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The Global Barometer is one of the TRENDS Research & Advisory’s departments. It specializes in measuring public opinion trends on all internal and external economic, social, political, and cultural issues. To perform this task, it uses an integrated system for preparing and implementing specialized surveys, field studies, and polls following international standards, and presenting recommendations and suggestions about them to decision-makers.

Strategy

  • Mission: To establish an integrated system for preparing and implementing specialized surveys, field studies, and polls following international standards.
  • Vision: To support decision-makers in all economic, social, and political fields by providing them with the finding of public opinion polls which show the prevailing view among a broad section of the public toward a particular issue.

Objectives

  1. Support decision-makers with information that helps in developing and evaluating public policies in all fields.
  2. Enhance trust between the institutions and individuals through understanding their views, needs, and aspirations.
  3. Provide data and information about different local, regional, and international issues to support scientific research activity and futures studies.
  4. Understand the general trends of society (local, Arab and international) regarding various issues and priorities, such as education, healthcare, and community safety, and present the findings to the authorities and institutions in charge of developing relevant strategies
  5. Implement various public opinion surveys for governmental, quasi-governmental, and private institutions.

Work Team

The Department consists of highly qualified researchers in political, economic, and social fields; and experts in opinion polls and analysis.

Areas of Focus

  • Political Issues
  • Economic Issues
  • Social Issues
  • Satisfaction Surveys

Services provided by the Department

  • Surveys’ development, design and translation
  • Digital and face-to-face data collection and consolidation
  • Data analysis as per adequate statistical method/s
  • Reports’ development and recommendation provision

Opinion Polls Methodology

The Barometer Department of TRENDS Research & Advisory follows these steps to ensure accurate and methodologically sound opinion polls.

Planning

  1. Topic selection: The topic is selected following:
    • A study of local and international events.
    • And/or request from an entity.
  2. Specifying the main objective: The main objective behind the study is clearly specified so that sub-objectives could be defined.
  3. Data collection: At this stage, the number of variables and the questions to be included in the questionnaire is decided. This defines the sample from which data can be collected.
  4. Sample design: An up-to-date and comprehensive design framework, constituting all segments of the society, is the key to the accurate poll outcome.
  5. Determining resources: At this stage, the resources and logistics, such as data entry programs, iPad devices, and human resources, are defined, depending on the nature and scale of the opinion poll.

Preparation

  1. Setting the organizational framework: The organizational framework is set based on the activities laid down and distributed among the team members.
  2. The budget: A detailed poll budget is allocated at this stage, including expenses based on:
    • Sample size and scope
    • Questionnaire size
    • Poll timeframe
  3. Data collection: The method of data collection includes defining and planning each of the following:
    • Personal interviews by using a print or electronic questionnaire
    • Group interviews
    • Discussion groups
    • Phone interviews
    • Sending the questionnaire via an electronic link
  4. Training researchers: At this stage, researchers are trained on the poll details and acquainted with its importance and objectives.
  5. Sample selection: The sample is selected based on the sample design.
  6. Pre-testing: This is to eliminate any problems in the questionnaire related to accuracy and clarity and the data collected from respondents. At this stage, an assessment is made about the time researchers would need to fill in the questionnaire and identify potential problems in the field.

Execution

  1. Fieldwork: Researchers and supervisors identify and form fieldwork teams.
  2. Response rate: Response rate analysis identifies the reason/s behind low-level responses, if at all, at an early stage.
  3. Follow-up and quality control: This stage includes several measures before the poll’s final results are extracted by using a statistical data quality guide.

Extracting the results

  1. Coding: Each question and answer is coded.
  2. Designing entry programs: The Barometer Department uses a special program, the TRENDS online survey platform, to design and set questionnaires.
  3. Designing results extraction programs: The Department uses the IBM SPSS statistical programs to analyze the data and extract the results.
  4. Presentation and report writing: The results are presented after ensuring data accuracy and completing the extraction of all frequency and cross tables. The final survey report includes:
    • Analysis method
    • Sample design method
    • Survey tools used in data collection
    • Summary of the main results
    • Results and analysis
    • Comparison with the results of other or previous polls, provided they have been carried out in similar conditions
    • Tables as appendixes.