PORI Express: Chung’s Blunt Words (Reposts from Facebook Page “Chung’s Blunt Words”)

2022-12-11

The Ones and Twos of Opinion Research

Mao Zedong’s merits and demerits were split 70-30, according to Deng Xiaoping in 1980. Deng Xiaoping’s own split was also 70-30, according to surveys conducted by the POP Team in February 1997. We do not have any data on Jiang Zemin.

In February 1997, the POP Team summarized Hong Kong people’s appraisal of the merits and faults of modern Chinese leaders, including Deng Xiaoping, Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai Shek, with figures obtained in 1995, 1996 and 1997. Now we don’t have any. Is it a loss? We leave it to the historians.

Do we need these conclusions? This is a question for historians, but for the basis of such conclusions, opinion researchers may be able to help. However, history is constantly being rewritten, and public opinion is always on the change, so the questions of when is the best time and what is the best conclusion cannot be easily answered.

...Read MoreChina’s first emperor has died for more than 2,000 years, the appraisal of his rule is still inconclusive. Scientists recently announced that DNA samples collected from Greenland permafrost can be traced back to 2 million years ago. They had the samples 16 years ago, but could only wait until now for technology to advance.

The same is true for our team. The conditions are not yet mature and the risk is not yet released, there is no rush to conclude any research. We will preserve the data as much as we can, just like scientists preserving their DNA samples, in order to facilitate future research.