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
Dr Robert CHUNG Ting-yiu
22 July 2005

2. Outline of Presentation
Background information
Demographic profile of respondents
Ratings of universities and their heads
Public perception of graduates
Opinions on Selected Education Policies
Conclusion and FAQs
Q & A session

3. Background

4. History
Commissioned by Media Education Info-tech Co. Ltd. (which owns “Education18.com”) since 2001, this is the 5th survey in the row.
Key objective is to gauge the general public’s perception of local universities and their opinions on selected education issues.
The survey questionnaire was designed by HKU POP after consulting the client.
Fieldwork and data analysis conducted independently by POP, but final rankings wholly or partly based on perception figures are compiled independently by Media Education Info-tech Co. Ltd.
Survey reports of public opinion surveys for all years are available at HKU POP SITE ( for public consumption.
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: March 2005
Target population: Cantonese-speaking population of Hong Kong of age 18 or above
Survey method: Telephone survey with interviewers
Sample size: 1,517 successful cases
Response rate: 60.5%
Sampling error: Less than 1.3%
Weighting method: Data adjusted according to the gender-age distribution of population census

6. Notes of Caution
Findings only reflect general public perception of local universities, but not results of objective appraisals or professional assessments.
Absolute rating (i.e. 0-10) according to individual attributes was used, and thus relative ranking of universities should not be over-emphasized.
All respondents were told at the beginning of the interview that POP was an independent research body.
Sequence of prompting respondents with the name of eight institutions was randomly rotated to avoid possible bias.
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：1,517

9. Age Distribution
Valid samples：1,435

10. Education Attainment
Valid samples：1,504

11. Occupation
Valid samples：1,482

12. Public Ratings of Universities
and their Heads

13. Overall Performance of UniversityQ1 *
87% 86% 80% 84% 80% 78% 71% 75%
* Recognition rate = No. of raters/total sample
Valid samples (2005)：1, ,314

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

15. Cross-tabulation Analyses: University Ratings vs Respondents’ Occupational BackgroundQ1
^ Differences among sub-groups tested to be statistically insignificant at 95% confidence level.

16. Public Ratings of University Heads
^The only change being statistically significant at 99% confidence level. Q1 *
59% 59% 47% 54% 58% 48% 40% 35%
* Recognition rate = No. of raters/total sample
Valid samples (2005)：

17. Public Perception
of Graduates

18. Perceived Deficiencies of Graduates (I)
*Changes being statistically significant at 99% confidence level. Q1
Valid samples (2005)：1,510

19. Perceived Deficiencies of Graduates (II)
* Changes being statistically significant at 99% confidence level. Q1
Valid samples (2005)：1,510
Note: Attributes registering less than 1% for all years are not shown here.

20. Most Preferred University Graduates [Only for respondents involved in recruiting new staffs]Q1
Valid samples (2005): 261
Standard error (for 2005 at 95% confidence level): +/-6.2%

21. Reasons for Graduate Preferences [Only for respondents involved in recruiting new staffs]Q1
Valid samples (2005): 187
Standard Error (for 2005 at 95% conf. level): +/-7.4% (not 6.2% as shown in the original slide)
Note: Reasons registering less than 5% for all years are not shown here.

22. Opinions on Selected
Education Policies

23. Government Funding to Local Universities
Valid samples：1,512

24. Number of Local Universities
Valid samples：1,514

25. Direction for Admission of Non-local Students
Valid samples：1,503

26. Effect of Admitting more Non-local Students
Valid samples：1,511

27. The Proposed “3+3+4” Academic Structure
Valid samples：1,505

28. Conclusion

29. Conclusions
Between 2001 and 2005, HKU continued to be perceived by the public as the best performing university, with CUHK & HKUST consistently taking the 2nd & 3rd ranks.
Professor Lap-chee Tsui of HKU and Professor Paul Chu of HKUST are perceived as the best performing university heads.
“Language proficiency”, “social/work experience” and “work attitude” are perceived to be important qualities which most Hong Kong university graduates lack of.
Of the 264 employers interviewed, most preferred employing HKU, CUHK & PolyU graduates.
Main reasons for their preference were “good knowledge of job-related areas” and “good performance of previous graduates.

30. Some Frequently Asked Questions
To enhance rational and educational discussions of university ranking surveys, a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and answers has been prepared, distributed, as well as uploaded onto the HKU POP Site at .
Journalists and members of the general public are welcome to contribute questions to the FAQ list, all answers to these FAQs will be open to public reference.

31. End of Presentation