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CONCERN INDEX
Brian E. Owen Ph.D.
Chairman and CEO
NRG Research Group
May 04, 2010
Introduction
‘I am concerned.’
This is a statement we all have made at one time or another.
Synonyms for concern include fear, anxiety, worry, apprehension, trepidation, alarm, distress, unease and disquiet.
When we are concerned about something we have two options: Confront it or ignore it. Fight or flight. Take matters into our own hands or leave it and hope for the best. Take corrective action or accept whatever comes our way.
Some individuals have a high tolerance for handling their concerns; others can be virtually incapacitated by dealing with theirs. Here we talk about measuring level of concern, not about dealing with it. Good measurement leads to a realistic perception of the threat presented and suggests an appropriate intensity of response.
Concerns are encountered at an individual, family, community and societal level. We deal with the latter here. The sum of certain individual concerns often requires action from government. Other concerns can create commercial opportunities for those who can help ameliorate the situation of those affected. Failure to recognize legitimate societal concerns can result in a spurning of government for inaction; or in failure of enterprises that do not adapt to changing societal concerns.
Consequently, a key driver of public policy is the perceptions of concerns. If for example, health care is a concern woe-be-tide the government leader who does not deal with it. If the economy is the major concern of the public, it is perilous and foolish for a government to not deal with it. If unexpected introduction of new taxes creates a sufficient concern, the government of the day can lose power.
Proper interpretation of real societal concerns is a key to political success. For example, what is the real level of concern about threats to our environment? A political leader needs to properly interpret actual concern within a maelstrom of ‘experts’ who often disagree.
People have concerns about natural phenomena like aging, severe weather, earthquakes and floods. There are also concerns about things we can exercise at least some degree of control over, like the health of our families, public health, the economy, the environment, public safety, education options for our families and many others.
A virtual web of concerns we can try to exercise control over is driven by economic, social, demographic and technological trends and discontinuities. This interconnected web shifts and evolves on an ongoing basis. What was a low level concern at one point in time can become a major priority another time. As a case in point, the economy was a low level concern until mid 2007 and then became a major concern from then until the present time. Global warming was not a concern 30 years ago, but that has changed. There was anxiety about swine flu for a moment in time but it has not endured as a concern.
It stands to reason that a better understanding of public concerns would be useful. What are the concerns of people? What is their immediacy? What concerns are of highest priority? At what level does a concern warrant action? Why are certain things concerns and others not? What is the process by which things become public concerns? Is there a hierarchy of concerns with ‘fundamental’ and derivative concerns? Subsequent presentations will address these and other related topics.
NRG Concern Index
NRG Research Group developed a method to measure concerns. We collected data from 1000 respondents across Canada at two separate points in time – December 2004 and April 2009. We have results that are comparable over the two surveys.
A number of questions were asked in both surveys. Some questions were unique to each survey. In particular, in the earlier (December 2004) survey we had a greater concentration on health care items; in the second survey (April 2009) we asked about a greater variety of issues and did not go into as much depth on any one topic.
We have arranged the issues below showing items regarded as comparable even though in some cases wording was not exactly the same.
Results (Table 1) indicate that there were some changes in levels of concern from 2004 to 2009 with evolving events, although there was also quite a high level of stability in concern levels. For example:
· The greatest concern for Canadians remained, “Your Health or the Health of Your Family” – 82 out of 100 in 2009 and 81 in 2004. This concern underpins the reasons for the high proportion of budget expenditures to health care in Canada. It also suggests the ongoing importance for political leaders to provide funding for an appropriate level of health care and address perceived shortcomings in the area.
· The Economy was clearly more important as a concern in April 2009 (74), with the economic crisis in its second year and still looming over us, than it was at the end of 2004 (66).
· Personal Finances were marginally higher as a concern in 2009 (69) than were Economic Prospects in 2004 (66).
· Concern about Global Warming in 2009 (64) was marginally lower than concern about Impact on the Environment in 2004 (68).
·
Concern levels were almost identical in 2009 and
2004 for Taxation Levels (66/67), Education Opportunities (66/65) and The (Possible)
Impact of Crime on You or Your Family (59/60).
