Results of our studies

IN BRIEF

 

The level of demand for sociological surveys has increased from 69% to 84% over the recent two years.

MOSCOW, November 13, 2015. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the data of the survey devoted to the following questions: how much Russians trust in sociological survey; whether they think it is important to conduct the surveys; how they explain the discrepancy between the pre-election survey data and the final election results.

Today more Russians feel the need for conducting the public opinion polls than two years ago (84% in 2015; 69% in 2013); this record is close to a ten-year record (85% in 2005). Those who share this point of view think that sociological surveys help certain persons learning the public opinion on particular issues in general   (37%), informing the authorities about the social problems (34%). Those who think that social surveys are useless (12%) say that they are senseless and cannot influence the situation in the country (however, the share of such respondents have decreased from 61% to 37%); and they are nothing but a pure formality (28%).

The level of confidence in public opinion surveys is high: 71% of Russians believe that sociological surveys’ data reflects actual public opinion (to compare: 66% in 2013 and 76% in 2005). They are opposed by 23% of respondents (35% of adherents of non-parliamentary parties; 33% of LDPR electorate).

Discrepancy between the pre-election data and final election results is due to the dishonest responses of respondents (36%) and falsified election results (36%). Sociologists are rarely suspected of falsifying the election results (19%). A further 17% consider that the data obtained during the surveys may be inaccurate due to inaccurate methods. 

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted November 7 to 8, 2015; 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 settlements in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.

 

Today many public opinion polls on different topics are being conducted. In your opinion, do we need public opinion surveys or not? (closed-ended question, one answer, %)

 

2005

2008

2012

2013

2015

Definitely, yes

38

24

27

23

44

Rather yes

47

52

44

46

40

Rather no

7

8

11

10

8

Definitely no

1

2

3

2

4

Don’t know

8

15

16

19

4

  

Why do you think so? (open-ended question, any number of answers, % of those who believe that opinion polls are needed)

 

2012

2013

2015

It is important to know the public opinion to understand what people think

42

49

37

The authorities should  know the public opinion  to solve the problems

40

30

34

It is an opportunity for people to express their point of view

9

Public opinion polls are important for statistical purposes

3

5

3

They are interesting

5

2

1

Other

0

1

2

Don’t know

11

14

17

Why do you think so? (open-ended question, any number of answers, % of those who believe that opinion polls are not needed)

 

2012

2013

2015

They are useless and do not influence the situation in the country

38

61

37

This is nothing but a pure formality; the results of the opinion polls are needed only for reporting

19

15

28

I do not trust the results of the polls

19

9

9

Not everyone answers the questions honestly

8

7

4

The method of surveys does not allow to reflect the opinion of the entire population

11

2

4

Other

1

2

1

Don’t know

5

6

19

In your opinion, do the results of the public opinion poll reflect the real opinion of people, or not? (closed-ended question, one answer, %)

 

2005

2008

2009

2010

2012

2013

2015

Definitely, yet

25

14

18

18

16

15

29

Rather yes

51

55

49

50

51

51

42

Rather no

12

13

16

17

21

15

16

Definitely no

2

2

3

3

4

4

7

Don’t know

10

17

14

12

8

15

6

The results of pre-election opinion polls do not always go against the results of elections. In your opinion, what is the reason why? (closed-ended question, not more than four answers)

 

Total respondents

People being polled are not honest. What they say differs from what they vote for

36

The election results are falsified; they do not reflect the public opinion 

36

The data are being falsified by sociologists in order to assign high ratings to those candidates who paid for that

19

Sociologists do not use accurate methods which allows forecasting the results of elections properly  

17

Don’t know

16

Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!

 

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