Students opinions on the EU Introduction
Influencing Factors
Attitudes towards the EU
Tests Mann: Whitney: Difference between perceived level of knowledge about the EU and attitudes towards the EU in general
The UK’s position in the EU is at the heart of political debate. The UK is facing a political dilemma with the nations stance on UK’s membership towards the EU as the population almost split (Jordan and William, 2015). Many factors are shaping the populations opinion on the EU such as immigration, financial benefits, the UK’s sovereignty and the bureaucracy within the EU. Before starting our project we conducted secondary research to see whether it was a viable topic, finding that the issue had amassed a huge amount of public opinion. There were many articles and information sources which all gave reasons for and against the EU, so we decided to see if this information could be tied specifically to the student demographic. Most of the current research available to us is limited due to it being outdated (public opinion can change rapidly) and that it is hard to determine the individual push and pull factors affecting students decisions.
Ranks
H0 – Null Hypothesis
The aim of this section is to explore the attitudes participants have. Using this information we can begin to determine exactly what influences student opinion and compare this to the general population.
The aim of this section is to examine what influences the attitudes describe in the first section.
There is no significant difference in the perceived level of knowledge about the EU and the attitudes towards the EU in general. Attitudes towards the EU are not influenced by the perceived level of knowledge.
Knowledgelevel Q7EUImage
H1 – Alternative Hypothesis There is a significant difference in the perceived level of knowledge about the EU and the attitudes towards the EU in general. Attitudes towards the EU are influenced by the perceived level of knowledge.
The UK’s media often takes sides in political arguments to sway the influence of voters.
The majority of secondary source literature focuses on the broader public opinion rather than students in particular.
Output A Mann Whitney test was conducted to determine if a significant difference between perceived knowledgeable and not knowledgeable respondents attitudes to the EU in general existed. A null hypothesis of no significant difference and an alternative hypothesis of a significant difference were established, and a 95% confidence leve was assumed.
All Respondents that have a very negative image of the EU do not follow the news. Over half (55%) of have a positive image with 68% of these either following or somewhat the news. This contradicts the view that the majority of news papers either fully or partly support the conservative party (Greenslade) which generally would sway more towards an anti-EU agenda.
Through conducting secondary research it became apparent that there are several areas of concern for the public including:
Fig 1
Knowledgeable Not Knowledgeable
10
Mean Sum of Rank Ranks 23.40 234.00
41
26.63 1092.00
Total
51
N
Test Statisticsa Mann-Whitney U Wilcoxon W Z Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)
Q7EUImage 179.000 234.000 -.672 .502
a. Grouping Variable: Knowledgelevel
The difference was assumed U = 179, p >0.05. Therefore the null hypothesis can be accepted and we assume that there is no significant difference in the perceived level of knowledge about the EU and the attitudes towards the EU in general. Attitudes towards the EU are not influenced by the perceived level of knowledge
Chi-Square: Difference between perceived level of knowledge about the EU and attitudes towards voting in the UK referendum.
The graphs above compared questions which asked respondents whether they follow the news and understand or believe what they read.
25% of respondents said that they read the news, and of that only 17% said they believed what they read. Compared to the national average of 61% believing the news (Thompson, YouGov, 2015).
79% of the respondents identified themselves as aged 18-25 which could show a link between distrust in the media among younger generations or potentially lack of understanding.
Aims of the survey We set an overall aim supported by objectives so the group and readers alike can see what we set out to achieve.
The respondents gave mixed views on the EU, with the majority of leave views (60%) aligned with the Conservatives and UKIP.
To explore students’ attitudes towards the EU in particular the UK’s membership.
2.
Examine any perceptions or factors, if any, that influence these attitudes.
3.
Establish linkages, if any, between these attitudes and perceptions or influencing factors.
The survey
We obtained a 51% response rate.
Compared to only around 60% voting rate in recent UK elections (Ukpollingreport.co.uk). We split the survey into 3 sections,’ About you, Knowledge of the EU, Opinions on UK membership.
About our respondents:
This chart illustrates the how positively or negatively respondents feel about the EU.
In total only 7.9% of respondents saw the EU in a negative light.
A significant amount (37%) selected neither, which show a link between a lack of understanding due to not following current political issues in the news.
This is backed up by the decline in political participation in recent years, with falling turnouts at recent elections and the aging of members in political parties (Sloam, 2007).
.196 .660
df
Asymp. Sig. Exact Sig. (2- Exact Sig. (1(2-sided) sided) sided) 1 .423 1 1
.658 .416 .495
.334
51
Output A Chi-Square test was conducted to determine if a significant difference between perceived level of knowledge about the EU, its policies and institutions and the attitudes towards voting in the UK referendum existed. A null hypothesis of no significant difference and an alternative hypothesis of a significant difference were established, and a 95% confidence level was assumed. The difference was not significant: x2 = 0.641 p >0.05. Therefore the null hypothesis can be accepted and we assume that there is no significant difference in the perceived level of knowledge about the EU and the attitudes towards voting in the UK referendum.
