Feb 22, 2022
Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute Press Conference – Press Materials
Speakers:
Kim-Wah Chung – Deputy CEO, HKPORI
Chow Sung Ming – Current Affairs Commentator
Yam Wai Ho – Member, Alliance of Revitalizing Economy and Livelihood
Detailed Findings
Special Announcement
The predecessor of Hong Kong Public Opinion Program (HKPOP) was The Public Opinion Programme at The University of Hong Kong (HKUPOP). “POP” in this release can refer to HKPOP or its predecessor HKUPOP.
Abstract
POP successfully interviewed 1,012 Hong Kong residents by a random telephone survey conducted by real interviewers in early February. Our survey shows that among the ten specific domains, people rated personal safety the highest. On a scale of 0 to 10, the rating stands at 6.13. Also, people tended to think that Hong Kong people can enjoy personal freedom and have opportunities for suitable employment, attaining ratings of 5.57 and 5.29 respectively. However, the rest of the social well-being indicators score lower than 5, representing people’s relative negative appraisals towards them. The ratings of the following six indicators range from 4.00 to 4.90, which means they tended to think judicial proceedings are not so fair, disadvantaged groups are not adequately protected, Hong Kong people are not free from fear, children are not so happy in their childhood, it is hard for Hong Kong people to “live in peace”, and people can’t quite live without worries. The last indicator even scores lower than 4, standing at 3.97, meaning they felt quite some political rights are missing. Among the various indicators, only the indicator on fairness and justice in judicial proceedings has significantly increased compared to three months ago. The effective response rate of the survey is 58.1%. The maximum sampling error of ratings is +/-0.27 at 95% confidence level.
Contact Information
| Date of survey | : | 7-10/2/2022 |
| Survey method | : | Random telephone survey conducted by real interviewers |
| Target population | : | Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents aged 18 or above |
| Sample size[1] | : | 1,012 (including 507 landline and 505 mobile samples) |
| Effective response rate | : | 58.1% |
| Sampling error[2] | : | Sampling error of ratings not more than +/-0.27 at 95% conf. level |
| Weighting method | : | Rim-weighted according to figures provided by the Census and Statistics Department. The gender-age distribution of the Hong Kong population came from “Mid-year population for 2020”, while the educational attainment (highest level attended) distribution and economic activity status distribution came from “Women and Men in Hong Kong – Key Statistics (2020 Edition)”. |
- This figure is the total sample size of the survey. Some questions may only involve a subsample, the size of which can be found in the tables below.
- All error figures in this release are calculated at 95% confidence level. “95% confidence level” means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times with different random samples, we would expect 95 times having the population parameter within the respective error margins calculated. Because of sampling errors, when quoting percentages, journalists should refrain from reporting decimal places, whereas one decimal place can be used when quoting rating figures.
Latest Figures
The latest figures of the ten social well-being indicators are summarized as follows:
| Date of survey | 29/10-3/11/21 | 7-10/2/22 | Latest change |
| Sample size | 596-609 | 599-612 | — |
| Response rate | 50.1% | 58.1% | — |
| Latest findings | Finding | Finding & error | — |
| Personal safety | 6.06 | 6.13+/-0.22 | +0.07 |
| Personal freedom | 5.56 | 5.57+/-0.25 | +0.01 |
| Opportunities for suitable employment | 5.51 | 5.29+/-0.19 | -0.23 |
| Fairness and justice in judicial proceedings | 4.53 | 4.90+/-0.24 | +0.37[3] |
| Protection of disadvantaged groups | 4.78 | 4.76+/-0.22 | -0.02 |
| Freedom from fear | 4.85 | 4.72+/-0.24 | -0.13 |
| Happiness of children | 4.76 | 4.53+/-0.22 | -0.23 |
| Housing well-being (“living in peace”) | 4.20 | 4.33+/-0.22 | +0.13 |
| Living without worries | 3.97 | 4.00+/-0.22 | +0.02 |
| Political rights | 3.80 | 3.97+/-0.27 | +0.17 |
- The difference between the figure and the result from the previous survey has gone beyond the sampling error at 95% confidence level, meaning that the change is statistically significant prima facie. However, whether the difference is statistically significant is not the same as whether they are practically useful or meaningful, and different weighting methods could have been applied in different surveys.
Our social well-being survey shows that, among the ten specific domains, people rated personal safety the highest. On a scale of 0 to 10, the rating stands at 6.13. Also, people tended to think that Hong Kong people can enjoy personal freedom and have opportunities for suitable employment, attaining ratings of 5.57 and 5.29 respectively. However, the rest of the social well-being indicators score lower than 5, representing people’s relative negative appraisals towards them. The ratings of the following six indicators range from 4.00 to 4.90, which means they tended to think judicial proceedings are not so fair, disadvantaged groups are not adequately protected, Hong Kong people are not free from fear, children are not so happy in their childhood, it is hard for Hong Kong people to “live in peace”, and people can’t quite live without worries. The last indicator even scores lower than 4, standing at 3.97, meaning they felt quite some political rights are missing. Among the various indicators, only the indicator on fairness and justice in judicial proceedings has significantly increased compared to three months ago.
Opinion Daily
In 2007, POP started collaborating with Wisers Information Limited whereby Wisers supplies to POP a record of significant events of that day according to the research method designed by POP. These daily entries would then become “Opinion Daily” after they are verified by POP.
For the polling items covered in this press release, the previous survey was conducted from 29 October to 3 November, 2021 while this survey was conducted from 7 to 10 February, 2022. During this period, herewith the significant events selected from counting newspaper headlines and commentaries on a daily basis and covered by at least 25% of the local newspaper articles. Readers can make their own judgment if these significant events have any impacts to different polling figures.
| 9/2/22 | As COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow, Hong Kong reports 1,161 cases, registering a record high. |
| 8/2/22 | The government tightens the anti-epidemic measures, limiting multi-household gatherings and launching vaccine pass. |
| 6/2/22 | Hong Kong reports over 300 cases of COVID-19 for two consecutive days. |
| 5/2/22 | As COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow, Hong Kong reports 351 cases, registering a record high. |
| 27/1/22 | The government extends anti-epidemic measures until February 17 and announces the launch of “vaccine pass” on February 24. |
| 26/1/22 | Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children releases the First Interim Independent Review Committee Report on alleged child abuse at the Children’s Residential Home. |
| 21/1/22 | The government announces five-day lockdown at Yat Kwai House in Kwai Chung Estate for mandatory virus testing due to the outbreak of COVID-19. |
| 18/1/22 | The government culls 2,000 animals after a hamster contracts COVID-19. |
| 14/1/22 | The government extends anti-epidemic measures until February 3 and announces details for the fifth round of the Anti-epidemic Fund. |
| 7/1/22 | All 170 guests attending the birthday party of Witman Hung receives COVID-19 testing and are sent to quarantine. |
| 5/1/22 | The government further tightens the anti-epidemic measures. |
| 31/12/21 | The government announces the tightening of anti-epidemic measures. |
| 30/12/21 | The Development Bureau announces a minimum flat size restriction. |
| 29/12/21 | Stand News closes after seven senior staff members are arrested. |
| 20/12/21 | 90 members of Legislative Council are elected. |
| 8/12/21 | The government publishes the “Long Term Housing Strategy” annual progress report. |
| 9/11/21 | CLP Power and Hongkong Electric will increase their tariffs by 5.8% and 7% respectively. |
| 31/10/21 | Starting from tomorrow, it is mandatory to use the “LeaveHomeSafe” app when entering government premises. |