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A
survey in the Sanmenxia reservoir area of Chongqing by means
of questionnaires filled out by 108 representatives of Yunyang
County's rural population.
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A
sample survey of transients' living conditions at Beijing
Railway Station.
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Experts
measure levels of pollutants and make ecological evaluations
in polluted areas of the Songhua River.
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There was no public information on the
work of the Chinese government, other than reports compiled within
the administration itself, prior to the mid-1980s. And it was
only in the 1990s that public opinion polls and market research
began to be conducted by legally registered non-governmental organizations.
There are now departments within the
government whose specific purpose is to evaluate proposed government
action and recent achievements. Policy research is carried out
by means of public opinion polls.
Public Opinion Via Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing
Zhang Xiaoqin, a housewife from Furong District, Changsha City,
Hunan Province, was totally unprepared for the call she received
from the Public Opinion Survey Center at the Hunan Provincial
Bureau of Statistics. Upon being asked for her views on certain
current issues she replied: “Your people were at the NPC
and CPPCC sessions. Why ask me?” The interviewer explained
that her opinions would be conveyed to representatives and committee
members at both sessions. The matter clarified, Zhang Xiaoqin
said without hesitation: “What most concerns me is social
security.”
The call was part of a survey on the extent of public attention
to the 4th Session of the 10th NPC and CPPCC. It successfully
pinpointed and subsequently made public the five issues generating
greatest public concern. As CPPCC member He Binsheng commented:
“In the past, there was little information such as this that
we, as NPC deputies and CPPCC members had access to.”
The Public Opinion Survey Center of Hunan Provincial Bureau of
Statistics was founded at the end of 2004. Its purpose is to ascertain
and record public opinion and so provide points of reference in
for policy making and government strategy. CATI is the medium
through which the center gathers its information.
“The telephone is vital for carrying out public surveys,”
states Ma Yong, director general of the Hunan Provincial Bureau
of Statistics, continuing, ”More than 50 percent of Chinese
households now have a telephone, which makes it the obvious to
obtain information.” CATI has been internationally established
as the most accurate and time-saving method of assessing public
opinion. The Hunan Provincial Bureau of Statistics provides the
center with databases of telephone numbers, demographic information
and enterprises, and samples are selected on a random basis. All
interviews are monitored.
China’s longest standing public opinion survey organization
is the Guangzhou Social Situation and Public Opinion Research
Center. Founded in 1988, it is an NGO under the Guangzhou Municipal
People's Political Consultative Conference. The center carries
out surveys on aspects of the national economy and people's livelihood,
such as prices, public security, housing reform, transportation,
the environment, city sanitation, reforms to state-owned enterprises,
employment, social security, and medical care.
Shortly after its establishment, the center cooperated with the
Guangzhou TV Station in launching Yangcheng Forum, China’s
first phone-in program. It brought members of the general public
into direct communication with the Guangzhou Municipal People’s
Congress, and acted as a platform for public involvement in political
affairs.
Since then there has been a proliferation of bodies giving public
access to information on government work. In 1998, the National
Bureau of Statistics set up the International Statistics Information
Center, and in 2004, the National Bureau of Statistics held a
conference on CATI. It was agreed that provincial and municipal
statistics departments should set up the CATI system of public
opinion surveys and societal assessments, and to date, 66 percent
of them have done so.
Decision-Making Aid
“The 28 surveys we made in 2005 provided the points of reference
needed by leaders to make decisions,” says Liu Jie, who works
at the Public Opinion Survey Center of the Hunan Provincial Bureau
of Statistics. One of the surveys commissioned by Hunan Provincial
Politics and Law Committee in 2005 was on the average citizen’s
sense of security. Its results entered the ambit of political
and legislative leaders throughout Hunan Province.
Having conducted a series of surveys, Liang Naiwen director of
the Public Opinion Survey Center of the Hunan Provincial Bureau
of Statistics, feels he has a deeper cognition of the general
public’s feelings and opinions. As he points out, “Surveys
are an effective method of isolating social problems and conflicts.
By highlighting areas that need attention, surveys help the government
to improve its leadership.”
Since its establishment, the center has been kept busy. Most
of its surveys are government-commissioned, and all have direct
impact on decision-making.
Director General Ma Yong, of the Hunan Provincial Bureau of Statistics
confirms that the center works on a strictly non-profit basis,
and that its operation expenses are met by government funding.
Yu Guoming, president of the Media Research Institute at Renmin
University of China, believes that government support for market
research and public opinion surveys indicate the importance China’s
leaders attach to the public voice. As he says, public opinion
is constant, no matter who the assessor.
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