CQU's recent Queensland Social Survey has revealed a number of newswothy trends, including public views on the sale of Telstra and the Howard-Costello leadership transition.

The survey has revealed that 51.2% of Queenslanders don’t want Prime Minister John Howard to give way to Peter Costello in 2007, versus only 24.3% who do (with the rest undecided).

Meanwhile, the survey showed that Queenslanders in the city, towns and rural areas are clearly against the full sale and privatisation of Telstra. While, rural residents were the most vocal against the sale (70.8%), significant majorities of city (68%) and town (71.2%) dwellers were also against it.

The 2005 Queensland Social Survey (QSS-2005) is the first in a series of annual omnibus state-wide surveys aimed at obtaining public opinion on a range of topics held by a representative sample of Queensland residents.

Conducted by the Centre for Social Science Research at Central Queensland University, the Queensland Social Survey serves the research needs of both university researchers and community organisations. The 2005 Queensland Social Survey sample contained two sub-samples:.

 South-East Queensland (Brisbane and Moreton Statistical Divisions) (n= 798).

 The remainder of the State (Other Queensland, n= 410).

In the initial phase of a two-stage sampling procedure, households were randomly selected using sample management features of the CATI software program. Within each selected household, random quota sampling by gender is used to ensure an equal proportion of male and female respondents. The use of ethical research protocols and trained interviewers ensures quality data and good response rates.

The Centre for Social Science Research established the Population Research Laboratory (PRL) in 1999 to serve the needs of both university and non-university groups for high-quality, cost-efficient, large-scale survey research. The PRL is a fully integrated Computer-Assisted-Telephone-Interview (CATI) lab operating Ci3 software from Sawtooth Technologies. Since its inception, the PRL has completed more than 30 large-scale projects utilising the CATI system, including the Central Queensland Social Survey, which has been conducted on an annual basis since 1999. ENDS.

For details call Kerry Mummery via 4930 6749 or 0408 674 911 or k.mummery@cqu.edu.au