DOI: 10.3886/icpsr26581
title: Arab Barometer: Public Opinion Survey Conducted in Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Bahrain 2006-2009
title: Archival Version

description: The Arab Barometer is a multicountry social survey designed to assess citizen attitudes about public affairs, governance, and social policy in the Arab World, and to identify factors that shape these attitudes and values. In this first round of the Arab Barometer, respondents in the countries of Jordan, Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Yemen, Bahrain and Palestine were queried regarding (1) economic questions, (2) evaluation of political institutions, political participation, and political attitudes, (3) identity and nationalism, (4) politics and religion, (5) religiosity, and (6) the Arab world and international affairs. In regards to economic questions, respondents were asked to give their opinion on the current overall and future economic condition of their countries, and the current economic situation of their families. On the topic of evaluation of political institutions, political participation, and political attitudes, respondents gave their opinions on how much trust they had in political institutions such as political parties, police, parliament, the courts, and the prime minister, their involvement in organizations, whether people can be trusted, city safety, election participation, and the fairness of elections. Further, participants were asked about the ease of obtaining services from the government, the present political situation, their political interest and main source of political information, and their support of the government. Other questions asked their opinions on political competition and reform, participation in political dissent, their opinions on the characteristics of democracy, the degree to which, on a given list of countries, each is a democracy, and how suitable democracy is for the respondents' respective countries. The remaining questions asked respondents for their opinions of various political systems, the performance of their country's current government, problems facing their country, citizen freedoms, corruption, and qualifications for national leadership. Concerning identity and nationalism, respondents were asked how they view themselves, what affiliations were most important, which groups they wished to have as neighbors, what they thought of emigration, and pride in their country. On the subject of politics and religion, queries included the degree to which religion should influence voting in elections, government decisions, and legislation. Regarding religiosity, respondents gave their views on the lottery, choosing a spouse, the interpretation of Islam in present-day issues, the behavior and situation of women in Muslim society, and a person's qualifications for a government job. The final topic, the Arab world and international affairs, questions were asked about the Arab world lagging behind other regions, the effectiveness of the Arab League, whether certain events were part of terrorist operations, the United States' role in the Middle East, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Additional topics include internet use, time spent in Western countries, and citizen disputes and the use of "wasta" (personal influence or connections). Demographic variables include age, gender, education, employment status, occupation, marital status, religious preference and practices, individual and family income, and country of origin.
description: The data are not weighted
description: Response Rates: Estimated greater than 75%
description: Please refer to the "Field Reports" section under Original P.I. Documentation in the ICPSR Codebook for sampling information. Additional sampling information about the Arab Barometer project can also be found at the
Arab Barometer Web site.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Arab Barometer: Public Opinion Survey Conducted in Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Bahrain 2006-2009
description: Citizens of Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Bahrain, and Yemen aged 18 years and older. Smallest Geographic Unit: country
description: face-to-face interviewThe Arab Barometer survey was carried out within the framework of the Global Democracy Barometer Project.Although representatives from the participating country teams met regularly both in the Arab world and in the United States for the purpose of making decisions about the content and methodology of the Arab Barometer surveys, please note that there are nonetheless a few instances in which data collection procedures led to differences in one or more countries in question wording or response codes.Not all questions in the survey instrument were asked in each country. Please refer to the "P.I. Processing Notes" section of the ICPSR Codebook under Original P.I. Documentation for further information.Additional information about the Arab Barometer project can be found at the
Arab Barometer Web site.