Global Poll Shows World Perceived As More Dangerous Place

After Passage Of 50 Years Worrying Gaps Appear In Global Public's Awareness Of The Significance Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki

Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA: May 16, 2002- Criminal violence, not terrorism, heads the list of concerns about safety and security for citizens in eleven countries, including the USA, according to the majority of citizens in an eleven-country poll conducted by the Centre for Public Opinion and Democracy at the Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues, University of British Columbia in association with the Simons Centre and the Japanese Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

Though most respondents among the over 6000 polled feel that the world has become a more dangerous place, there is less consensus on what can be done and who will take a leadership position in order to make the world a safer place. Further, only in the United States do a majority of citizens believe that the missile defense system approved by the Bush administration will create a "safer" world - in fact, in nine of the eleven countries surveyed majorities believe that the initiative will make the world a more dangerous place.

To view the entire release and tables, please open the attached PDF file.

Research Methods

Current survey questions were placed on international polling firm Ipsos-Reid's Global Express, a quarterly international omnibus survey (www.ipsos-reid.com). Interviews were conducted between February 20 and March 20, 2002 with 6,036 adults (ages 18+) across 11 countries.

• The target sample size in each country was 500, except for the United States where 1,000 interviews were conducted. Within each country, the survey results can be said to be within 177 4.5 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult population been surveyed; 177 3.1 percentage points in the United States.
• In 7 of these 11 surveyed countries, the samples provide full national coverage with data collection via randomized telephone interviewing.
• Door-to-door interviewing was used for the remaining non-national samples of Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa where the sample coverage was limited to the largest urban areas; all social classes (SECs) were included in these urban sample frames. Country level data were weighted to match the latest available census data to ensure that the samples were demographically representative of the adult population in the surveyed areas. Cross country total percentages have also been weighted to reflect each country's or area's proportional share of the sample.

The Centre for Public Opinion and Democracy

Located at the Liu Centre on the main campus of the University of British Columbia, Canada, the Centre for Public Opinion and Democracy was established to undertake original research and secondary analysis of existing studies in the growing field of global public opinion. For further information contact UBCGlobal.net.

University of British Columbia 6476 N.W. Marine Drive Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6T 1Z2

--30-- For more information on this news release, please contact: Dr. Angus Reid Executive Director, Centre for Public Opinion and Democracy Phone: +1 604 697 0027 Email: [email protected] Julie Wagemakers Program Manager Phone: +1 604 822 4288 Email: [email protected]