Voting And 'The Perception Gap'

In the run-up to the general election, surveys of British opinion have been showing a "perception gap" over public services — a divergence between the personal experience people report and their views of the trend in the quality of services generally.

In the run-up to the general election, surveys of British opinion have been showing a "perception gap" over public services — a divergence between the personal experience people report and their views of the trend in the quality of services generally.

This study, conducted with Prospect Magazine, explores why this could be occurring and more generally the impact of information on views of public services and government. Relatively large minorities of people do seem willing to modify their views when told about recent changes, but this depends on the issue and whether the information is sourced to the government or independent sources. See below for the full article.

Topline Results

  • 1,975 respondents aged 15+ across Great Britain
  • Interviews carried out face-to-face on the MORI Omnibus
  • Fieldwork conducted between 10-14 September 2004
  • Results based on all (1,975), unless otherwise stated
  • Results are weighted to the known population profile
  • An asterisk (*) denotes a finding of less than 0.5%, but greater than zero
  • Where figures do not add up to 100, this is due to multiple coding or computer rounding
  • For questions 12, 14, 16 and 18 half of the sample were shown figures sourced to the Government and the other half were shown figures sourced to an Independent organisation

Q1 On balance, do you feel that the NHS is getting better or worse, or staying about the same?

  %
Better 21
Worse 36
Staying about the same 37
Don't know 6

Q2 And on balance, do you feel that the quality of the police service is getting better or worse, or staying about the same?

  %
Better 20
Worse 37
Staying about the same 35
Don't know 8

Q3 Generally speaking, do you think that Britain's membership of the European Union is…?

  %
A very good thing for Britain 12
A fairly good thing for Britain 35
A fairly bad thing for Britain 22
A very bad thing for Britain 16
Don't know 15

Q4 And looking at this card, how successful would you say that the government's policies on asylum seekers are?

  %
Very successful 1
Fairly successful 17
Not very successful 37
Not at all successful 37
Don't know 8

I am going to read out a number of statements and I would like you to tell me which you think is closest to the truth. Firstly…

Q5 On nurses — do you think there are…

  %
around 14,000 more nurses in the NHS now than a year ago 20
around the same number of nurses in the NHS as a year ago 30
or around 5,000 fewer nurses now in the NHS than a year ago? 35
Don't know 15

Q6 And on hospital waiting lists — do you think there are…

  %
around 100,000 fewer people on waiting lists than a year ago 17
around the same number of people on waiting lists as a year ago 36
or around 50,000 more people on waiting lists than a year ago? 33
Don't know 13

Q7 Thinking about crime and policing, which of the following do you think is closest to the truth. Do you think overall crime has…

  %
fallen by around 20% over the last four years 15
stayed about the same over the last four years 28
or risen by around 15% over the last four years? 49
Don't know 8

Q8 And on numbers of police officers, do you think there are…

  %
around 11,000 more police officers than there were three years ago 32
around the same number of police officers as three years ago 34
or around 8,000 fewer police officers than there were three years ago? 22
Don't know 13

Q9 Turning to Europe, which of the following do you think is closest to the truth…

  %
on balance Britain gets £2.6 billion more from the European Union than we pay in - which is equivalent to an extra £44 for every person in the country 9
Britain gets about as much money out of the European Union as we pay in 19
on balance Britain pays in £2.6 billion more than we get out of the European Union - which is equivalent to a cost of £44 for every person in the country 40
Don't know 32

Q10 And on asylum, do you think that asylum seekers get…

  %
less in state benefits than UK citizens who are on income support 16
about the same in state benefits as UK citizens who are on income support 27
or more in state benefits than UK citizens who are on income support? 43
Don't know 14

Q11 And do you think the number of people applying for asylum in the UK has…

  %
increased by around 20% over the last two years 60
stayed around the same over the last two years 18
or decreased by around 30% over the last two years? 13
Don't know 9

Split sample — one half get following introduction

Official government figures show there were around 5,000 more doctors and around 14,000 more nurses in 2003 compared with 2002. Waiting lists for hospital beds have also fallen by around 100,000, according to government figures.

Other half get following

Figures from the independent health service watchdog show there were around 5,000 more doctors and around 14,000 more nurses in 2003 compared with 2002. Waiting lists for hospital beds have also fallen by around 100,000 according to independent figures.

