The results from the Media Use in the Middle East, 2021/2022 are based on more than 7,000 (N=7,382) telephone interviews across seven countries, conducted under direction of The Harris Poll, in conjunction with Pan Arab Research Center (PARC). The survey was conducted among the general population (18 years and older) in seven countries: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the UAE. These seven countries represent a broad spectrum of populations across the Arab region.
Background
Media Use in the Middle East is an annual survey that originated in 2013. This eighth wave of the survey was scheduled to take place in 2020 but was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was reinstated at the end 2021, offering a unique opportunity to compare media behaviors and perceptions before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fieldwork for this eighth wave of Media Use in the Middle East took place between December 27, 2021 and April 29, 2022. Unlike previous years when face-to-face interviewing was employed in all countries except Qatar, in 2021/2022 data in all countries were collected via telephone interviews, as face-to-face interviewing was not possible due to COVID restrictions in the participating countries. Interviews were employed via random-digit dialing, further explained later in his document. Despite the shift in method, we’ve attempted to make the samples as comparable as possible to previous waves, including ensuring consistency in sample quotas by gender, age, geography and national vs. expatriate status.
The 2021/2022 survey replicated many of the questions included in the 2014, 2016, and 2018 surveys, which focused on entertainment media; longitudinal comparisons are provided when applicable. The 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 surveys focused on news media in the Middle East and are referenced in a smaller number of questions where longitudinal comparisons are available.
Some comparisons do not include Egypt, Jordan, and Qatar, as officials in these countries did not permit the fielding of certain questions in some years of the Media Use in the Middle East study—Egypt and Jordan in recent years and Qatar only in 2013 and 2015. Excluded items mostly relate to censorship, government, politics, and religion. Additionally, Jordan data are only included for the years it was surveyed, the 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021/2022 editions of the study, not those conducted in the 2014, 2015, and 2016.
Method
A total of 7,382 respondents participated in the survey with at least 1,000 respondents per country. Fieldwork for all countries took place December 27, 2021, to April 29, 2022, with exact dates varying by country. Respondents were offered to take the survey in Arabic and English in all countries, and the survey was also offered in French in Lebanon and Tunisia.
A summary of completed interviews and response rates for 2013 through 2021/2022 is as follows:
|
|
Country |
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|
Egypt |
Jordan |
Lebanon |
Qatar |
Saudi Arabia |
Tunisia |
UAE |
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|
Completed Interviews |
||||||||
|
2013 |
1,252 |
1,250 |
1,256 |
1,253 |
1,252 |
1,250 |
1,264 |
|
|
2014 |
1,002 |
- |
1,000 |
1,003 |
1,009 |
1,016 |
1,005 |
|
|
2015 |
1,071 |
- |
1,000 |
1,000 |
1,005 |
1,012 |
1,005 |
|
|
2016 |
1,000 |
- |
1,008 |
1,000 |
1,017 |
1,016 |
1,017 |
|
|
2017 |
1,000 |
1,009 |
1,018 |
1,140 |
1,016 |
1,000 |
1,013 |
|
|
2018 |
1,060 |
1,015 |
1,002 |
1,185 |
1,095 |
1,204 |
1,074 |
|
|
2019 |
1,007 |
1,006 |
1,001 |
1,000 |
1,105 |
1,092 |
1,092 |
|
|
2021/2022 |
1,010 |
1,037 |
1,010 |
1,000 |
1,004 |
1,043 |
1,278 |
|
|
Response Rates |
||||||||
|
2013 |
92% |
75% |
70% |
54% |
81% |
21% |
70% |
|
|
2014 |
48% |
- |
50% |
52% |
78% |
86% |
82% |
|
|
2015 |
97% |
- |
54% |
53% |
77% |
85% |
86% |
|
|
2016 |
46% |
- |
49% |
44% |
77% |
89% |
70% |
|
|
2017 |
79% |
58% |
49% |
37% |
76% |
87% |
73% |
|
|
2018 |
72% |
79% |
48% |
58% |
74% |
33% |
58% |
|
|
2019 |
48% |
44% |
45% |
59% |
72% |
88% |
55% |
|
|
2021/2022 |
56% |
46% |
65% |
57% |
46% |
38% |
40% |
|
|
Completed Interviews by Nationality |
||||||||
|
2013 |
Nationals Non-Nationals |
1,252 0 |
1,044 206 |
1,232 24 |
352 901 |
848 404 |
1,150 100 |
313 951 |
|
2014 |
Nationals Non-Nationals |
1,002 0 |
- - |
1,000 0 |
407 596 |
622 387 |
906 110 |
234 771 |
|
2015 |
Nationals Non-Nationals |
1,071 0 |
- - |
995 5 |
280 720 |
633 372 |
909 103 |
250 755 |
|
2016 |
Nationals Non-Nationals |
1,000 0 |
- - |
1,008 0 |
504 496 |
616 401 |
913 103 |
488 529 |
|
2017 |
Nationals Non-Nationals |
1,000 0 |
881 128 |
1,018 0 |
508 632 |
627 389 |
