Sample and Survey

The survey was conducted in Lebanon between the 13th of July and the 10th of August 2012 and included 1322 respondents distributed over each Qada’a based on its sectarian and demographic make-up.

The Lebanese and the level of security

47% of the respondents reported a good level of security. 20% described security conditions as very bad, 22% as bad and 12% as very good. Therefore, a majority of 59% in Lebanon are, according to the Arab Opinion Index survey enjoying a relatively safe environment.

The Lebanese and their economic conditions

Only 2% of the sample surveyed said their economic conditions were very good. 21% of the respondents branded them as very bad and 38% as bad, while a majority of 60% reported having good economic conditions.

44% feared their economic situation in the next 2 to 3 years would be worse than today. 42% expected no change, 13% hoped it would improve and 1% refused to answer.

The Lebanese and the political situation

The vast bulk of respondents, 65%, slammed the political situation in Lebanon as being extremely bad. 32% said it was bad and only 2% described it as good. These grim numbers reflect a pessimistic outlook towards the political affairs in the country.

When asked about their expectations for the political future, 66% of the respondents forecasted a deteriorating political situation, 7% were optimistic, 25% said it will remain the same and 1% refused to answer.

Priorities of the Lebanese

The bad economic conditions ranked as the number one priority for a majority of 22% of respondents. 21% cited political unrest as their top priority; 16% chose the lack of public services, 9% the lack of security and 8% the divisions between the Lebanese. Unemployment was a concern to 5% of the respondents while 4% prioritized the financial and administrative corruption. Other priorities and concerns were reported by 15% of the Lebanese surveyed.

Attitudes towards emigration

A majority of 67% expressed willingness to stay in Lebanon while 33% were inclined to migrate. Among those who showed a disposition to leave the country, 71% cited the pursuit of better economic conditions as their major impetus, 24% were motivated by the instability, 2% would leave for political reasons and 3% were motivated by miscellaneous reasons.

Canada was the ideal destination for 15% of the respondents willing to migrate; 14% cited the USA, 12% Europe, 11% France and 8% Germany.

Lebanon’s source of threats

75% of the respondents mentioned Israel as being the major threat to Lebanon while 9% referred to a neighboring Arab country. The answers of the remaining respondents were as follows: 5% named Iran, 4% the USA, 3% other countries and 4% gave no answer.

Attitudes towards Lebanese Army

Extreme confidence in the Lebanese Army was highlighted by 67% of the respondents; 11% said they somewhat trusted the army while 22% expressed complete or partial distrust in the Lebanese Army.

Attitudes towards the judiciary

Only 6% of the respondents said they strongly trusted the judiciary and 31% somewhat trusted it. The remaining 63% vacillated between being strongly or somewhat distrusting.

Attitudes towards MPs

The attitudes of the Lebanese towards their deputies aren’t any brighter as only 5% strongly trust their parliamentarians and 2% somewhat trust them. A majority of 73% strongly or partially distrust their MPs.

Attitudes towards financial and administrative corruption

A sweeping majority of 86% said corruption was very rampant in Lebanon; 9% said it was somewhat rampant and 5% thought there was hardly any corruption.

Attitudes towards political affairs

Those extremely interested in the political affairs accounted for 13% of the respondents against 30% extremely disinterested. 27% said they were concerned about political affairs while 31% were slightly concerned.

Attitudes towards media sources

29% of respondents cited Al-Jadeed TV as their primary source for political news. LBC ranked second with 19% of the viewers, followed by MTV at 13%. Al-Manar TV, Future TV and OTV are viewed equally by 9% of those surveyed. 3% said they rely on newspapers to stay up to date.

Attitudes towards the Internet

Over half of the respondents (51%) said they don’t use the Internet, whilst 26% are daily users of the internet, 12% use it several times a week, 5% several times a month and 6% use it very rarely.

Although the above results enforce the skepticism surrounding the accuracy and credibility of the survey as well as the sampling methods and their level of representation, we opted to assign them a column in this issue so that readers can make their own judgement and discern facts from fiction. 


 

 

شاهد الجدول كاملا

 

 

 

 

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شاهد الجدول كاملا

 

 

 

Economic conditions of the Arabs
 

Source: Arab Opinion Index