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Survey Findings on HKSAR Government’s Popularity in November 2018 Released by Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at CUHK
A telephone survey was conducted from 19 to 22 November 2018 by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong to study the popularity of the HKSAR Government. A total of 713 respondents aged 18 or above were successfully interviewed, with a response rate of 38.9%. The sampling error is estimated at plus or minus 3.67 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Major findings are summarized as follows:
Satisfaction with the HKSAR Government. According to the survey, 28.8% of the 713 respondents expressed satisfaction towards the HKSAR Government, 32.5% said they were dissatisfied, and 37.7% answered ‘in-between’. The corresponding figures for October 2018 were 29.5%, 33.0%, and 36.4%, respectively. Statistical analysis shows that the results for November 2018 were not significantly different from those of October. When comparing the figures with that from the same month last year (i.e. November 2017), it was found that the percentage of satisfaction in November 2018 (28.8%) was lower than that of November 2017 (35.7%). The difference in percentage distribution between November 2018 and November 2017 was found to be statistically significant.
Rating of Chief Executive Carrie Lam. The survey in November 2018 indicated that the performance rating of Chief Executive Carrie Lam (with a point scale ranging from 0 to 100, 50 as the passing mark) stood at 53.1 on average, higher than the rating for October (52.3). The statistical significance test (t-test) shows that the mean difference between the rating in November and the rating in October was not statistically significant. However, if her current rating (53.1) in November 2018 is compared with the rating in November 2017 (57.8), the mean difference of the two months is statistically significant.
Ratings of Three Secretaries. The ratings of the Chief Secretary for Administration (Matthew Cheung), Financial Secretary (Paul Chan) and Secretary for Justice (Teresa Cheng) in November 2018 were 50.2, 42.2 and 40.9 respectively. The corresponding figures in October 2018 were 49.9, 41.4 and 41.0. Comparing the ratings of the three Secretaries between November 2018 and October 2018 shows that no statistically significant differences were found. When their ratings in November 2018 were compared with the respective figures in November 2017, statistically significant differences were found for the Chief Secretary for Administration and the Financial Secretary (the Secretary for Justice, Teresa Cheng, was not in office in November 2017, so no comparison can be made).
Trust in the HKSAR Government. As of November 2018, 29.7% of the respondents showed trust in the HKSAR Government and 24.0% expressed distrust; 43.1% answered ‘in-between’. The results in October 2018 were 29.0%, 23.1%, and 45.2%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in trust in the HKSAR Government between November 2018 and October 2018. Comparing the figures in the current survey with those of November 2017, it shows that the percentage of trust in the HKSAR Government in November 2018 (29.7%) was lower than that of November 2017 (36.8%). Statistically significant difference was also found between these two months.
Trust in the Central Government. Regarding the level of trust in the Central Government in November 2018, 20.8% said they trusted it, 40.5% answered the opposite, and 35.1% said ‘in-between’. The respective figures from October were 20.1%, 38.7%, and 36.3%. Statistically significant differences were not found between October 2018 and November 2018. Also, the difference between the percentage in November 2018 (Trust: 20.8%; Distrust: 40.5%) and the percentage in November 2017 (Trust: 25.8%; Distrust: 35.0%) was not statistically significant.
