AsiaBarometer, 2004

The AsiaBarometer, 2004 represents a cross-national effort
to study the lives of the peoples of East and Southeast Asia on
physical, psychological, and sociological dimensions. The project was
designed to capture the extent to which respondents experience the
affective and cognitive qualities of life, focusing on their
assessments of their own lives as well as their relationships to
family, neighborhood, workplace, social institutions, political
institutions, and the marketplace. Attitudes toward development,
democracy, and regionalization were examined, as were the types of
goods and services desired and consumer habits. Respondents were
queried on their overall personal satisfaction as well as their
satisfaction with their friendships, family life, marriage, standard
of living, housing, household income, health, education, neighbors,
job, leisure time, public safety, the condition of the environment,
the social welfare system, and the political system. Data were
gathered on the respondents' personal priorities and those they had
for their children, as well as their level of trust in others, their
inclination to help others, and what characteristics and affiliations
they used to identify themselves. Respondents were asked to rate the
efficacy of their national governments in handling the economy,
political corruption, human rights, unemployment, crime, public
services, immigration, ethnic conflict, religious conflict, and
environmental problems. Additional questions asked whether government
officials were responsive to problems of the general population, what
type of political systems respondents favored, and the extent to which
the national government, the local government, the army, the legal
system, the police, the national legislative branch (e.g., Parliament,
Congress), the public education system, large domestic companies,
multinational companies, trade/labor unions, the media, and other
nongovernmental organizations (e.g., environmental, social advocacy
groups, and nonprofit organizations) could be trusted to operate in
the best interests of society. Participants were asked which
macro-socioeconomic issues they were most concerned with and what
matters they believed the government should spend more or less on.
Respondents were polled on their level of personal involvement in
political, governmental, and community affairs, the inclusiveness of
the government, and their perspectives on the importance of political
and electoral participation. Additional questions addressed respondent
exposure to and opinions of foreign companies, peoples, governments,
and cultures. Market analysis inquiries included what products
respondents owned, planned to own in the near future, or desired to
own, as well as what consumer services they had used or would like to
use. Respondents were asked about their modes of transportation, their
current types of residence, whether or not they planned to own their
own residences, and the availability of public utilities. Respondents
were surveyed on what foreign and domestic companies they were
familiar with and which forms of media they used to obtain consumer
and political information. Background information includes age, sex,
occupation, employment status, household income, family structure,
number of people in household, number of children, education, marital
status, English proficiency, religious affiliation, and religious
participation.