2003 Public Opinion Survey Frequency Tables

Ideology has become a keyword for understanding our society. This trend signifies that it has not only become an essential concept for comprehending domestic politics, economy, society, and culture, but has also served as a useful analytical standard in the analysis of foreign security affairs. Accordingly, EAI has been surveying the ideological issues of our society annually since May 2002. The survey has approximately two objectives. First, to empirically understand the content and standards of ideology in Korean society. Second, to grasp the differences and changes that the shifts in social reality create in the ideological distribution of public perception.

Generally, ideology refers to relatively stable and established value orientations. However, the content of ideology is continuously updated over time and with changes in reality, rather than being fixed. Therefore, in Korean society, which is experiencing rapid socio-economic changes, the ideological orientations and characteristics embedded in the consciousness of the public are bound to be variable. This implies that the task of elucidating the ideological characteristics and meaning of a society cannot be accomplished through a one-time study. This is precisely why EAI has been conducting periodic political and social opinion polls. Researchers have identified about ten issues that emerge as ideological conflicts in the political, economic, social, and foreign security domains, and have tracked the paths and causes of ideological change over time. To this end, a significant portion of the questionnaires used in the past were employed.

Survey Design

Survey Target: Adult men and women aged 20 and over
Survey Region: Nationwide
Valid Sample: 1,006 individuals
Survey Method: Telephone survey
Sampling Error: ±3.1% points (95% confidence level)
Survey Date: May 28, 2003
Sponsoring Institution: Hankook Ilbo
Planning and Analysis: EAI