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
26 July 2007

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 7th survey in the row.
Key objective is to gauge the general public’s perception of eight institutions of higher education which are funded through the University Grants Committee (UGC) and 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 1, 2007
Target population: Cantonese-speaking population of Hong Kong of age 18 or above
Survey method: Telephone survey with interviewers
Sample size: 1,210 successful cases
Response rate: 60.9%
Sampling error: Less than 1.4%
Weighting method: Data adjusted according to the gender-age distribution of HK population at the end 2006

6. Notes of Caution
Findings only reflect general public perception of the eight 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 eight 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：1,210

9. Age Distribution
Valid samples：1,195

10. Education Attainment
Valid samples：1,203

11. Occupation
Valid samples：1,187

12. Public Ratings of Universities
and their Heads

13. Overall Performance of University
^Changes being statistically significant at 95% confidence level. Q1 *
94% 94% 90% 93% 89% 86% 81% 85%
* Recognition rate = No. of raters/total sample
Valid samples (2007)：981-1,141

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
8.20
7.93
7.87
7.79
7.78
7.49
7.24
7.23
7.34
7.22
7.01
7.26
7.15
7.22
6.99
6.84
6.82
6.71
6.71
6.70
6.36
6.35
6.35
6.26
6.13
6.18
6.02
6.09
5.94
5.95
5.96
5.92 Q1
5.54
5.38
5.66
5.71
5.63
5.45
5.42
5.30
^ Differences among sub-groups tested to be statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

16. Public Ratings of University Heads
^Changes being statistically significant at 95% confidence level. Q1 *
73% 72% 64% 65% 70% 61% 44% 67%
* Recognition rate = No. of raters/total sample
Valid samples (2007)：526 – 886

17. Cross-tabulation Analyses: Ratings of University Heads vs Education Attainment
7.73
7.67
7.59
7.57
7.49
7.41
7.34
7.33
7.02
6.81
6.97
6.76
6.75
6.72
6.74
6.58
6.53
6.46
6.48
6.23
5.94
5.93
5.79 Q1
5.51
^ Differences among sub-groups tested to be statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

18. Cross-tabulation Analyses: Ratings of University Head vs Respondents’ Occupation
7.88
7.62
7.51
7.42
7.47
7.39
7.41
7.26
7.39
7.19
7.11
7.05
7.00
7.01
6.86
6.85
6.82
6.79
6.72
6.69
6.70
6.64
6.75
6.64
6.38
6.48
6.56
6.56
6.44
6.37
6.27
6.30
5.92
6.00
5.89
5.85
5.84
5.80
5.67
5.50 Q1
HKUST –
Paul Chu
HKU –
LC Tsui^
PolyU –
CK Poon^
CUHK –
Lawrence
Lau^
Lingnan –
Edward
Chen
HKBU –
CF Ng^
CityU –
Richard Ho^
HKIEd –
Paul
Morris
^ 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)
^Changes being statistically significant at 95% confidence level.
17%
17%
14%
13%
12%
12%^
10%
10% 8% Q1
Conduct
and
Honesty
Work
Attitude
Proficiency
in Chi,
Eng
and PTH
Social /
interpersonal
Skills
Global
prospect /
foresight
Critical
thinking
and
problem-
solving
ability
Academic
and
professional
knowledge
Commitment
to society
Social /
work
experience
* The question wording used for the surveys was “university graduates” instead of “university students”, so comparison could only be made on a rough basis.
Total samples (2007)：1,210

21. Perceived Deficiencies of University Students* (II)
^Changes being statistically significant at 95% confidence level.
20%
6%^ 5% 4%
4%^ 3% Q1 2%
1%^ 1%
Self-
confidence
Communication
skills
Emotional
stability
Financial
management
Job
opportunity
Creativity
Nothing
Others
DK/HS
Note: Attributes registering less than 1% for all years are not shown here.
Total samples (2007)：1,210
* The question wording used for the surveys was “university graduates” instead of “university students”, so comparison could only be made on a rough basis.

22. Most Preferred University Graduates [Only for respondents involved in recruiting new staff]Q1
Oversea universities
No preference
Won’t employ
HKU
CUHK
PolyU
HKUST
HKBU
CityU LU
HKIEd
DK/HS
Others
Valid samples (2007): 200
Standard error (for 2007 at 95% confidence level): +/-7.1%

23. 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
Good work
attitude
Diligent /
motivated
Good social
relationship
Good
language
ability
Alumni
Others
Valid samples (2007): 140
Standard error (for 2007 at 95% confidence level): +/-8.5%
Note: Reasons registering less than 7% for all years are not shown here.

24. Conclusion

25. Conclusion
Between 2001 and 2007, HKU continues to be perceived by the public as the best performing university, with CUHK & HKUST consistently taking the 2nd and 3rd ranks.
Professors Paul Chu of HKUST and Lap-chee Tsui of HKU are perceived as the best performing university heads this year.
“Conduct, honesty”, “work attitude” and “language proficiency” are perceived to be important qualities which most Hong Kong university students lack of.
Of the 200 potential employers interviewed, most preferred employing HKU, CUHK, PolyU and HKUST graduates, main reasons for their preference being “good performance of previous graduates”, “good knowledge in job-related areas” and “reputation”.

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!