Russians tend to trust social opinion polls, however their interest is steadily decreasing.
MOSCOW, January 24, 2013. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data describing what Russians think about opinion polls; whether they trust them, or not; and why the polls are needed.
Most of Russians are interested to know the results of sociological studies (65%), however compared to 2005, the share of such respondents have decreased (77%). Those who are interested most are respondents with special secondary and higher level of education, as well as women (68%, for each). Those who are not interested are 29% of Russians (in 2005 – 19%), especially respondents with low level of education (40%) and men (31%).
Most of Russians believe that the results of polls reflect public opinion (67%). Those who think so are basically women (69%) and those who are interested in this information (87%). The share of those who do not trust the results of public opinion polls has increased (from 19 to 25%). Those who are skeptical are men (28%) and those Russians who are not interested in these studies (59%).
Most of Russians are confident that public opinion polls are needed (71%, in 2008– 76%). Those who think so are supporters of A Just Russia party (80%) and Russians with high level of education (76%). Only 14% of respondents believe that there is no point making public opinion polls (in 2005 – 8%). Those who share this stance are supporters of non-parliament parties (21%) and CPRF (19%).
Russians who believe that opinion polls are needed say that it is important to know public opinion (42%) and to take it into account when making decisions (40%). Those who do not think that opinion polls are needed consider that they are useless (38%). They also say that they do not trust the results (19%) and think that the polls are nothing but pure formality (19%). Some people believe that the methods used to conduct opinion polls do not allow to reflect the opinion of all the people (11%), and that not all the people answer the questions honestly (8%).
The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted on December 1-2, 2012. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 138 sampling points in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
The results of sociological research and public opinion polls are published in mass media. Are you interested in this type of information? | |||
| 2005 | 2008 | 2012 |
Definitely yes | 34 | 18 | 19 |
Rather yes | 43 | 48 | 46 |
Rather no | 16 | 19 | 23 |
Definitely no | 3 | 3 | 6 |
Hard to tell | 5 | 12 | 6 |
In your opinion, do the results of public opinion polls reflect public attitudes? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||||
| 2005 | 2008 | 2009 | 2012 |
Definitely yes | 25 | 14 | 18 | 16 |
Rather yes | 51 | 55 | 49 | 51 |
Rather no | 12 | 13 | 16 | 21 |
Definitely no | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Hard to tell | 10 | 17 | 14 | 8 |
In your opinion, are public opinion polls needed in general? (close-ended question, one answer) | |||
| 2005 | 2008 | 2012 |
Definitely yes | 38 | 24 | 27 |
Rather yes | 47 | 52 | 44 |
Rather no | 7 | 8 | 11 |
Definitely no | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Hard to tell | 8 | 15 | 16 |
Why do you think so? (open-ended question, any number of answers, % of those who believe that the polls are needed) | |
The government should know public opinion to make decisions | 40 |
It is important for the statistics | 3 |
It is important to know what people think about | 42 |
Polls are interesting | 5 |
Hard to tell | 11 |
Why do you think so? (open-ended question, any number of answers, % of those who believe that the polls are not needed) | |
They are useless; they do not reflect the situation in the country | 38 |
I do not trust the results of the polls | 19 |
Not everyone answer the questions honestly | 8 |
It is a pure formality; the results are needed only for reporting | 19 |
Opinion polls methods do not allow reflecting the attitudes of all the people | 11 |
Other | 1 |
Hard to tell | 5 |
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!