DOI: 10.3886/icpsr35040
title: Arab Barometer: Public Opinion Survey Conducted in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen, 2010-2011
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 second wave of the Arab Barometer, respondents in the countries of Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen were queried regarding (1) general questions, (2) evaluation of political institutions and political attitudes, (3) elections and parliament, (4) the media, (5) democracy, (6) social, religious and cultural topics, and (7) the Arab world and international relations. In Egypt and Tunisia, additional questions were included related to the events of the Arab Spring. In regards to general questions, respondents were asked to give their opinion on the current overall and future economic condition of their countries, the current economic situation of their families, the safety of their locality, and levels of interpersonal trust. 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. Further, participants were asked about the ease of obtaining services from the government, the present political situation, the performance of their country's current government, problems facing their country, citizen freedoms, corruption and the use of "wasta" (personal influence or connections). Concerning elections and parliament, questions focused on electoral participation, the fairness of elections, and important qualities in a candidate for office. On the subject of the media, questions included the respondent's main source of political information, media bias, media censorship, and use of the internet. Concerning democracy, respondents were asked questions about their opinions on political competition and reform, participation in political dissent, their opinions on the characteristics of democracy, their opinions about various political system, the degree to which, on a given list of countries, each is a democracy, and how suitable democracy is for the respondents' respective countries. Regarding social, religious and cultural topics, respondents gave their views on the lottery, choosing a spouse, the interpretation of Islam in present-day issues, and the behavior and situation of women in Muslim society. Additional queries included the degree to which religion should influence voting in elections, government decisions, and legislation. The final topic for all countries, the Arab world and international affairs, questions were asked about the Arab world lagging behind other regions, the United States' role in the Middle East, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Additionally, in Egypt and Tunisia, respondents were asked about their participation in and views of the events associated with the Arab Spring. Demographic variables include age, gender, education, income, employment status, occupation, marital status, and religious preference and practices.
description: Please refer to the Technical Information and Processing Notes section in the ICPSR Codebook for weighting information.
description: Response Rates: Estimated 75+ percent
description: The survey represents a national probability sample design of adults 18 years and older in each country. The surveys were conducted face-to-face in Arabic and used a complex sample design, including stratification and clustering. For more detailed sampling information regarding the methods used in each individual country, please refer to the Technical Information section in the ICPSR Codebook.
description: Datasets: DS1: Arab Barometer: Public Opinion Survey Conducted in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen, 2010-2011
description: Citizens of Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen aged 18 years and older. Smallest Geographic Unit: country
description: face-to-face interview; paper and pencil interview (PAPI)The 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.Dates of data collection vary by country; please see Technical Information section in the ICPSR Codebook for further information.Additional information about the Arab Barometer project can be found at the Arab Barometer Web site.