Responses to a short telephone survey by the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (Sesri) at Qatar University (QU) revealed that both Qataris and white-collar expatriates are quite aware of the Gulf Cup and positive about its potential impacts.
Also, the vast majority of Qatar’s citizens and white-collar residents are aware of the participation of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the event, the survey findings show.
From November 19 to 22, Sesri surveyed nationally representative samples of Qatari citizens (695) and white-collar residents (721) on the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup, which begins today and continues until December 8.
Overall, the vast majority of Qatari nationals (92%) and white-collar expatriates (84%) reported being aware of the Gulf Cup. Moreover, 95% of Qatari nationals and 87% of white-collar expatriates are aware of the participation of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the games.
Also, Qatari nationals and white-collar resident expatriates in large numbers said they welcome the participation of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the 2019 Arabian Gulf Cup. The majority of white-collar expatriates and about half of Qataris think that the participation of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup in Doha is likely to lead to the end of the blockade of Qatar, the survey shows.
The survey indicates that Qatari nationals and white-collar residents hope that the games will lead to an end of the blockade of Qatar. About half (48%) of Qatari nationals and slightly more than three-quarters (76%) of white-collar expatriates think the participation of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE is either very likely (12% of Qataris) or somewhat likely (36% of Qataris) to lead to the end of the blockade.
These percentages are significantly higher among white-collar expatriates (at 34% and 42%, respectively). The remainder of both groups were neutral or said they did not know. In terms of public awareness of the games, the Internet, social media and the television were most commonly cited by Qataris and expatriates as their initial source of news about the Gulf Cup.
A total of 1,416 Qatari nationals and white-collar expatriates completed the survey, yielding a response rate of 48.6% and a maximum sampling error for a percentage at the 95% confidence level of +/- 3.02 percentage points. The calculation of this sampling error takes into account design effects.
The final dataset was weighted to adjust for probability of selection and non-response. The results of the survey were announced at a press conference attended by Dr Hassan al-Sayed, director of Sesri; Dr Abdoulaye Diop, research associate professor and head of the Research Department at Sesri, and others.