Q12 Does this change your view that the NHS is [getting worse / staying the same], or not? Base: All who say NHS is same or worse: Shown Government figures (678); Shown Independent figures (757)

  Government Figures Independent Figure
  (678) (757)
  % %
Yes 16 23
No 80 73
Don't know 4 4

Q13 Why do you say that? Base: All who say no change in their view (1,108)

  (1,108)
  %
My personal experience of using the service is different 27
Don't believe these figures 18
Don't trust figures from government / this source 13
Local services are not improving 8
What I hear from family / friends is different 6
Don't think that these figures are relevant / important / there are other more important factors 6
What I hear from people who work in NHS is different 3
What I hear on radio / TV is different 2
What I read in national papers is different 2
What I read in local papers is different 1
Other 7
Don't know 6

Split sample — one half get following introduction

Official government figures show there were around 11,000 more police officers in 2003 than there were in 2001. Crime as a whole has also fallen by around 20% over the last few years according to government figures.

Other half get following

Figures from the independent watchdog for the police show there were around 11,000 more police officers in 2003 than there were in 2001. Crime as a whole has also fallen by around 20% over the last few years, according to independent figures.

Q14 Does this change your view that police services are [getting worse / staying the same], or not? Base: All who say the police services are the same or worse: Shown Government figures (674); Shown Independent figures (773)

  Government Figures Independent Figures
  (674) (773)
  % %
Yes 16 20
No 80 75
Don't know 4 5

Q15 Why do you say that? Base: All who say no change in their view (1,130)

  (1,130)
  %
My personal experience of the police is different 22
Don't believe these figures 19
Don't trust figures from government / this source 13
Local services are not improving 12
Don't think that these figures are relevant / important / there are other more important factors 7
What I hear from family / friends is different 4
What I hear on radio / TV is different 3
What I read in national papers is different 3
What I read in local papers is different 2
What I hear from people who work in the police is different 2
Other 9
Don't know 5

Split sample — one half get following introduction

Official government figures show that being a member of the European Union on balance costs Britain £2.6 billion a year, which is equivalent to around £44 for every person in the country.

Other half get following

Figures from an independent watchdog show that being a member of the European Union on balance costs Britain £2.6 billion a year, which is equivalent to around £44 for every person in the country.

Q16 Does this change your view that membership of the European Union is a good thing for Britain? Base: All who say the European Union is a good thing: Shown Government figures (421); Shown Independent figures (488)

  Government Figures Independent Figures
  (421) (488)
  % %
Yes 19 18
No 74 72
Don't know 7 9

Q17 Why do you say that? Base: All who say no change in their view (664)

  (664)
  %
Think membership of the EU is a good thing even if it costs/there are other benefits 59
Don't think that these figures are relevant / important / there are other more important factors 9
Don't believe these figures 7
Don't trust figures from government / this source 4
What I hear from family / friends is different 3
What I read in local papers is different 3
What I read in national papers is different 2
What I hear from people who work in government/EU is different 1
What I hear on radio/TV is different 1
Other 6
Don't know 5

Split sample — one half get following introduction

Official government figures show there were in fact around 21,000 fewer asylum applications in 2003 compared with 2001, which is a drop of around 30%. The number of asylum seekers actually granted asylum also fell from around 11,500 in 2001 to under 4,000 in 2003.

Other half get following

Figures from an independent organisation that monitors asylum issues show there were in fact around 21,000 fewer asylum applications in 2003 compared with 2001, which is a drop of around 30%. The number of asylum seekers actually granted asylum also fell from around 11,500 in 2001 to under 4,000 in 2003.

Q18 Does this change your view that the government's policies on asylum seekers are unsuccessful? Base: All who say the Government policies on asylum seekers are not very/not at all successful: Shown Government figures (701); Shown Independent figures (758)

  Government Figures Independent Figures
  (701) (785)
  % %
Yes 16 20
No 79 74
Don't know 4 6

Q17 Why do you say that? Base: All who say no change in their view (1,147)

  (1,147)
  %
Don't believe these figures 26
Don't trust figures from government / this source 18
Numbers of asylum seekers locally has gone up 17
Don't think that these figures are relevant / important / there are other more important factors 9
What I read in national papers is different 4
What I hear on radio/TV is different 4
What I hear from people who work in council / public services is different 3
What I read in local papers is different 3
What I hear from family / friends is different 2
Other 12
Don't know 3

Related news