896 104 |
481 532 |
|
2018 |
Nationals Non-Nationals |
1000 0 |
953 62 |
991 11 |
566 619 |
629 466 |
1,100 104 |
500 574 |
|
2019 |
Nationals Non-Nationals |
1,007 0 |
920 86 |
998 3 |
520 480 |
739 366 |
957 135 |
516 576 |
|
2019 |
Nationals Non-Nationals |
1,007 0 |
920 86 |
998 3 |
520 480 |
739 366 |
957 135 |
516 576 |
|
2021/ 2022 |
Nationals Non-Nationals |
1,010 0 |
948 89 |
954 56 |
499 501 |
600 404 |
989 103 |
531 747 |
Survey Design
The average length of successful interview was 27 minutes; interview times ranged from 18 minutes to 40 minutes. The total number of questions asked varied based on responses to previous questions. For example, some questions were asked only of internet users or users of specific social media platforms.
Approval of the survey and method were required by governing agencies in Egypt and Jordan, but not the other countries. As a result, a subset of questions was omitted in Egypt and Jordan at the direction of the overseeing government bodies.
Survey Procedures
The following sections describe the detailed survey method and sampling plan in each of the seven countries. While survey administration and sampling procedures varied somewhat by country, the method was designed to ensure representation of the national adult population in each country. Samples in all countries, except Egypt, include both citizens and resident expatriates. The sample in Egypt includes just citizens, due to the small number of expatriates in this country.
Groups that are not represented in the research include: visitors with no residence permit, farmers, servants, mentally disabled persons, and those in army barracks, hospitals, dormitories, prisons, or labor camps. In Lebanon, residents in areas with heavy Hezbollah presence were also excluded.
All survey methods and procedures are in compliance with the rules and regulations of the ICC/ESOMAR Code for International Marketing and Social Research Practice and the regulations of the National Statistical Bureau in the Gulf Region, Levant and Maghreb countries.
Detailed Method
Surveys were conducted by telephone interviews via CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews). Databases of telephone numbers in each country consisted of a mix of roughly 80% mobile and 20% fixed home lines. Prior to extracting a sample for the survey, the records were reshuffled to keep all numbers in random sequence within each stratum, and a special extraction program selected phone numbers at regular intervals within the structured list.
A multi-stage random probability selection of telephone numbers from the tele-database thereby yielded a representative sample for the interview.
- If the prospective respondent was available and accessible immediately the interview would be conducted right away.
- If the prospective respondent was unavailable at the first call, five further attempts would be scheduled by the system to call again at different times when the respondent would likely be available. If this failed, the number would be skipped and another number would be selected at random from the tele-database.
The interviews were conducted in the language preferred by the respondent: Arabic for Arab respondents (as preferred by respondents) and English or French (where offered) for non-Arabs.
Data Weighting
Weighting was applied—specifically, rim weighting—in all countries surveyed to bring the data in line with the population in each country. The weighting factors include gender by age, age by nationality, and gender by nationality.
Rim weighting uses a mathematical algorithm to help provide an even distribution of results across the entire dataset while balancing certain characteristics to predetermined totals. It weights the specified characteristics simultaneously and disturbs each variable as little as
possible. The weighting factors used in the countries included:
- Egypt: Gender by age, geography
- Jordan: Gender by age, geography
- Lebanon: Age, geography
- Qatar: Gender by age, age by nationality, geography
- Saudi Arabia: Gender by age, age by nationality, geography
- Tunisia: Age by nationality, geography
- UAE: Gender by age, age by nationality, geography
The sampling plans in these countries, developed based on census data, were designed to be representative of these populations by controlling for age, gender, and region/nationality.
While the data within countries was weighted to be representative, the overall sample of 7,382 was not weighted across countries. That is, we do not claim that aggregated data is “representative,” per se, of the Mideast region as a whole. Weighting across countries was not applied due to the variable population sizes across the participating countries.