Polls and surveys on public opinion and development

Bond supports NGOs to enable their supporters and others to take action for international development. This resource of polls and surveys of public opinion forms part of this work. 

If you would like to contribute, please contact the Bond Advocacy team: advocacy@bond.org.uk

Recent and upcoming research

• ONE released a ComRes poll on UK public attitudes to aid in October 2012 – the summary of findings and the full results tables are available on the ComRes website.
• Occasionally, the UK print media run or commission polls on UK aid which range in methodological quality. Examples include a Sunday Times/YouGov poll (March 2012) on aid - level of spend/ 0.7%/ legislation/ India – see pp 10/11.
• IPPR and ODI with Linguistic Landscapes researched public opinion on aid and development and why people hold the attitudes they do. The findings, published in June 2012, include how the public feel about images used by charities; how they distinguish between ‘development’ and ‘aid’, and how the use of language, values and frames shape how people engage.
• Intermedia's Building Support for International Development study (March 2012), funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, focuses on 'Interested citizens' – members of the public who are predisposed to engagement with international development issues with the UK as one four leading donor countries examined 
• Understanding Public Perceptions of International Aid (February 2012) is a report of quantitative and qualitative research conducted by YouGov focused on the engaged public with the UK a key country (available to Bond members upon request to the Bond Advocacy team)
• DFID Public Attitudes Towards Development (spring 2010) (see also DFID below)
• Independent story on Downing Street poll: Generous' Britons back foreign aid rise (November 2011)
• PoliticsHome report with opinion research of YouGov on public attitudes towards the Coalition government’s international aid policy (June 2011)
• YouGov/The Taxpayers' Alliance Survey on UK aid spending (June 2011)

Ongoing research

• IDS hosted initiative with a focus on understanding UK public opinion on development:UK Public Opinion Monitor
• London School of Economics (LSE) has a research study with Birkbeck College, University of London into the public’s perceptions of and response to communications from aid and development agencies: Mediated humanitarian knowledge: audiences’ responses and moral actions.
• The Chatham House/YouGov Survey British Attitudes Towards the UK's International Priorities (July 2011) covers development aid, as does their 2012 report.

Other notable research in recent years

• Until recently, DFID ran a continuous series of comprehensive Public Attitudes Towards Development surveys (see link to Spring 2010 version above). The National Archive has placed online the DFID surveys undertaken in 2009 and before. 
• Think Global's The impact of global learning on public attitudes and behaviours towards international development and sustainability (March 2010)
• Public Attitudes to Overseas Giving: Does Government Make a Difference? (2007) by Richard Atkinson and Amy Eastwood of University of Southampton

Articles and other sources

• In addition to original research, there are a number of articles and publications that seek to summarise survey findings and offer analysis and/or critiques of methodologies in public opinion surveys on development. 
• The Bond report Finding Frames: New ways to engage the UK public in global poverty has an overview (in section 1. The state of public engagement) of surveys and polls in recent years.
• The Public, DFID and Support for Development – A Rapid Review by Andrew Darnton at AD Research & Analysis for DFID (December 2009)
• A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep’: Surveys of Public Attitudes towards Development Aid by David Hudson and Jennifer vanHeerde-Hudson of University College London published in International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning.

European Commission research

The European Commission monitors the evolution of public opinion in EU Member States through Eurobarometer and other initiatives. This includes occasional surveys of opinion on aid and development as well as other issues NGOs work on (eg. climate change). The results include breakdown by country providing both a snapshot on the UK and how the UK compares with others.  

• Solidarity that spans the globe: Europeans and development aid (October 2012)
  
• Making a difference in the world: Europeans and the future of development aid (November 2011)
• Humanitarian Aid (July 2010)
• Europeans, development aid and the Millennium Development Goals (September 2010)
• The EU and Africa: Working towards closer partnership (2010)
• Development Aid in times of economic turmoil (October 2009)
• Europeans and Development Aid (June 2007)
• Attitudes towards Development Aid (February 2005)

International surveys beyond the EU

World Opinion on Economic Development and Humanitarian Aid (January 2012): Digest of existing polling data on US and 'global' public attitudes on the world's most pressing challenge

Other research on the UK public in last ten years

From 2004-2007, DFID funded Comic Relief through the Development Awareness Fund that existed then to carry out research into public perceptions including the impact of Make Poverty History in the End of Year Notes (April 2006). 

ActionAid Opinion Poll on Public Attitudes to Aid: Summary (December 2006)

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