香港大學民意研究計劃今日如期在《港大民意網站》(http://hkupop.hku.hk)發放市民對「言論」、「新聞」、「出版」及「遊行示威」四項自由指標的最新調查結果。《民意網站》一般逢星期二下午二時於網上公佈定期調查結果，公眾假期除外，並同時預告來週的發放項目。《民意網站》會定期對該等安排作出檢討及調整。

按照計劃，《民意網站》下次發放數據的日期及時間為十月二十九日星期二下午二時，屆時將會發放市民對特首董建華的最新評分、市民對特區政府的滿意程度，及其對特區及北京中央政府信任程度的最新調查結果。另外，網站亦將同時公佈有關香港法治狀況的最新調查結果。

根據《民意網站》今日發佈的調查結果，市民對「言論」、「新聞」、「出版」及「遊行示威」四項自由指標的最新（十月二至七日）評分，以十分為滿分，「出版自由」所得的評分最高，為7.12分；「新聞自由」及「言論自由」分別得7.05及6.94分；而「遊行示威自由」則錄得6.13分。相較七月中的結果，市民對四項自由指標的評分均顯著下跌，當中以「遊行示威自由」的跌幅最大，達0.62分；「言論自由」及「出版自由」分別下跌0.43及0.42分；「新聞自由」則下跌0.31分。

《民意網站》今日所載的最新調查，屬於訪員執行的隨機抽樣電話訪問，目標對象皆為十八歲或以上之操粵語的香港市民，受訪人數超過一千人。在九成半置信水平下，各項自由指標的抽樣誤差為少於正負0.14分。所謂「九成半置信水平」，是指倘若以不同隨機樣本重複進行有關調查100次，則95次的結果會在正負誤差之內。各界人士如對《民意網站》所載調查的方法有任何疑問，研究組的成員會樂於解答，但不會在現階段就調查結果作出評述。此等安排將會在人手充裕後再作檢討。《民意網站》由民意研究計劃主任鍾庭耀博士負責，與香港大學立場無關。

The Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong today releases on schedule via the "HKU POP SITE" (http://hkupop.hku.hk) the latest results on the four subjective freedom indicators. POP's normal practice is to release the results of our regular surveys every Tuesday at 2 pm via our POP Site, except during public holidays, each time with a forecast of the items to be released in the forthcoming week. We will review and adjust this operation regularly.

According to this schedule, the date and time of our next release will be October 29, 2002, Tuesday, at 2 pm, the latest rating of CE Tung Chee-hwa, people's satisfaction with the HKSAR Government, as well as their trust in the HKSAR and Beijing Central Governments will be released. We will also release the latest findings from a series of questions related to the rule of law in Hong Kong.

According to the latest (October 2-7) findings released today, of the four subjective indicators on Hong Kong's freedom of "speech", "press", "publication" and "procession and demonstration", on a scale of 0-10, "publication" freedom scored the highest rating of 7.12 marks. "Press" and "speech" freedoms scored 7.05 and 6.94 marks respectively while that of "procession and demonstration" scored 6.13 marks. Compared with the results obtained in mid-July, all ratings have dropped significantly, with "procession and demonstration" having the biggest drop of 0.62 mark. "Speech" and "publication" have also dropped by 0.43 and 0.42 marks respectively, while a drop of 0.31 mark was registered for "press" freedom.

The new survey reported in the POP Site today is a random telephone survey conducted by interviewers, targeting at Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong of age 18 or above. The sample size of the survey is over 1,000 respondents. At 95% confidence level, the sampling error of the four freedom indicators is less than plus/minus 0.14 mark. That means if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. Shall anyone have any question regarding the research design of the surveys published in the POP Site, members of the POP Team will be happy to answer them, but we will not comment on the findings at this stage. Such an arrangement would be reviewed when more resources are available. Please note that Dr CHUNG Ting-yiu Robert, Director of Public Opinion Programme, is solely responsible for the work published in the POP Site, which does not represent the stand of the University of Hong Kong.