“Directors in Dialogue – Polling and Elections in the United States and Hong Kong” (11/10/2016)Back


Organized by Public Opinion Programme (POP), The University of Hong Kong


Date ： 11 October 2016 (Tuesday)
Time ： 10:00am – 12:00nn
Venue ：

Wang Gungwu Theatre, Graduate House, The University of Hong Kong
Language ： Mainly conducted in English (Chinese to English simultaneous interpretation will be provided)


Panelists:

  • John Della VOLPE (Director of Polling at the Institute of Politics (IOP), Harvard University)

  • Robert CHUNG Ting Yiu (Director of Public Opinion Programme (POP), The University of Hong Kong)


Moderator:

  • TSIM Tak Lung (Chairman of Project Citizens Foundation)


Co-organizers:

  • The Academy of Hong Kong Studies (AHKS), The Education University of Hong Kong
  • Centre for Communication and Public Opinion Survey (CCPOS), The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Centre for Social Policy Studies (CSPS), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  • Project Citizens Foundation (PCF)


About the Topic:


With the first US presidential election debate just held and the election around the corner, opinion polls are springing up everywhere in the US, making headline stories of Hong Kong’s electronic and print media. Meanwhile in Hong Kong, we have also witnessed the impact of opinion polls on the outcome of the LegCo election. In this seminar moderated by a director of a civic group, two directors of academic polling institutions located in the US and Hong Kong, will discuss the role of opinion polling in electoral engineering both in the US and Hong Kong. They will also talk about international professional standards of polling and make recommendations for promoting good practices in the US and Hong Kong.


About the Panelists:


John Della Volpe is Director of Polling at the Institute of Politics (IOP) and has been affiliated with the IOP since the late 1990’s. Each semester, John leads a public opinion survey group of students who develop, field and report on the attitudes of young Americans (Millennial Generation) toward politics and public service. Since 2000, the IOP survey has tracked the pre- and post-9/11 attitudes; accurately predicted youth turnout since; marked the generational shift in attitudes toward foreign policy; and provided insight into the ways in which Millennials communicate and form opinions. John was honored to receive an Eisenhower Fellowship (China, Korea) in 2008 and selected as a delegate to the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission on Media in 2011. In addition, John is Founder and CEO of SocialSphere, Inc. a big data and social media analytics company located in Harvard Square, Cambridge.


Robert Chung is the Director of Public Opinion Programme (POP) at The University of Hong Kong and is also the Warden of RC Lee Hall in the same university. Robert established the POP in 1991, and the Programme has become well-known for its impartiality and professionalism in collecting, studying and interpreting public opinion in Hong Kong. Up to this date, POP has conducted more than 1,500 independent surveys, covering media development, electoral studies, policy issues, and social issues. Regarding community service, Robert served as a part-time member of the Central Policy Unit before and after the handover of Hong Kong, and also as a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). At the international level, Robert was at various times the Secretary-Treasurer and the Chair of the Liaison Committee of the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR). He is now a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Public Opinion Research.


About the Moderator:


Tsim Tak Lung was educated at Raimondi College, St. Paul’s College, The University of Hong Kong and the University of Manchester. He started his career at the BBC External Service and also worked at HKTVB, the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the Sun Hung Kai Group of Companies and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. From 1999 to 2002, Mr Tsim taught the course Advanced Business Communication at the School of Business of The University of Hong Kong. Mr Tsim is well-known in Hong Kong as an English expert, a social and political commentator through his newspaper columns, radio and television programmes. He served as a member of Hong Kong’s Education Commission in the 1980’s and is currently a Senior Advisor to Shaw College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. From 2002 to 2006, the Oxford University Press published six volumes of his work in a series called From Culture To Civilization. He is currently the Chairman of Project Citizens Foundation, an organization dedicated to upholding the core values of Hong Kong.


Relevant Information: