Survey Topics

Each Afrobarometer survey collects data about individual attitudes and behavior, including innovative indicators especially relevant to developing societies.

Democracy
 Popular understanding of, support for, and satisfaction with democracy, as well as any desire to return to, or experiment with, authoritarian alternatives.
Governance
 The demand for, and satisfaction with, effective, accountable and clean government; judgments of overall governance perfomance and social service delivery.
Livelihoods
 How do African families survive? What variety of formal and informal means do they use to gain access to food, shelter, water, health, employment and money?
Macro-economics
and Markets
 Citizen understandings of market principles and market reforms and their assessments of economic conditions and government performance at economic management.
Social Capital
 Whom do people trust? To what extent do they rely on informal networks and associations? What are their evaluations of the trustworthiness of various institutions?
Conflict and Crime
 How safe do people feel? What has been their experience with crime and violence?
Participation
 The extent to which ordinary folks join in development efforts, comply with the laws of the land, vote in elections, contact elected representatives, and engage in protest. The quality of electoral representation.
National Identity
 How do people see themselves in relation to ethnic and class identities? Does a shared sense of national identity exist?

Special Topics Modules in Round 5 include:

Taxation Perceptions of the fairness and clarity of the taxation system, and indicators of the public's willingness to comply with it.
Gender Issues
 Perspectives on the rights and roles of women in society and politics
Crime, Conflict, and Insecurity
 Experiences of and responses to crime and insecurity; the role and effectiveness of security institutions, including police and military
Globalization The extent of access to and use of mobile phones, as well as computers and the internet
Social Service Delivery Ease of access to and use of social services. Personal experiences of problems encountered in the delivery of health and education services.