The perennial question in responses to a public opinion survey in this country has always been "is the survey trustworthy?" Similar reservations were raised shortly after Kompas published the results of its survey on public opinion, held between Feb. 21 and 23. The three main themes in the survey included public opinion about the performance of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin’s Cabinet ministries, the dynamics of political party rivalries, and the electability of a number of prospective candidates for the next president. The survey’s results drew responses on both sides of the argument.
Those who found the results in their favor gave their appreciation.
However, those who found the results disappointing suspected the survey of being made up, illusory and contradictory to the actual condition of society. Some doubted the methodology of the survey. There were also those who contended the editorial motives of Kompas.
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Criticism and appreciation are common in the face of the publication of a survey. For more than three decades, Kompas, through its research and development (litbang) division, has conducted and published public surveys, and dissatisfaction with the survey results has been inevitable. Feeling of dissatisfaction at times turned into an expression of distrust. Quite often criticism was thrown at Kompas in an insinuating manner.
The buildup to the 2019 presidential election was noteworthy to Kompas in screening public opinion. Because of their dissatisfaction with the results, not only one but all rivalling political parties showed their distrust with the Kompas survey.
In the era of openness as today, people will be looking for legitimacy that satisfies their justification. Truth is becoming more and more relative.
We are well aware about the risk of presenting public opinion. An aggregation of opinions, despite being worked out in proper procedures, will at times draw a splutter of distrust. In the era of openness as today, people will be looking for legitimacy that satisfies their justification. Truth is becoming more and more relative. However, we believe the seeds sown out of accountable procedures shall not bear in vain. As time went by and the results of the 2019 election were announced, the noisy distrust in the wake of the Kompas survey wore down.
Being exposed to all kinds of public responses, the Kompas surveying team has actually been experiencing a maturity phase in research methodology, analysis of results and data interpretation. As part of a learning process, this kind of maturity will always be tested. To a certain extent, a survey must be able to find its relevance amid public rebuttals.
The ombudsman forum, which has been set up as part of public control over the Kompas newsroom’s undertakings, took a look into the issue. In a discussion forum related to the survey results (18/3/2022), all issues were brought up. A survey as a means to evaluating the government’s performance, for example, cannot be separated from the newsroom’s policy that the media institution utilizes surveys as part of its participation in monitoring governance. Kompas has been consistent in this field throughout the state leadership, from the era of Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to incumbent Joko Widodo.
In terms of methodology, this periodic survey uses a relatively common standard. Various indicators of public perception are developed and observed to assess the changes in a certain time unit (longitudinal survey). The reference for research quality criteria, related to both external and internal validity, is relatively stable. Various aspects of the limitations of the survey, both those categorized as sampling errors and non-sampling errors, are identified.
All survey findings were published in 26 news articles that were linked to all Kompas media platforms. For the print edition of Kompas, for example, the readers were presented with 10 articles. The number of survey articles on the Kompas e-paper increased to 23 pieces while for Kompas.id, there were 26 articles. The articles included a total of 78 charts.
The message was, apart from the high public satisfaction at the time of the survey – it was even the highest compared to the previous assessment period – that there were still gaps in specific issues that needed to be addressed.
The number of published articles and survey charts had been adjusted in complement to the text and the context of the issues discussed. Regarding the assessment of government leadership performance, for instance, the survey results showed an increase in public satisfaction when the survey was conducted in January 2022, compared to the previous survey in October 2021. The message was, apart from the high public satisfaction at the time of the survey – it was even the highest compared to the previous assessment period – that there were still gaps in specific issues that needed to be addressed.
It was so said because high public appreciation of the government could not be separated from the declining impact of the pandemic, which made it possible for normal daily activities for the community. However, at the end of the pandemic, the challenge ahead would not be easy for the government, especially when facing demands for solving problems in the new normal, such as the trend of rising prices for basic goods, poverty and problems in law enforcement.
Unfortunately, the ombudsman noted that not all messages were conveyed to the public in their entirety. Discontinuity of agenda setting occurred. Not all readers could access the linked messages on all platforms. It was within this context of limitation that one-sided interpretation took place. Each reader might become free to interpret and judge the survey based on the perspective they built.
Apart from the ongoing survey debate, however, the survey organizers deserved to take the fruits of this learning. Isn’t it that the traces of maturity can only be seen throughout the learning process from facing various pressures of the problems?
Bestian Nainggolan, Member of ‘Kompas’ Ombudsman
(This article was translated by Musthofid)
