There is enthusiasm among the general electorate for the House of Representatives elections to be held on 21 Falgun. And citizens have expressed their opinions on the problems they face as citizens and the priorities of the government.

The nationwide survey conducted over a month asked about eight major problems of citizens. When asked what the biggest problem for them was, 19.3 percent of the survey participants said that unemployment was the main problem. 17.8 percent said economic difficulties, 12.3 percent said poor road conditions, 9.3 percent said health services, 8 percent said drinking water, 3.1 percent said irrigation, 3.1 percent said education, and 2.6 percent said agriculture.

When asked what the main priority of the next government should be, including seven priorities, 21.2 percent said roads and transportation, 16.8 percent said employment, 15.4 percent said education, 9.1 percent said health, drinking water and sanitation, 6.6 percent said agriculture and irrigation, 3.1 percent said corruption control, and 5.6 percent said they did not know. When asked if they had any problems as citizens, 72.5 percent said they had problems. 

Similarly, 21.6 percent responded that there is no problem, while 5.6 percent responded that they did not know or did not want to say. 

The results of the opinion poll will be published every day according to the social and political dimensions. This survey was conducted in collaboration with Kantipur and Sharecast Initiative. 

Similarly, when asked what the main priorities of the next government should be, 22.5 percent (rural municipalities) answered that roads and transportation should be the priority. 23.0 percent (municipal municipalities) said that education should be given priority, while 21.1 percent (sub-/metropolitan municipalities) said that employment should be given priority. 

This is how the survey was conducted

In the survey on 'Citizens' perceptions of contemporary social, economic and political issues in Nepal', about 2,905 people from all over the country were interviewed by direct meetings. 

While selecting the respondents participating in the survey, the number of respondents (sample) was distributed based on the ratio of the number of households in all seven provinces. Household members who have been living in the same house as members of a single household for the past 6 months and who eat meals in the same kitchen are counted as households.

The number of households and respondents participating in the interview has been distributed based on the ratio of the total number of households living in rural municipalities, municipalities and metropolitan cities. The selection of districts and municipalities for the survey has been done based on the PPS (Probability Proportion to Size) method. 

116 wards from 102 municipalities in 45 districts have been selected for the survey. When selecting households, after reaching the selected ward, a chowk was selected 'randomly' and the houses on the right side of that chowk were selected. A list of 90 households in rural municipalities, 120 households in municipalities and 150 households in metropolitan cities was prepared from the selected toles. To determine which households to interview, interviews were conducted only in 25 households within the number of households that is equal to the number of households in the selected ward divided by 25.

A list of potential respondents was prepared for interviews, consisting of Nepali citizens aged 18 to 70 who have lived in the selected households for at least 6 months and who can hear, understand, and respond to what the enumerator says. The ‘kiss grid’ method was used to determine which household members to interview. Interviews were conducted only with the members selected through this method after prior consent for interview. Interviews were not conducted with the members found at the house or with people met on the way. Interviews were conducted only with members selected through the scientific method of research.

During the survey, 38 enumerators were mobilized in 19 groups of 2/2 people for on-site interviews from Pus 17 to Magh 17. The margin of error of the survey is +/-5 percent. The questions and answers for the interview were entered into the mobile/tablet using the ‘Open Data Kit Software’. To ensure the quality of the data, GPS, field observation, field training and feedback were conducted for each household selected for the interview. In addition, about 15 percent of the interviews were re-tested, while the contribution to the counter-enumerator interviews was limited to only 2.6 percent. While selecting respondents in the provinces and municipalities, the actual proportion of the 2078 census was used, and since gender selection was also based on the proportion of the census, these variables are ‘self-weighted’.

The data analysis of the survey was done by Madhu Acharya and Bhumiraj Chapagain of Sharecast Initiative. ‘National Public Opinion Survey-2082’ was conducted in collaboration with Kantipur and Sharecast Initiative.

Limitations of the survey

1. The answer given by the respondent during the interview is recorded as the final answer.

2. The social, economic and political background or affiliation of the respondent may have biased the answer. No other controls were included in the survey except for supplementary questions asked to measure the impartiality of the respondent's answer. 

3. The personal, family, social and economic conditions of the respondent and the relationship between them may have influenced the answer, and the survey did not analyze which questions may have had an impact. 

4. In some cases, statistical research may not accurately represent the social, behavioral and qualitative aspects of people. Additional qualitative studies may be necessary to get to the root of the causes of the results. This survey does not cover the qualitative aspect. 

5. Since the survey was conducted under normal conditions in the months of Pus-Magh, this survey does not predict the results that will or may occur in unusual or different social or political conditions. 

6. The survey is based on the responses of 2,905 respondents living in 116 wards from 102 municipalities in 45 districts.