I’m declaring my attempt to conduct a public opinion survey in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions a failure; it was announced here.
We very much wanted to carry it out and understand the real public mood in this part of Ukraine. It matters to everyone, but no source of information can be trusted. We can be trusted, which is why we started the whole thing.
This was roughly the questionnaire developed by ACF’s sociology team:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Introduction section, filters by region and oblast.
Where do you get news about events in your city/the country/the world? standard options, multiple choice
Please tell me, how would you describe the events currently taking place in the Donetsk region? as positive events as somewhat more positive than negative as somewhat more negative than positive as negative events no opinion/don’t know/find it difficult to answer
Who do you think is responsible for the events currently taking place in the Donetsk region? (open-ended question) record the respondent’s answer_______________
What status for the Donetsk region would be preferable for you? (the first three options are read out, order is rotated) The Donetsk region remains part of Ukraine The Donetsk region becomes an independent state The Donetsk region becomes part of the Russian Federation The status of the Donetsk region does not matter to me; I want the crisis to end as soon as possible 5. I don’t care/no opinion/find it difficult to answer
In your opinion, do Ukrainian media outlets generally cover the current events in Donetsk objectively or not objectively? Objectively Somewhat more objectively than not Somewhat more not objectively than objectively Not objectively Find it difficult to answer In your opinion, do Russian media outlets generally cover the current events in Donetsk objectively or not objectively? Objectively Somewhat more objectively than not Somewhat more not objectively than objectively Not objectively I do not follow Russian media/no answer Find it difficult to answer Please describe your attitude toward the politicians whose names I am about to read out. (The question will be displayed as a table; the surnames are rotated) Vladimir Putin; Petro Poroshenko; Viktor Yanukovych Positive Somewhat positive Somewhat negative Negative Find it difficult to answer
Please tell me, what is your attitude toward the movement that calls itself the “militia”? Positive Somewhat positive Somewhat negative Negative I don’t know who they are/I don’t understand what you mean Find it difficult to answer
Do you know the leaders of this movement? Who are they? record_______
Please tell me, are you or are you not considering the possibility of leaving the Donetsk region? Yes, I would leave permanently Yes, I would leave for the duration of the crisis No, I do not want to leave, although I have the opportunity No, I do not want to leave and I do not have the opportunity to do so Find it difficult to answer
(for those who want to leave) Are you or are you not planning to move in the near future? Yes Probably yes Probably no No Find it difficult to answer
Final block of questions, demographics. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If we had managed to survey the two regions, the results would have opened our eyes to a great deal.
We resolved the technical problems with getting through, sampling, and the calling database—though not without difficulty—but it still came to nothing, and we stopped the survey on its second day.
Why: The rough contact-rate indicator—which our sociologists call a “live hello” (meaning a real person actually answers the phone)—was almost five times worse than in a standard survey in Russia. That is critical. We later found out that there were communication network problems that day.
About every third interview falls through because the respondent asks where we are calling from, and the answer “Russia” does not satisfy them, so they refuse to answer. The answer “Kyiv” would satisfy them, but as a matter of principle we chose not to lie, and we understand that our volunteers would not lie either. Especially since, if caller ID showed up for someone, it appeared as “499.”
By the way, everyone was fine with the topic of the survey itself.
So, as I said above, we struggled for two days and decided to shut the survey down, because we realized its results would not be something we could be proud of. And given how painful and sensitive the subject is, we needed nothing less than a flawless, ideal result.
So in the end, all we have is the experience.
We are now considering trying the same survey in less extreme regions: Kharkiv and Odesa oblasts.
A reminder that our sociology team is always happy to welcome volunteers. Right now we are conducting a very interesting survey in Russia. Come join us—we’ll teach you everything you need to know.
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