Surveying public opinion in transitional China: An examination of survey response

This study investigates the usefulness of public opinion survey in China for political research. Using data from the World Values Survey and from several Chinese public opinion surveys, my central inquiry consists of three separate but interrelated issues: are public opinion survey data from China truthful, meaningful, and comparable? I frame these questions in a comparative perspective and in the transitional contexts of China. By examining the issues of item-nonresponse, norm-seeking response, and cross-national comparability, I show that the validity of survey responses in Chinese opinion surveys is mainly influenced by the respondents' cognitive ability, political interest, media exposure, and cultural difference. Political control is present in the form of response effect and information control, but it should not be a serious concern about the use of Chinese survey data.