If You're Happy And You Know It...

Another day, another report of the government rigging a survey. This time, officials in Nanjing's Pukou District are being accused of fixing a phone questionnaire by putting out a list of "sample" answers and then cutting the phone lines of some of the poorer families (y'know, just in case).

The December 20th survey, run by the provincial Statistics Bureau, was intended to measure the well-being of the area's residents. However, days before it was expected to take place, officials distributed a list of "correct" responses to the sixteen questions, and offered residents 2,000RMB if they played along. Among the sample answers:

Item 3: "What was your total family income in 2008? Answer: more than 8,000 yuan."

Item 16: "If you were to measure happiness on a 100-point scale, how many points would you give yourself? Answer: between 90 and 100."

The town finished the survey with a satisfaction rating of 96%.

Reporter Chen Wen of the Nanjing Morning Post caught wind of the story and got the chance to question the town's Vice-Secretary on the accusations.

Wen: I noticed that every household here has a government-issued set of sample questions and answers to the well-being survey. When village officials passed them out, they told the people that they had to use these responses. Why was this done?

Secretary Zhu: Achieving overall well-being was a major task for Pukou District this year, so like other towns, we treated this inspection very seriously to make sure we'd pass. The samples were for educational purposes, so that people wouldn't make mistakes if they received a survey call.

Reporter: Many villagers said that on the day of the inspection, some poorer families suddenly discovered that their telephones weren't working. They said that this was done by the telecom office at the government's request out of fear that those poor families would tell the truth on the phone and influence the inspection. We'd like to know whether the government really asked for those lines to be cut.

Zhu: No, the government would never do that. The phones could really have had problems on that day.

See the full interview and Wen's article on Danwei.