Pretty interesting survey results of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. We should have a similar survey on Gupshup
Indians gloomy about their present lives but hopeful of improvement in near future
Wed Dec 4, 7:12 PM ET
WASHINGTON - The following is a summary of results for India from the 2002 Global Attitudes Survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, based in Washington.
Personal Life:
_Personal contentment is especially low among Indian respondents, just 17 percent give a positive assessment of their lives (7 or higher on a scale of zero to 10), compared with 23 percent and 25 percent in neighboring China and Pakistan, and more than 50 percent in North American and Western European nations. Outside of Africa, only Bangladeshi and Bulgarian respondents are gloomier (14 percent and 8 percent, respectively).
_While Indians rate the current quality of their lives relatively low compared with most other nations, most (57 percent) think their lives will be better five years from now than they are today. Just 7 percent think things will get worse for them.
_More than half of Indians (52 percent) say they have lacked money to pay for needed medical and health care during the past year, and 44 percent say there have been times when they did not have enough money to buy food their family needed.
The Nation:
_By nearly 10-to-one, more Indians are dissatisfied (83 percent) than satisfied (9 percent) with the way things are going in their nation. This level of dissatisfaction is seen in many parts of the world, however, including most of Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia.
_Nine-in-10 people in India (90 percent) cite terrorism as a very big problem in their country, far more than any other nation except Bangladesh (92 percent).
_86 percent of Indians say crime is a very big problem in their nation, and religious conflict is also a major concern (71 percent).
_Six-in-10 (59 percent) say the quality of water for daily use is a very big problem in India, another 19 percent say it is a moderate problem, and just 15 percent say there is little or no drinking water problem.
_Three-quarters of Indians (74 percent) say Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is having a good influence on the nation, making him one of the most popular national leaders in the 44 nations surveyed. Just 18 percent say Vajpayee is a bad influence.
_By an overwhelming 85 percent to 2 percent margin, Indians say the military’s influence on the nation is good, not bad. Among the citizens of other major nations, only Americans (87 percent to 9 percent) and Pakistanis (84 percent to 9 percent) are as universally favorable toward the armed forces in their country.
The World:
_Fully 84 percent of Indians have an unfavorable opinion of Pakistan, while just 5 percent give their neighbor to the west a favorable rating. Pakistanis hold similar views of India (80 percent unfavorable, 6 percent favorable), but Bangladeshi respondents feel far more favorably about India (53 percent favorable, 39 percent unfavorable).
_Four in 10 (41 percent) respondents in India cite health concerns as among the most important in their lives. Along with Russia (40 percent) and South Korea (news - web sites) (42 percent) this is the highest rating in any nation outside of Africa.
_The image of the United States in India is generally favorable, with a slim majority of Indians (54 percent) viewing the United States favorably. Half as many (27 percent) view the United States unfavorably.
_And in India, where Bombay’s thriving “Bollywood” aims to rival Hollywood, more dislike American music, movies and television than like American culture by nearly two-to-one (46 percent to 24 percent).
About the Survey:
The Global Attitudes Project conducted personal interviews with a random sample of 2,189 Indians from Sept. 12-21, 2002. The questionnaire was administered in five different languages or dialects. Based on the total sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.
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