Tuesday, March 16, 2004

BBC Iraqi survey: it's good to have data, esp. positive data

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Survey finds hope in occupied Iraq
... of the 2,500 people questioned, 85% said the restoration of public security must be a major priority.

Opinion was split about who should be responsible, with an Iraqi government scoring highest.

Creating job opportunities was rated more likely to improve security effectively than hiring more police.

Seventy percent of people said that things were going well or quite well in their lives, while only 29% felt things were bad.

And 56% said that things were better now than they were before the war.

On a quick reading this BBC survey sounds like it might be better done than most surveys. It may actually say something useful. I don't think 70% of Americans feel things are going well or quite well in their lives, this fits with happiness research which emphasizes the effect of relativity. Prosperity is not as important to happiness as is exceeding expectations and feeling improvement. More than half thought their lives were getting better compared to before the start of the war (the sanctions period). Security was felt to be the responsibility of the Iraqi government.

This has to boost the morale of our soldiers.

No comments: