TNAG-0730-FCO40-934-Representations-by-Reform-Club-of-Hong-Kong-1978 — Page 3

LAST PAPER

CHIEF SECRETARY'S OFFICE GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT HONG KONG

布政司辦公 廳

AKK 011/4.

7

CR2/1146/76

JAB Stewart Esq OBE

Hong Kong & General Department

FCO

LONDON SW1

1N,

No

Dear John.

مه

2017

11 April 1978

Nthompson

+ these are fairly trivial points

Reform Club of Hong Kong

17/4

I think (1) has

Thank you for your letter of 1 March. I samme men't but,

have passed your letter on to Mr Bernacchia

2.

the warall Nei

I think you might find it useful to have is unchanged.

on record the enclosed evaluation of the Reform Club Report by our Home Affairs and Census and Statistics Departments. This casts some doubt on

People may

the validity of the findings in the Report on the delectans but

following grounds

i.

Although the basic methods employed appear to have been sound, it is difficult to judge whether they were properly employed on this occasion. To take just two examples, the Master Sampling Frame is said in paragraph 1 of the Technical Appendix to the Report to be a sample of 25,000 households "designed and drawn so as to be representative of all the households in the Colony". There is no indication of how this was done. It is difficult, however, to think of any way in which a complete and reliable sampling frame could have been obtained without some reference at least to the Census and Statistics Department, but they were not approached. Also, there is no indication of the quality of enumeration or of the methods used. For example, how much trouble was taken to explain the meanings of the terms used to respondents?

It may be relevant that although Survey Research Hong Kong Ltd (SRH), which conducted the survey, was highly regarded a few years ago, following changes in key staff there are some uncertainties as to their present reliability.

-1-

Whie the idea

it does not really excrand

thesis

/ii.

Sanly