The Inclusive Government (IG) (issues of power-sharing vis-à-vis elections, the performance of
the IG);
Constitutional reform (the need for constitutional change, experiences of the COPAC process,
the need for further constitutional education, performance of the main political parties in
shaping inputs into the emerging constitution, expectations of the contents and directions of
the new constitution, content and process);
Violence and Intimidation (experiences of violence and intimidation – historically and in
contemporary Zimbabwe, possible change in experiences of the level of violence);
Elections (timing, expectations of future elections, the order of elections and constitutionmaking, violence and elections, things that would help people feel safe in time of elections, the
relation between violence and the vote, voter registration and confidence in the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC));
Political interest and media use; and
‘The vote’ – and non-declaration of vote intent.
The questionnaire was anchored in consultative interviews conducted in Zimbabwe in September 2010.1
Partner organisations were engaged on their needs for information – types of questions, for example,
that would help inform their advocacy work in Zimbabwe. These consultations were conducted by Susan
Booysen and Freedom House. Many of the questions in the survey directly emerged from these
consultations. With a view to tracking political attitude change in Zimbabwe over time, the
questionnaire retained a series of items that were used, for example, in the September 2009 FHSA-MPOI
survey, then under the guidance of pollster Michael Bratton. The questionnaire went through a series of
drafts. The inputs of a range of Freedom House persons, as well as those of MPOI, are acknowledged.
The political volatility and associated dangers to both researcher-interviewers in the field, and the
survey respondents, were continuous considerations in the drafting of the questionnaire. Based on
reports by MPOI, it was considered at one stage to postpone fieldwork, when planning processes
unfolded in October-November 2010. Several questions were deemed too dangerous to include in the
survey. In the end, in most instances, it was decided to include crucial themes, even if they were
deemed politically sensitive, but to exclude politically dangerous questions as judged by MPOI, that had
the potential to trigger attacks on the interviewers.
The rest of the methodology section draws on and summarises methodology inserts provided by
MPOI.
Sampling
The Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) was responsible for the sampling. MPOI cooperated with the
Central Statistical Office (CSO) for population projections (Table 1).
1
Freedom House Southern Africa (FHSA), 14 September 2010, Report on Consultation with FHSA Partner
Organisations in Zimbabwe, by Susan Booysen.
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