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Survey Findings on HKSAR Government’s Popularity in August 2018Released by Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at CUHK
A telephone survey was conducted from 22 to 30 August 2018 by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong to study the popularity of the HKSAR Government. 710 respondents aged 18 or above were successfully interviewed, with a response rate of 36.8%. The sampling error is estimated at plus or minus 3.68 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Major findings are summarized as follows:
Satisfaction with the HKSAR Government. According to the current survey, 31.3% of the 710 respondents expressed satisfaction towards the HKSAR Government, 28.2% said they were dissatisfied, and 40.0% answered ‘in-between’. The corresponding figures for July 2018 were 33.0%, 29.3%, and 36.9%, respectively. Statistical analysis shows that the results for August 2018 were not significantly different from those of July. When comparing the figures with the same month last year (i.e. August 2017), it is found that the percentage of satisfaction in August 2018 (31.3%) was close to that of August 2017 (30.9%) and the difference in percentage distribution between August 2018 and August 2017 was also found to be statistically insignificant.
Rating of Chief Executive Carrie Lam. The current survey in August showed that the performance rating of the Chief Executive Carrie Lam (with a point scale ranging from 0 to 100 with 50 as the passing mark) stood at 56.2 on average, whereas the rating for July was 56.7. The statistical significance test (t-test) indicates that the mean difference between August and July was not statistically significant. If her current rating (56.2) in August 2018 is compared with the rating in August 2017, the mean difference of the two months was also not statistically significant.
Ratings of Three Secretaries. The ratings of Chief Secretary for Administration (Matthew Cheung), Financial Secretary (Paul Chan) and Secretary for Justice (Teresa Cheng) in August 2018 were 51.8, 42.5 and 43.1 respectively. The corresponding figures in July were 52.7, 42.9 and 43.6. Comparing the ratings of the three Secretaries between August 2018 and July 2018 shows that no statistically significant difference was found. In addition, when the ratings of Chief Secretary for Administration and Financial Secretary in August 2018 were compared with their respective figures in August 2017, no statistically significant difference were detected (since the Secretary for Justice, Teresa Cheng, was not in office in August 2017, no comparison can be made).
Trust in the HKSAR Government. As of August 2018, 31.8% of the respondents showed trust in the HKSAR Government and 20.1% expressed distrust; 46.5% answered ‘in-between’. The results in July 2018 were 33.2%, 21.4%, and 44.4%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in trust in the HKSAR Government between August 2018 and July 2018. When comparing the figures with those of August 2017, it is showed that the percentage of trust in the HKSAR Government in August 2018 (31.8%) was close to that of August 2017 (32.5%). There was also no statistically significant difference found between these two months.
Trust in the Central Government. Regarding the level of trust in the Central Government in August 2018, 22.5% said they trusted it, 36.7% answered the opposite, and 35.1% said ‘in-between’. The respective figures from July were 24.4%, 36.3%, and 34.3%, respectively. Statistically significant differences were not found between July 2018 and August 2018. Also, the difference between August 2018 (Trust: 22.5%; Distrust: 36.7%) and August 2017 (Trust: 21.4%; Distrust: 37.7%) was not statistically significant.
