According to most of respondents, the Sochi Olympics will be well organized, Russia will benefit from that, and athletes will perform at a high level. However, Internet users are skeptical about that.
MOSCOW, December 16, 2013. Russian Public Onion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data concerning the attitudes of Russians towards the following questions: whether Russia is ready for the Olympics, or not; whether Russia will be placed in the first position in the overall medal count; whether Russia will benefit from the Olympic games, or not. The press-release contains the results of the social media monitoring conducted by the Social Media Agency.
Results of nationwide poll
Russia is capable of hosting the OG, according to most of Russians (85%). Only 8% of respondents negatively assess the idea to host the Olympics; those who are most skeptical are supporters of A Just Russia party and politically non-active citizens (13% and 14%, respectively).
Almost two-thirds of respondents (73%) believe that Russia will be as successful in organizing the Games as those countries with the biggest number of gold medals. The share of respondents who doubt that Russia is capable of taking the first place in the total of gold medals won is 15% of respondents. Compared to other cities` residents, Muscovites and Petersburgians are much more skeptical.
According to more than one half of respondents (56%), Russia will generally benefit from hosting the Winter Olympics; one-quarter of respondents are undecided (24%). Those persons who have higher education diplomas or in complete higher education diplomas often mention that the Olympic Games are beneficial for Russia (61%). The share of such respondents is smaller among those who have elementary or secondary education diplomas (46%).
Results of social media monitoring
According to the results of the social media monitoring, Internet users are ambiguous about whether Russia is ready for the Olympics. Almost one-third of users (30%) are confident that the Olympics will be organized adequately; another one-third (34%) have doubts about that. One-fifth of the Internet users (20%) cite organizational problems that may prevent organizing the Games properly; 16% of users believe that Russia is not capable of organizing the Olympics adequately.
Half of bloggers (53%) are confident that Russian team will fail at the Olympics. Every fourth social media user (28%) places Russian team on the 3-5 position in the total medal count. The share of Russians who expect a good performance is 7%; the same share of Russians believe that to host the Olympics is an honor in itself; 5% of respondents say that Russia team will probably win the gold medal in hockey.
Most of Internet users believe that holding the Olympics is not reasonable for Russia (60%); every third (31%) assess positively the idea to hold the Winter Olympics in Russia stating that Russia will benefit from that. According to 9% of comments, conclusions can only be drawn following the results of the Winter Olympics.
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on November 2-3, 2013. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
The Social Media Monitoring was conducted on December 1-10, 2013 by the Social Networks Agency. The open search engines (Blogs.Yandex.ru, Blogsearch.google.ru) and a special search tool were used during the study. A total of 1338 of relevant publications were analyzed.
Results of nationwide poll
In your opinion, is Russia capable of organizing the 2014 Winter Olympic games at a high level? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |||||||
| Total respondents
| A just Russia party supporters | LDPR supporters | CPRF supporters | United Russia party supporters | Non-parliament parties` supporters | I would not take part in elections |
Definitely, yes | 34 | 36 | 37 | 37 | 39 | 42 | 21 |
Rather yes | 51 | 45 | 40 | 50 | 52 | 47 | 57 |
Rather not | 7 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 12 |
Definitely, not | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
Hard to tell | 7 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
In your opinion, will Russia be as successful in the total amount of gold medals won as the previous countries who hosted the Olympics (Canada, China)? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |||||||
| Total respondents
| Moscow and St. Petersburg | Million cities | More than 500 ths | 100–500 ths | Less than 100 ths | Rural area |
Absolutely, yes | 26 | 26 | 24 | 25 | 20 | 28 | 30 |
Rather yes | 47 | 39 | 52 | 49 | 49 | 48 | 47 |
Rather no | 14 | 23 | 10 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 13 |
Definitely no | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
Hard to tell | 10 | 9 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 8 |
Generally, will the organization of the Sochi Olympics bring more good or bad to Russia? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |||||
| Total respondents
| Elementary, or lower, incomplete secondary education | Secondary (school, technical college) | Secondary special (college) | Incomplete higher (not less than 3 years), higher |
More good | 56 | 46 | 51 | 56 | 61 |
More bad | 20 | 22 | 23 | 18 | 20 |
Hard to tell | 24 | 32 | 26 | 26 | 19 |
Results of social media monitoring
Assessment of social media users of the Russia`s readiness to host the 2014 Winter Olympics (% of the total relevant publications) | |
| Total respondents
|
Preparation and organization will be at the highest level | 30 |
Russia will hardly manage the organization of the Olympics | 34 |
Preparation and organization will not be at the highest level | 16 |
Certain problems may affect the organization of the Games | 20 |
Social media users` forecast concerning the performance of the Russian team at the 2014 Sochi Olympics (% of the total relevant publications) | |
| Total respondents
|
Russian team`s performance will be good | 7 |
Russian team will fail | 53 |
Three to five positions | 28 |
Hosting the Olympics is a big honor and success in itself | 7 |
Main achievement will be the gold medal in hockey | 5 |
Social media users assessing if it is reasonable to host the Winter Olympics in Sochi (% of the total relevant publications) | |
| Total respondents |
It will bring many benefits to the country | 31 |
Not reasonable | 60 |
It depends on sport achievements and overall score | 9 |
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!