Project Understanding: the global refugee crisis

Welcome to the latest edition of Ipsos Understanding Society. You will notice from the title — Project Understanding — that this is a special edition of our on-going series of publications on social issues.

In the face of the global refugee crisis, Ipsos has taken a stand by funding Project Understanding, a major research program in 30 countries and involving many Ipsos researchers from across our service lines and country teams.

The purpose of the research is to drive the public debate about refugees out of the stalemate and to discover the keys to unlock public hearts and minds on refugee issues. What we will deliver to refugee advocates across the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors in an effective messaging approach to help them win the public opinion battle in support of refugees.

The research program consists of four integrated phases:

• Desk research of available information on refugees and public opinion.
• Qualitative research on opinions, attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs about refugees among the general public in six countries through two focus groups per country.
• Quantitative research on opinions, attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs about refugees among the general public in 27 countries.
• Social media research in nine countries examining digital opinion formation and refugee issues.

Based on what we’ve seen from the research so far, it will provide a step change in how we talk about refugee issues, and guidance on a pathway to creating a new understanding of refugee issues.

Download our report now.