Malaysia's 13th General Election: Political Communication and Public Agenda in Social Media

Sern, Tham Jen,Zanuddin, Hasmah Center for Asian Public Opinion ResearchCollaborat 2014 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.1 No.2

Everyone has a voice and can broadcast it to the world. We hear about the old maxim of media do not tell people what to think but what to think about. Under this theory or approach, a key function of political communication is to make the public think about an issue in a way that is favorable to the sender of the message. In a democracy, political communication is seen as crucial for the building of a society where the state and its people feel they are connected. Thus, this is a study on how social media (e.g., Facebook, blogs, and YouTube) were used in the domain of Malaysian politics during the 13th general election campaigning period in order to set the agenda to form public opinion. The study found that Facebook was the most popular social media tool that political parties actively engaged with during the 13th general election campaign period. Apart from that, issues pertaining to the election were significantly highlighted by the political parties in social media, especially Facebook. However, other issues that were also important to the people such as the economy, crime, and education were not sufficiently highlighted during the election campaign period. This indicates that the political parties influence the public on what to think about using social media.

Trends in Research on Communication and Media in Indonesia: The Micro Meta-Analysis on Perspective, Theory, and Methodology

Bajari, Atwar Center for Asian Public Opinion ResearchCollaborat 2017 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.5 No.1

The political reformation in Indonesia is a determinant factor of the change in political communications and the roles of media. Currently, the political elites need media support, since it contextually has a significant role. Whoever has a good relationship with the media, will be loved by the public. On the other hand, the media also have a vested interest in the elite in running businesses and building the power of industry. Policies and capital pose a challenge to maintaining the continuity of the media. Independence and control of media are at stake, when the interests of the media and the elite collaborate with each other and then build a benefit on both sides. Meanwhile, the role of social media also cannot be neglected. The Indonesian political communication system is characterized by the presence of social media in a pseudo-relationship between the elite and the public. This paper tries to explain the growing trends of research in the academic environment and the research trends in political practice in Indonesia after the occurrence of post-reformation era in legislative and executive elections. The method used is the meta-analysis of research outcomes of university (dissertations) and secondary data sources. Data processing is done by meta-analysis of secondary data. The results of meta-analysis research indicate that, the objective conditions, in Indonesia, especially the political conditions, stimulate new spaces in communication research. The study of political communication becomes dominant in the academic environment. In addition, communication research is also characterized by a shift from the linear perspective (positivistic paradigm) to the interactive perspective (naturalistic paradigm). On the other hand, the development of politic and governance situations in Indonesia has prompted the establishment of polling agencies that help citizens understand the maps of political power and candidates in general elections and regional head elections.

Foreign Affairs, the National Interest, and Secular-Religious Identities in Israel

Hamanaka, Shingo Center for Asian Public Opinion ResearchCollaborat 2016 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.3 No.4

Despite being a key concept of International Relations theory, there is no consensus about what the national interest is. It is almost impossible for political leaders of democratic states to make a crucial decision in foreign policies when considering only the national interest without public support. Rather, we are unable to imagine the national interest without public opinion. In general, international crises galvanize people who held different opinions and unify social cleavages, such as secular-religious identities, into a nation that acts in its national interest. The author proposes a method to operationalize the key concept and describes a relationship between the national interest and religious identities in a democratic state. The selected case is the state of Israel. It is believed that Israel is a good example to think about the association between foreign affairs and political attitudes since it is characterized as a socio-religious divided society and has often waged war against Arab military forces.

Evaluating the Quality of Public Services Through Social Media

Wilantika, Nori,Wibisono, Septian Bagus Center for Asian Public Opinion ResearchCollaborat 2021 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.9 No.3

Public services need to be evaluated regularly to identify areas that need further improvement. Data collection via Twitter is affordable and timely, so it has the potential to be utilized to evaluate the quality of public service. This study utilizes tweets mentioning three service units of the provincial government of Jakarta and applies both sentiment analysis and topic classification to predict a rating/score of public service quality. The research goal is to examine if the evaluation of public services based on social media data is possible. The findings indicate that the use of Twitter has an advantage in terms of sample size and variety of opinions. Tweets can be translated into scores as well. Nonetheless, the representativeness issue and the predominance of complaint tweets can affect the reliability of the results.

