Qatar University Unveils Qatar World Values Survey 2010

Doha, May 03 (QNA) - Qatar University s Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) unveiled today the Qatar World Values Survey (QWVS) 2010 which was carried out by the Institute in December last year.
The survey s findings were discussed at a press briefing conducted by SESRI Director Dr Darwish Al-Emadi and Head of Research, Dr Abdoulaye Diop.
It is Qatar s first WVS and the second such administered in a country in the Arab Gulf region.
The survey, designed and administered in accordance with the highest scientific and ethical standards, interviewed a large and representative sample of Qatari citizens and asked them to describe their social, economic, religious, and political values.
This initial fielding of the 2010 Qatar World Values Survey serves yet another purpose, one that corresponds to the larger goal of the world-wide WVS project, namely to construct a baseline for future studies that will be able to measure the extent, and causes, of value change in society. Measuring and explaining the changes in Qatari attitudes and values will provide valuable insights into the extent and causes of societal change in modern Qatar.
The 2010 Qatar World Values Survey interviewed a representative sample of Qatari citizens. It asked Qataris to describe their social, economic, religious, and political values, with the aim of studying changing values and their impact on social and political life. The survey was designed and administered in accordance with the highest scientific and ethical standards. Respondents were assured that their answers would be confidential.
The sample for the Qatar World Values Survey is designed to ensure the reliability and representativeness of statistical results derived from the data. A total of 1,455 households were sampled and 1,060 interviews completed, for a final response rate of 73% , and with a 3% margin of error.
Qatari respondents were asked to choose between the following top national priorities for the next 10 years: "economic growth"; "making sure this country has strong defense forces"; "seeing that people have more say about how things are done at their jobs and in their communities"; and "trying to make our cities and countryside more beautiful." Nearly two-thirds (64%) named economic growth as Qatar s highest priority, while (16%) identified more freedom, (15%) a strong national defense, and only (6%) concern for the environment.
The national priorities identified by Qataris correspond generally to those of other citizens in the Middle East, with the partial exception of Saudi respondents, who showed less concern for economic growth and more for national defense. More interestingly, though, both Saudi and Qatari respondents expressed a relatively high level of interest in giving people more say in work and community matters, naming this as the top priority of the upcoming decade at between two and three times the rate of those from Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey.
Contrary to the stereotype among some that Qataris and other Gulf Arabs are overly-reliant upon the state economically, Qatari respondents to the 2010 World Values Survey expressed little support for the idea that government should play the main role in providing for the people. In fact, Qataris as well as Saudis are much more likely to respond that individuals themselves, not government, should take responsibility.
Only (24%) of Qatari respondents answered that the government has the primary duty to provide for peoples economic needs. Conversely, a combined (55%) said that this is the job mostly (24%) or exclusively (31%) of individuals. Moreover, the pattern of Qatari responses closely matches that of respondents in Saudi Arabia, while respondents in Egypt, Jordan, and to a lesser extent Turkey indicated much higher demand for a government role in providing for individual welfare. Contrary to the image that Qataris and other Arabs of the Gulf region look primarily to the government for economic support, the WVS results indicate that popular attitudes in Qatar are more nearly the opposite.