Description:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "This report examines the state of opinion research in Myanmar,, identi5es
challenges, and makes recommendations for improvements. Since the government
of Myanmar announced a transition from military rule to democracy in
2010, both domestic and international stakeholders have turned to polling to
discover public opinion on a range of issues.
Polling is critical in transitioning countries. Polls can provide parties with data
to understand the needs and desires of the electorate and serve as a check on government
excesses. 6ey make information on public views widely available and
can represent both the diversity of existing opinions and positions of minority
populations. Finally, they show a road to political compromise and prepare parties
and the public to deal with election outcomes.
6e Western public accepts and expects polling on a regular basis, but we did
not 5nd that always the case in Myanmar. Although Myanmar has a decades-long
history of market surveys, political polling is a relatively new phenomenon. Organizations
operating in this 5eld face four major challenges. 6e 5rst is selecting
a sample in a country that lacks reliable census or voter registration data, and
lacks comprehensive access to telephones or the internet. 6e second is how to
provide survey questionnaires in several languages to accommodate Myanmar?s
numerous ethnic groups. 6e third challenge relates to interviewers, both to their
training and to accounting for possible response bias based on the interaction
between the interviewer?s socio-demographic background and the respondent?s.
Finally, polling groups and interviewers must ensure respondents? con5dentiality.
6ese problems are not unique to Myanmar. Pollsters around the world regularly
grapple with similar dilemmas. What makes their task more challenging in
Myanmar is the novelty of polling. Few people (even in civil society and political
parties) understand its nature, and many are quick to dismiss the whole exercise
when they do not like some of a poll?s results. 6e report examines and refutes
several of their criticisms, perhaps the most common being that a sample, no matter how large, cannot capture the full diversity of opinions in a country as
large and heterogeneous as Myanmar.
It is possible to tackle these misperceptions and improve practices. Our recommendations
for immediate actions can be implemented ahead of the parliamentary
election this year. 6ey include suggestions on conducting polls, providing
frameworks for their interpretation, and training potential users to understand
polling data. Long-term change will require consistent attention and investment
from polling groups, those who commission them, and users of polling data to
strengthen the polling 5eld.
Most importantly, polling organizations should continue making their data
publicly available. 6ose who conduct and commission public surveys need to
do so on a regular basis. Both practices will teach the public to see polls as a
normal element of a democratic process and become another step in Myanmar?s
transition to a full-7edged democracy."
Source/publisher:
Open Society Foundations (OSF)
Date of Publication:
2015-04-00
Date of entry:
2015-04-07
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English