Life Satisfaction in China 2013: A Survey Study in Two Main Chinese Cities

Zhou, Baohua,Zheng, Bofei,Li, Shuanglong,Tong, Bing Center for Asian Public Opinion ResearchCollaborat 2014 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.2 No.1

The Chinese economic growth rate has been much higher than many countries of the world for many years now. Nowadays, China is experiencing significant economic transformation and structural adjustment. Its speed of development is slowing, and housing and commodity prices are slowly rising. Consequently, a series of economic and social problems have come into being. Under these circumstances, how satisfied are Chinese people on the seven aspects of daily living such as Housing Situation, Household Income, Health, Family Life, Food, Human Relations and Job? The Media and Public Opinion Research Center of Fudan University (FMORC) conducted a phone survey of 606 people living in Beijing, the capital and political and cultural center of China, and Shanghai, the Chinese economic center. The survey results show that the overall satisfaction of Chinese people with their daily life is high. The levels of Family Life and Human Relations are on the top, those of Food, Health and Jobs are listed from the third to the fifth, and satisfaction levels of their Housing Situation and Household Income are on the bottom. The satisfaction levels of males with their Family Life and Health are higher than those of females. Age has a significantly negative correlation with satisfaction with personal health. Monthly income has positive relationships with four aspects of daily life - house income, job, house situation, and family life. Owning a house in cities is another important factor that influences satisfaction with the house situation, house income, food, and family life. Shanghai residents also show higher satisfaction with their health than Beijing residents.

Media Use and Political Participation in China: Taking Three National Large-N Surveys as Examples

Miao, Hongna Center for Asian Public Opinion ResearchCollaborat 2019 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.7 No.1

In the age of continuous media change and the coexistence of multiple forms of media, the relationship between the public's media use and political participation is an urgent area of study. This paper makes use of large national sample surveys from 2002, 2011, and 2015, summarizes the change of the public's media use by descriptive statistics analysis, and finds that while the Internet has become an important communication channel, the use of Internet for political information and political participation is still overestimated. Compared to the weak impact of different media channels for political information on political participation, the frequency of media exposure and Internet use play a significant role in political participation. Because of the negative effect of the frequency of Internet use on political participation, the democratization function of the Internet needs to be treated with caution. This paper describes media use and its roles in contemporary China, analyzes the impact of media use on political participation, and extends the cross-cultural application of the theory of political communication.

The Power of Living in the Present Moment among Patients with Diabetes

Thearmtanachok, Kanchana Center for Asian Public Opinion ResearchCollaborat 2015 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.2 No.2

"Living in the present moment," a Buddhist concept, was applied in this research. This concept urges the patients to cling neither to the past nor the future as well as being mindful of their body, feelings, mind, and mental qualities. The purpose of the study was to develop a "living in the present moment" model and to evaluate the power of "living in the present moment" in terms of physical and mental results. The study used non-participatory action research with quasi-experimental research design that included 3 camps composed of 6 main activities. The percentages, SD, and paired t-test statistics were used to analyze and compare 17 purposively selected diabetic patients from Pak Thong Chai Hospital before and after they attended the 3 camps. The patients improved significantly in terms of waistline, body weight, body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (SBP and DBP). The mean of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level was also changed considerably. The results revealed that the treatment helped the patients to gain self-awareness and self-realization (Yonisomanasikara), as well as knowledge and increased support from friends (Kalyanamitta). They also let go of their attachment to their physical and mental oppressions. This helped the patients to relieve their daily pain, fatigue, insomnia, and diabetes-related complications. About 75% of all patients were able to achieve lifestyle modifications. Therefore, implementation of the model should be expanded and utilized in other diabetic centers. The model might also be expanded to pre-diabetes.

