The Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences of the American University of Beirut assembled students and intellectuals in an informal gathering—Sociology Café—at Te Marbouta Café on Tuesday, October 21, 2008, in an attempt to discuss with Jawad Adra “The Impact of Opinion Polls on Decision Making between USA and the Arab World.”
Being the Director of Information International, Jawad Adra is a professional in the field of surveying. He commenced his discussion by expressing admiration to United States presidential candidate, John McCain, who did not argue with the numbers collected by an opinion poll but rather said, “Yes, we are behind. I have him where I want him.” This, Adra stated, is contrary to the Arab attitude where “there is a lot of skepticism such as what method did you use? Who’s behind you? What is your sample [size]? How many people [did you survey]?”
Adra provided his audience with a brief history on opinion polls in the Arab world and, surprisingly, he claimed that the first large scale poll conducted by a private firm in Lebanon was just in 1995. This history of little research and investigation, Adra stated, is due to “tyrants in the Arab world that do not allow polls. The tyrants don’t want to hear the bad news.” Another reason preventing opinion polls is the indifference of the Lebanese population towards the quality of products. “Consumerism is not based on need but on prestige. So why carry a satisfaction survey?” he said.
After his brief talk, the floor was opened for discussion, comments, and questions which brought forth a debate regarding the means of improving the conducting of polls. Adra made sure to emphasize one point that “most opinion polls are conducted for the West and the eyes of the West” in order to comment on the fallibility of polls.
Sociology Café, which convenes once a month, aims to create an environment of informal discussion among students and professors on critical issues of life in Lebanon. Discussions are usually held in English and are moderated and organized by AUB professors of Sociology Sari Hanafi and Nabil Dajani.