·
There was lower concern in 2009 about H1N1 Flu
(43) than there was in 2004 about International Flu Epidemics (53)
·
Grouping the one time and repeat item scores
from both surveys we see that:
o
Health was the only item over 80, and it was
over 80 in both surveys:
§
The item was “The Health of You or Your Family”
– (2009) 82; (2001) – 81
o
There were five items between 69 and 79. They
related to health, the impact of the economy on individuals and care for
children:
§ Availability of health care if you need it (2004) – 78
§
The economy (2009) – 74
§
Child poverty (2009) – 71
§ Cancer (2004) – 70
§ Your personal finances (2009) – 69
o There were numerous scores between 59 and 68 related to a variety of topics including health, relationships, the economy and finances, education, environment, infrastructure and government:
§ Food safety (2009) – 68
§ Your personal relationships (2009) – 67
§ The economy (2004) - 66
§ Economic prospects (2004) - 66
§ Taxation levels – (2009) – 66; (2004) - 67
§ Education opportunities – (2009) – 66; (2004) - 65
§ Heart disease (2004) - 65
§ Global warming (2009) – 64 and Impact on the environment (2004) – 68
§ Transportation infrastructure like roads and bridges (2009) – 63
§ Possible impact of crime on you and your family – (2009) 59; (2007) 60
§ The level of government involvement in peoples’ lives (2009) – 59
§ Illiteracy (2009) – 59
o There was also a group of scores between 50 and 57 related to health, housing and international security :
§ International tensions (2009) – 57
§ Second hand smoke (2004) – 57
§ Diabetes (2004) – 57
§ Arthritis (2004) - 56
§ Terrorism (2009) - 54
§ International flu epidemics (2004) – 53
§ Increases in housing prices (2009) – 53
§ Trans Fats (2004) – 52
§ Genetically modified foods (2004) - 50
o The lowest group of scores was those that were 49 or less, and included items related to finances, environment and health:
§ Decreases in housing prices (2009) – 48
§ Offshore oil and gas drilling (2009) - 48
§ Overeating (2004) – 47
§ West Nile Disease (2004) – 44
§ H1N1 or Swine flu (2009) - 43
§ AIDS (2004) – 43
§ Salmon farming (2009) - 38
§ Mad Cow Disease (2004) - 35
The question we asked
was:
“At
this time how much of a concern to you is [RANDOMIZE ITEMS] on a scale from zero
to 100 where [ROTATE] zero is “not a concern at all” and 100 is a “very great
concern”?”
Table 1: Concern Index Results: 2009 and
2004
|
The issues we asked about in April 2009 and December 2004 are indicated
below. We have indicated when the same topics were asked about in the two
surveys. In some instances the wording was not the same but we still grouped
the items for comparison – for example “Global Warming” in 2009 and “Impact
of environment” in 2004. |
APRIL 2009 (N=1000) |
DEC 2004 (N=1000) |
|
Asked
April 2009 and Dec 2004 |
||
|
Your
health or the health of your family |
82 |
81 |
|
The
economy (2009) Economic
prospects (2004) |
74 |
66 |
|
Your
personal finances (2009) Economic
prospects (2004) |
69 |
66 |
|
Taxation
levels |
66 |
67 |
|
Education
opportunities |
66 |
65 |
|
Global
Warming (2009) Impact
on Environment (2004) |
64 |
68 |
|
The
possible impact of crime on you and your family(2009) Impact of
crime on you or your family (2004) |
59 |
60 |
|
The
H1N1 or Swine Flu (2009) International
flu epidemics (2004) |
43 |
53 |
|
Asked
only in April 2009 |
||
|
Child
poverty |
71 |
NA |
|
Food
safety |
68 |
NA |
|
Your
personal relationships |
67 |
NA |
|
Transportation
infrastructure like roads and bridges |
63 |
NA |
|
The
level of government involvement in people’s lives |
59 |
NA |
|
Illiteracy |
59 |
NA |
|
International
tensions |
57 |
NA |
|
Terrorism |
54 |
NA |
|
Increases
in housing prices |
53 |
NA |
|
Decreases
in housing prices |
48 |
NA |
|
Offshore
oil and gas drilling |
48 |
NA |
|
Salmon
farming |
38 |
NA |
|
Asked
only in December 2004 |
||
|
Availability of the Canadian Health Care system
if you need it |
NA |
78 |
|
Cancer |
NA |
70 |
|
Heart disease |
NA |
65 |
|
Second hand smoke |
NA |
57 |
|
Diabetes |
NA |
57 |
|
Arthritis |
NA |
56 |
|
Trans fats |
NA |
52 |
|
Genetically modified foods |
NA |
50 |
|
Overeating |
NA |
47 |
|
West Nile Disease |
NA |
44 |
|
Mad Cow Disease |
NA |
35 |
|
AIDS |
NA |
43 |