The aim of this poster has been to find out and analyse the opinion of students regarding the UKs position within the EU, and determine what factors influence them.
Looking at different demographics, outside influences and the knowledge of the respondents we have been able to form an image of the main concerns of students, and what influences their opinion on the subject.
We found that a lack of general knowledge and awareness about the EU, its policies and what is happening are a large area of concern when it comes to political opinion and voting. A lack of understanding can easily be manipulated and moulded through the press.
We explored the current EU issues and have been able to identify those which are of concern of which immigration came highest.
Due to the constantly evolving and changing political climate, it is very hard to gain an accurate opinion on certain topics as this will change daily based on current world events. Opinions on migration, economics and politics can change overnight meaning the results we have drawn are already out of date.
The sample size we achieved was largely focused around the areas surrounding the university which gave us data which was unrepresentative of the entire country. Our secondary research indicated that the south of England had a much higher concentration of conservative views than the north.
Falling participation in recent decades can be seen in our work, as the number of “unsure” responses is fairly high. This created limitations when we were conducting analysis of the data, however judging from the lack of knowledge in basic questions about the EU in the questionnaire, we can assume that this is the cause.
A solution to the knowledge problem could be to target more politically aware students who have a genuine interest for the topic, specially targeting politics students.
Alternatively, we could have created a political questionnaire which required very little political knowledge and awareness to complete, however we would be able to conduct little critical analysis on such results.
From carrying out our questionnaire we have been able to identify that the majority of people have little political knowledge.
Immigration to the UK is the topic respondents feel most strongly about, and it is a leading factor in a potentially successful vote to leave the EU.
Fig 2
Gender
Fig 3
Ethnicity
Q2. What’s your gender?
This graph shows the link between political party support and the respondents views on the EU (Above). Our secondary research coincides with our own research when it comes to parties positions towards the EU (Civitas.org.uk, 2014).
The aim of this chart is to check the awareness of EU initiatives, to see if respondents understand some of the key benefits of being with the EU.
63% of respondents said they knew about the EHI card, but only 19% of these were knowledgeable about the EU in general. This could possibly show that respondents haven’t looked at the other EU initiatives that don’t concern them.
It is possible that an increased awareness of initiatives could increase likeness of the EU and sway respondents more towards staying in.
A lack of information regarding the EU could be to blame for the lack of awareness of such initiatives.
Arguably it might be a lack of interested or relevance in the majority of people, as 50% of respondents said that such issues were of no importance to them.
A potential discrepancy in the data is that just over half of students that support the Green Party either have a negative view or no opinion. This contradicts the secondary research which indicates that the party is very pro-EU.
Reflection
A small sample size meant that we didn’t get the level of diversity in our results that we hoped for. A larger sample size would have been beneficial with finding additional correlations between demographics and voting.
It also meant we couldn’t conduct a Mann Whitney test to find out if there was a significant difference between age and the likeliness to vote in the UK referendum.
An even spread of respondents across the UK would have been beneficial to the test however it was difficult to achieve this with the resources we had.
The survey and analysis is already out-dated and obsolete as the political climate is constantly changing.
Improving the delegation of group tasks would increased the effectiveness of the group.
The topic was very broad, and this was reflected in our survey which was too long. Some respondents feedback that it was rather long.
Fig 4
Q3. What is your ethnicity?
This chart looks at whether respondents want to stay or leave the EU, comparing it to their knowledge on the subject which was assessed on questions 11-15. 59% of respondents said they would vote in the referendum while 41% said they would not. Of the 41% that said they would not majority (85%) were rated not knowledgeable of EU issues.
Next time……….
The majority of respondents who have lack of knowledge are unlikely to vote, due to the high amount of bureaucracy in our political system which often causes confusion (Furness, 2014). People with less knowledge are more likely to be influenced by what they see in the media.
Less than half of respondents (35%) knew how much the UK contributed to the Greek bailout.
Among the 19% who gave a correct answer for the UK’s contribution , 7% believed that the economic benefits of supplying this funding did not outweigh the costs. In other words, even when students were aware of the UK’s contribution they still were not necessarily convinced that the benefits exceeded the economic costs.
Q4. What is your highest level of education?
b
Value .641a
Conclusion
1.
There is a significant difference in the perceived level of knowledge about the EU, its policies and institutions and the attitudes towards voting in the referendum.
Continuity Correction Likelihood Ratio Fisher's Exact Test N of Valid Cases
Supporting Objectives:
There is no significant difference in the perceived level of knowledge about the EU, its policies and institutions and the attitudes towards voting in the referendum.
Pearson Chi-Square
This shows that the media could have a large amount of influence on people who are not knowledgeable on the topic as it is unlikely they will doubt/question what they read.
To investigate students opinions towards the UK’s position in the EU.
H1 – Alternative Hypothesis
Chi-Square Tests
37% of respondents said the outcome would be to stay, and 33% were unsure. 13% of these proved knowledgeable in maters of the EU. Over half of these (56%) were not knowledgeable.
