Level 7 45 Johnston Street Wellington PO Box 10 617 Wellington 6143 0800 500 168 info@researchnz.com www.researchnz.com RESEARCH NZ TRUST & CONFIDENCE POLL A LITTLE ABOUT RESEARCH NZ Research New Zealand is the largest social and marketing research company in Wellington, providing customised social and market research and programme evaluation services in particular, specialising in public sector research. Research New Zealand is a member of the Research Association of New Zealand Inc. WHAT IS THE RESEARCH NEW ZEALAND TRUST AND CONFIDENCE POLL? This Poll is undertaken every three months (March, June, September and December) to measure and track the general public s trust and confidence in Government agencies, departments and ministries. The Poll has been undertaken since 2005 and, therefore, a significant time series is available for analysis. This Poll is conducted as part of our monthly Omnibus Survey. WHO IS THE POLL COMPLETED WITH? Each quarterly measure is completed with a nationally representative sample of n=500 New Zealanders, 18 years of age or more. Our Trust and Confidence Poll is a highly sensitive tool - Emanuel Kalafatelis, Managing Partner
WHAT ARE THE POLL QUESTIONS? The Poll is based on six core questions: 1. Unprompted awareness Without prompting, respondents are initially asked to name all the Government agencies, departments and ministries they are aware of. 2. Knowledge Respondents are then (currently) read a list of 22 public-facing Government agencies, departments and ministries and asked to name which of these the believe they have a good understanding of what they do and the services they provide. 3. Trust and Confidence Following this, for each of the Government agencies, departments and ministries they have a good understanding of, respondents are asked which ones they have trust and confidence in. 4. Trust and Confidence in the public sector overall To help place the results for individual Government agencies, departments and ministries into perspective, respondents are also asked whether they feel New Zealanders in general have trust and confidence in the public sector. 5. Change in Trust and Confidence They are also asked if they feel this level of trust and confidence in the public sector in general has increased, deteriorated or stayed the same in the last 12 months. 6. Trust and Confidence in local/regional councils Finally, and to provide further perspective, respondents are asked if they feel New Zealanders in general have trust and confidence in their local or regional council. IS THERE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASK ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? Clients who subscribe to the Poll are able to ask additional questions. Most clients typically ask two particular questions: In addition to the core questions a range of classification/ demographic questions is also asked. 1. A question which effectively tests respondents knowledge of the particular services provided by those Government agencies, departments and ministries they claim to have a good understanding the services they provide. 2. A question which identifies what respondents trust and confidence is based on (e.g. personal experience of the services provided, media coverage). This includes, but is not limited to, questions about: Age Gender Household structure Marital status Income Geographic location
HOW IS THE SAMPLE SELECTED? The sample is selected using a random digit dialling system. The telephone-numbers are largely computer-generated. We start with a list of phone numbers from the white pages and then go through and change the last digit for each phone number (e.g. 828 3546 becomes 828 3545 and 828 3547) to create additional phone numbers. Once a phone number has been selected, our interviewing team will call the household and ask to speak to a particular person based on their age and gender. Once this person has been identified, up to 5 calls are made to contact this person if they are not available in the first instance. After the interviewing has been completed, a process is completed to check the demographic representatitiveness of the achieved sample. Depending on the results of this process, the survey will be weighted using statistical information sourced from Statistics New Zealand. This ensures the survey results are truly representative of the adult population of New Zealand. HOW IS THE INTERVIEWING CONDUCTED? The interviewing for each omnibus survey is conducted by telephone from Research New Zealand s CATI-enabled call centre. This is a purpose-built, state-of-the-art interviewing facility which is Interviewer Quality Standard-accredited (our industry s highest quality standard). IQS ensures all survey interviewing is completed in accordance with ISO 20252 (the International Organisation for Standardisation). IQS is independently audited and we have held our accreditation for over 14 consecutive years. The call centre has the capacity to complete approximately 2,000 interviews per week, in three shifts, from 9 am to 8.30 pm weekdays (and weekends as necessary). We employ innovative techniques to ensure we engage successfully with any audience needing to be interviewed. For example, Maori and some Pacific and Asian peoples are given the option of being interviewed by a person of their own ethnic background. Our Field Department employs a full-time Field Manager, two permanent Surpervisors and two Quality Assessors. The Quality Assessors manage the verification of 5% of each interviewer s work by intercepting their interviews. In addition, 5% of respondents, from each survey an interviewer works on, are re-contacted to confirm that the interview took place and to check their responses to key questions.
HOW IS THE POLL REPORTED? Clients who subscribe to the Poll are provided with a standard written report on either a quarterly or six-monthly basis, depending on their subscription to the Poll. In addition to the results for the current Poll, each report provides the results for the previous three quarters and the results for a 12-month rolling average. Clients are also able to request demographic profiles of the respondents who have trust and confidence in their organisation, and those who do not. They are also able to access the historic Poll information. HOW ACCURATE ARE THE RESULTS? The sample of n=500 meets the minimum government threshold for population surveys, providing results which are subject to a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 4.4% (at the 95% confidence level). This is, under 5%. This means that if we found that 50% of the sample had trust and confidence in the public sector overall, we could be 95% sure we would have got the same result give or take 4.4%, had we interviewed everyone in the population. HOW LONG BEFORE THE RESULTS ARE READY? Please allow at least one month from start to finish. Questionnaire finalised If additional questions are to be added, they need to be finalised 3-5 days before interviewing is scheduled to begin. Interviewing conducted Interviewing generally takes 1-2 weeks. Results ready The results are ready within 10 days of the interviewing being completed.
WHAT IS THE ANNUAL POLL SUBSCRIPTION? The current annual Poll subscription, based on the six core questions, differs depending on how often a report is provided: Subscription type Annual cost (exclusive of GST) Quarterly reporting (based on the six core questions) $20,000 Six-monthly reporting (based on the six core questions) $15,000 Historical report $10,000 - $15,000 Clients who would like additional questions are charged on a per question basis. Depending on the nature of the question (i.e. single or multiple response versus an open-ended question), this is usually in the range of $1,500 to $2,000 (exclusive of GST). WHO SHOULD YOU CONTACT FOR FURTHER INFORMATION? To find out more about Research New Zealand s Trust and Confidence Poll, or to obtain a quotation, please contact: Emanuel Kalafatelis Managing Partner Katrina Magill Research Director DDI: 04 462 6401 DDI: 04 462 6432 Email: Emanuel.Kalafatelis@researchnz.com Email: Katrina.Magill@researchnz.com