Socioeconomic Changes and Value Modernization in China: Changes and Continuity 1993-2011

Wang, Zhengxu Center for Asian Public Opinion ResearchCollaborat 2015 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.2 No.3

As China's economic development brings the country out of poverty and into modernity, a long-lasting debate concerns whether the Chinese public's value system is also changing toward the so-called "modern values," or whether some distinctly traditional Chinese values remain unchanged. Using empirical data collected at three points in time during the 1990s and the first two decades of the 21st Century (1993, 2002, and 2011), I found that Chinese citizens who benefitted from urbanization, rising levels of education and employment in non-farm, knowledge-based industries displayed stronger modern values. People with stronger modern values are more likely to emphasize individual autonomy, competition, gender equality, and market transaction, among others. Some characteristics of the Chinese people, most importantly family values, however, seem to remain stable amidst rapid social changes.

The Effect of Attitudes Toward Breastfeeding in Public on Breastfeeding Rates and Duration: Results from South Korea

LoCASCIO, Sarah Prusoff,Cho, Hee Won Center for Asian Public Opinion ResearchCollaborat 2017 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.4 No.4

Background: Attitudes toward breastfeeding in public are one potential barrier to optimal breastfeeding rates and durations. Method: Questions about breastfeeding experience and attitudes toward breastfeeding in public were asked in face-to-face interviews as part of the Korean Academic Multimode Open Survey (KAMOS), May-July, 2017. The response rate was 65.8% (2000 respondents nationwide). Results: A majority of Koreans disagreed (1 or 2 on a 4-point scale) with the statement "Women should not breastfeed their child in open, public places" (53.9%) and agreed (3 or 4 on the 4-part Likert scale) with the statements "I do not feel uncomfortable seeing women breastfeed their child in open, public places" (64.0%) and "Breastfeeding a baby, instead of letting the baby cry, in public places is better for other people" (71.8%). However, despite these generally positive attitudes, the majority also said that they would not breastfeed in public (57.4% of women) or, in the case of men, would not want a close female relative to do so (63.8% of men). Breastfeeding in public was positively correlated with the duration of breastfeeding. People were more positive about breastfeeding in public if they: were parents; did not use formula and breastfeeding a similar amount; had children who had been breastfed in public; were older; were Buddhists rather than Christians. An attempt was made to compare attitudes toward breastfeeding in public and breastfeeding durations internationally, but was inconclusive due to not perfectly comparable data. Conclusion: Our results may be useful in planning public health campaigns in South Korea or future attempts at international comparisons to better understand and address the effect of public opinion regarding breastfeeding in public on breastfeeding rates and durations.

The Impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident on People's Perception of Disaster Risks and Attitudes Toward Nuclear Energy Policy

Iwai, Noriko,Shishido, Kuniaki Center for Asian Public Opinion ResearchCollaborat 2015 Asian journal for public opinion research Vol.2 No.3

Multiple nationwide opinion surveys, carried out by the government (cabinet office), major media (national newspapers and NHK), the National Institute for Environmental Studies, and the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, have revealed that the Fukushima nuclear accident has heightened people's perception of disaster risks, fear of nuclear accidents, and increased recognition of pollution issues, and has changed public opinion on nuclear energy policy. The opinion gap on nuclear energy policy between specialists and lay people has widened since the disaster. The results of the Japanese General Social Survey data show that objections to the promotion of nuclear energy are strong among females, and weaker among young males and the supporters of the LDP. These findings are similar to the data collected after the Chernobyl accident. People who live in a 70km radius of nuclear plants tend to evaluate nuclear disaster risks higher. Distance from nuclear plants and the perception of earthquake risk interactively correlate with opinions on nuclear issues. Among people whose evaluation of earthquake risk is low, those who live nearer to the plants are more likely to object to the abolishment of nuclear plants. It was also found that the nuclear disaster has changed people's behavior; they now try to save electricity. The level of commitment to energy saving is found to relate to opinions on nuclear issues.