1. The University of Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme
香港大學民意研究計劃
The University of Hong Kong
Public Opinion Programme
Opinion Survey on the Public Ranking of Universities in Hong Kong Presentation of Findings
By Karie Pang
27 July 2009

2. Outline of Presentation
Background information
Demographic profile of respondents
Ratings of universities and their heads
Public perception of graduates
Conclusion

3. Background

4. History
Commissioned by Media Education Info-tech Co. Ltd. (MEIT, which owns “Education18.com”) since 2001, this is the 9th survey in the row.
Key objective is to gauge the general public’s perception of eight institutions of higher education funded through University Grants Committee (UGC) while Hong Kong Shue Yan University is included for the second time this year, as well as their opinions on qualities of university students.
The survey questionnaire was designed by HKU POP after consulting MEIT.
Fieldwork and data analysis conducted independently by POP, but final rankings wholly or partly based on perception figures are compiled independently by MEIT.
各位新聞界o既朋友大家好:
首先十分多謝各位出席我們“簡栢家居生活質素指標” o既調查結果發布會。
我想首先簡介一下今次調查o既背景同我地煤氣公司的角色：
今次嘅調查係我地煤氣公司旗下的一個爐具品牌SIMPA(簡栢）委託香港大學民意調查中心進行o既。整個問卷o既設計係由港大與我地傾過之後得出o既，而有關指標同問卷的統計方法同埋數據分析，就係由Dr. Chung 既team 獨立負責。

5. Contact Information
Date of survey: May 25 – June 15, 2009
Target population: Cantonese-speaking population of Hong Kong of age 18 or above
Survey method: Telephone survey with interviewers
Sample size: 1,201 successful cases
Response rate: 65.2%
Sampling error: Less than 1.4%
Weighting method: Data adjusted according to the gender-age distribution of HK population at the end 2008

6. Notes of Caution
Findings only reflect general public perception of the nine institutions and their leaders, they are not results of objective appraisals or professional assessments.
Absolute ratings (i.e. 0-10) are used in the key questions, they are methodologically more powerful than relative rankings, because the score received by each institution in any one year is independent of the scores of other institutions, or its own score in another years.
Sequence of prompting respondents with the name of nine institutions was randomly rotated to avoid possible bias.
All respondents have been told at the beginning of the interview that POP was an independent research body.
各位新聞界o既朋友大家好:
首先十分多謝各位出席我們“簡栢家居生活質素指標” o既調查結果發布會。
我想首先簡介一下今次調查o既背景同我地煤氣公司的角色：
今次嘅調查係我地煤氣公司旗下的一個爐具品牌SIMPA(簡栢）委託香港大學民意調查中心進行o既。整個問卷o既設計係由港大與我地傾過之後得出o既，而有關指標同問卷的統計方法同埋數據分析，就係由Dr. Chung 既team 獨立負責。

7. Demographic Profile
of Respondents

8. Gender
Valid samples：1,201

9. Age Distribution
Valid samples：1,187

10. Education Attainment
Valid samples：1,195

11. Occupation
Valid samples：1,183

12. Public Ratings of Universities
and their Heads

13. Overall Performance of UniversityQ1 *
95% % % % % % % % %
* Recognition rate = No. of raters/total sample # Added in 2008 survey
Valid samples (2009)：1,005-1,142
^ Changes being statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

14. Cross-tabulation Analyses: University Ratings vs Respondents’ Education AttainmentQ1
^ Differences among sub-groups tested to be statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

15. Cross-tabulation Analyses: University Ratings vs Respondents’ Occupational Background
7.81
7.41
7.28
6.89
6.78
6.18
6.30
6.22
6.20
6.22
6.08
6.12
5.63
5.51
5.79
5.38
5.90
5.32
5.55
5.51
5.34
5.01
5.43
5.25 Q1
^ Differences among sub-groups tested to be statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

16. Public Ratings of University HeadsQ1 *
77% % % % % % % % %
Recognition rate = No. of raters/total sample
Valid samples (2009)：580 – 926

17. Cross-tabulation Analyses: Ratings of University Heads vs Education AttainmentQ1
^ Differences among sub-groups tested to be statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

18. Cross-tabulation Analyses: Ratings of University Head vs Respondents’ OccupationQ1
HKUST – Paul C.W. Chu^
HKU –
Lap-chee Tsui
CUHK –
Lawrence J. Lau
PolyU –
Timothy W. Tong
HKSYU –
Chi-yung
Chung
HKBU –
Ching-fai Ng
HKIEd –
Anthony B.L.
Cheung^
CityU –
Way Kuo
LU –
Yuk-shee Chan
^ Differences among sub-groups tested to be statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

19. of University Students and Graduates
Public Perception
of University Students and Graduates

20. Perceived Deficiencies of University Students (I)Q1
Work
Attitude^
Proficiency
in Chi,
Eng
and PTH
Conduct
and
honesty
Social /
interpersonal
Skills
Global
prospect /
foresight
Academic
and
professional
Knowledge^
Critical
thinking
and
problem-
solving
ability^
Social /
work
experience
Commitment
to society
Independence^
^ Changes being statistically significant at 95% confidence level.
Total samples (2009)：1,201

21. Perceived Deficiencies of University Students (II)Q1
Alertness to
risk/
handling
adverse conditions^
All-
roundness^
Communication
skills
Self-
confidence
Civil
awareness^
Creativity
Nothing
Don’t know^
^ Changes being statistically significant at 95% confidence level.
Total samples (2009)：1,201
Note: Attributes registering less than 3% for this year are not shown here.

22. Overseas universities
Most Preferred University Graduates [Only for respondents involved in recruiting new staff] Q1
Won’t employ
HKU
PolyU
HKUST
CUHK
Don’t know
HKSYU
HKIEd LU
CityU
HKBU
Overseas universities
Others
No preference
Valid samples (2009): 216
Standard error (for 2009 at 95% confidence level): +/-6.8%

23. Good social relationship
Reasons for Graduate Preferences [Only for respondents involved in recruiting new staff and with preferences on university graduates] Q1
Good
performance of
previous
graduates
Good
knowledge
in job-related
areas
Reputation
Diligent /
motivated
Good
language
ability
Good work
attitude
Alumni
Good social relationship
Others
Valid samples (2009): 154
Standard error (for 2009 at 95% confidence level): +/-8.1%
Note: Reasons registering less than 5% for this year are not shown here.

24. Conclusion

25. Conclusion
Between 2001 and 2009, HKU continues to be perceived by the public as the best performing university, with CUHK & HKUST consistently taking the 2nd and 3rd ranks.
Professor Paul Chu of HKUST has replaced Professor Lap-chee Tsui of HKU to become the best performing university head this year.
“Work attitude”, “language proficiency” and “conduct, honesty” are perceived to be important qualities which most Hong Kong university students lack of.
Of the 217 potential employers interviewed, most preferred employing HKU, PolyU, HKUST and CUHK graduates, while 14% had no special preference. Main reasons for their choice were “good performance of previous graduates” and “good knowledge in job-related areas” of the graduates.

26. Public Enquiry Welcome
To enhance more rational discussions on university ranking surveys, local and non-local, a special on-line feature page entitled “university ranking surveys” has been set up at the HKU POP Site at to serve as an information hub and one-stop service point for the public.
The feature page also contains a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and model answers, first prepared in One print copy of all FAQs have been distributed to the press.
Journalists and members of the general public are welcome to contribute questions to the FAQ list, all questions and answers will be open to the general public.

27. End of Presentation
Thank you!