2019

Survey date:

January 5 – February 28, 2019

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 (including landline and mobile numbers) 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.

Sampling method:

HKJA was fully in charge of distributing questionnaires to journalists from different digital and print media. In total, 781 questionnaires were distributed. Upon completion, the respondents returned the questionnaires to HKJA. HKUPOP was not involved in the process.

Sample size:

1,003 successful cases (including 675 landline and 328 mobile cases)

Sample size:

535 successful cases

Response rate:

60.6%

Response rate:

72.0%

Standard error:

Less than 1.6% (i.e. at 95% confidence level, the maximum sampling error of all percentages should be no more than +/-3.2 percentage points)

Standard error:

Less than 2.1% (i.e. at 95% confidence level, the maximum sampling error of all percentages should be no more than +/-4.1 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 of findings (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 of findings | Press Release | Related Study |