Overall aim:
H0 – Null Hypothesis
The aim of these questions was to find out some basic information on demographics. Majority of our participants (82%) were in the South East of England and 18% from the North. 78% of were aged between 18-25 with the median education level being Undergraduates. A minority 22% were confident they know about the EU and its policies and institutions . Of these 14% were aged between 18-25 and 8% over 25. The vast majority, 78% said they know either very little or nothing at all of which 65% were aged between 18-25 and 13% over 25. Nevertheless majority were interested in more knowledge to better their understanding on the topic. (65% vs 35%) These results were compared to secondary research which indicates ethnicity and age influence a persons likeliness to vote (Boundless, 2015).
54.9% of the group most inclined to have a positive image of the EU surprisingly were more inclined to believe that the economic costs exceeded the benefits of EU membership. Additionally respondents aged between 18 – 25 (78%) and students from the south (78%). Females were also more liable to perceive an economic gain accruing from the UK’s membership (20% vs. 16% of males). 40% of survey participants who regarded themselves as not being informed about EU affairs were no sure of the costs vs benefit.
This question allows us to see how concerned the respondents are about specific EU related issues, and compared this to the general public to see if the views are different for younger generations/students.
The highest ranking concern was the free movement of people (immigration) which scored 17.6%. This could be a result of the British medias alienation of immigrants which is often criticised (opendemocracy, 2013).
There is an underlying issue with the lack of knowledge of respondents and their views on the EU. It could be criticised unnecessarily.
15.7% of respondents were concerned with the cost of the EU, secondary research shows that other EU member states contribute a lot less than the UK, but still receive the same standard of membership. The respondents top three topic of concerns are the same as the three we identified from secondary research Illustrated in fig 1.
The analysis conducted could have been better If we focused on a more specific topic rather than opinions on the EU as a whole.
The difficulty of some of the questions could have alienated some respondents. Making them easier and more to the point could hav potentially increased our respondent rate.
Consider the constant changing climate and how this affects the results and their worth.
Reference list Additional Factors: Gender, Age, Religion, Race, And Ethnicity'. Boundless (2015): n. pag. Web. 3 Dec. 2015. Civitas.org.uk,. 'Civitas: UK Political Parties' Positions On The EU'. N.p., 2015. Web. 4 Dec. 2015. Clements, B. and Nanou, K. (2012). What underlies public attitudes towards the constitutionalization of the EU? Evidence from Britain. Journal of Contemporary European Research, [online] 8(4). Available at: http://www.jcer.net/index.php/jcer/article/view/364/364 [Accessed 7 Dec. 2015]. Europarl, (2012). PUBLIC OPINION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. [online] Available at: http://www.europarl.org.uk/resource/static/files/eb77_first_en.pdf [Accessed 7 Dec. 2015]. Extra European Union (28 Countries). (2014). International Trade by Commodity Statistics, 2014(5), pp.524-597. Furness, Hannah. 'Britain Is So 'Over-Governed' That Public Struggles To Understand How Politics Works, Says Liam Fox'. Telegraph.co.uk. N.p., 2014. Web. 4 Dec. 2015. Garry, J. (2013). Emotions and voting in EU referendums. European Union Politics, 15(2), pp.235-254.
We wanted to understand whether the respondents thought the EU was worth it.
Greenslade, Roy. 'Election 2010: What Influence Do Newspapers Have Over Voters?'. the Guardian. N.p., 2010. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
Despite 21.6% believing the costs exceed the benefits, only 15% stated they wanted to make the EU cost less, in addition only 7.8% stated they wanted to make the EU more economically competitive.
Ipsos-mori.com, (2015). Ipsos MORI | Poll | Public Attitudes Towards Europe And The Euro. [online] Available at: https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/
39.2% showing they are unsure is an area of concern, as this shows a lack of understanding and political participation. These results can change as the political climate rapidly changes. It is likely that recent changes in the economy, and the way the media portray it, could heavily sway public opinion
http://ec.europa.eu/, (2011). Attitudes towards the EU in the United Kingdom. [online] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_318_en.pdf [Accessed 7 Dec. 2015].
researcharchive/1647/Public-Attitudes-Towards-Europe-And-The-Euro.aspx [Accessed 7 Dec. 2015]. Jones, A. (2007). Britain and the European Union. 1st ed. Edinburgh University Press. OpenDemocracy,. 'How Politicians And The Media Made Us Hate Immigrants'. N.p., 2015. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. Sloam, J. 'Rebooting Democracy: Youth Participation In Politics In The UK'. Parliamentary Affairs 60.4 (2007): 548-567. Web. Thompson, H. and Hannah T. 'Yougov | Trust In The Media'. YouGov: What the world thinks. N.p., 2011. Web. 3 Dec. 2015. Wells, A. and Wells, A. (2015). YouGov | Analysis: EU referendum – the state of public opinion. [online] YouGov: What the world thinks. Available at: https:// yougov.co.uk/news/2015/09/22/eu-referendum-state-public-opinion/ [Accessed 7 Dec. 2015].