COP3 - UK REFERENDUM // PRIMARY RESEARCH // SURVEY RESULTS

In order to understand the biggest issues of the EU Referendum, I set out to create a survey to see if factchecking above all issues was the most concerning. My goal was to gather a number of opinions from UK voters no matter their age, race, or who they voted for. Upon a number of issues raised the main issue that the survey discussed was factchecking, through other forms of research it was important to discover whether or not factchecking and the use of misleading statements were indeed such a big problems and the only way to find that out was to hear directly from the UK public. The questions I asked were as follows:

"Did you vote in the EU referendum on the 23rd of June?" - Filtering the users as soon as the reach the survey.

If you did, how did you vote?

"What do you think were the biggest issues that led up to the EU Referendum?"- This question will understand what issues voters thought were the most problematic throughout the referendum. Unsurprisingly, Factchecking came out on top. This result gives me a good indication of what was most concerning.

"Did you check the legitimacy of any statement/facts made from either the Remain or Leave camp?" - This question checks whether or not voters were aware of the misleading statement from both camps and if they ever checked the legitimacy of any statements made by both camps. The results concluded that people didn't check whether or not statements were true or not, this gives strength to my idea as it summarizes that people are misinformed, therefore creating an opportunity in which to persuade people to make sure they fact check.

"What's your view on both 'Remain' and 'Leave' camps using misleading statements/facts to persuade voters?" - This is the section of the survey where the voter can voice their opinions and steer away from the yes or no answer tick box. It was essential to see what the voters truly thought about misleading statements and express themselves anonymously. Some of the top comments were:

"There should be a proper independent regulator in place that is essential to all party's and campaigns. Misleading statements on both sides are atrocious!"

"I only saw the Conservative side of the Remain camp use misleading statements and fear-mongering. Whereas the Leave camp did it across the board - both in the official campaign led by Boris and by Farage's parade of populism."

"By remaining all would have been the same, but I do feel like there should have been some alternative changes, nevertheless by leaving there are going to be many things to go ring and it's all gone tits up"

"It's not on - people are easily influenced by certain statements surrounding immigration and the NHS. It's a way of using fear for their agenda."

From reading these comments is undeniable of the sheer anger and disappointment surrounding the issue of misleading statements. Some of the comments suggested a real solution combat the problem, such as an independent regulator. But it's clear that the feelings from the public are evident and that there is a real problem, which affects real voters of the UK.

"If you knew misleading statement were being told, would you FactCheck?" - The result from this question further legitimizes the need for a factchecking system in place. Near enough 100% said they would FactCheck and 1 person stated that they didn't know it was an issue, this suggests that people need to be educated and informed on the issue.

If you could go back in time would you vote differently?

Audience/Engagement 

As I've mentioned in a number of other blog posts, surveys are the best solution to gather information about politics. The survey was anonymous therefore, I couldn't gather statistics such as age or demographic within the UK but as this was shared on social media the age range would be around 18-30. In total around 12 people took part but was shared to over a thousand people! What this suggest is the subject of politics is a subject that isn't too attractive or appealing for people to take time out of their day to take part in. But the other issue is surveyed in general. Surveys are overused and a dry solution to gather data but this solution was the most appropriate method to gather the information needed