**********
308: Could you tell us a
bit about the Environics Institute and its mission?
KN - The Environics Institute is the only organization in Canada to focus
on public opinion and social research in the public interest (as a non-profit
entity). It was founded in 2006 by
Michael Adams (also co-founder of the commercial company Environics Research
Group in 1970), when he realized there was no entity in Canada like the
respected Pew Research Center in the US doing independent public interest
research.
Our initial project was the first-ever national survey of Muslims in
Canada, based closely on a similar survey Pew conducted in five European
countries and the USA. September 11th made Muslims the new “other” group in the
western world, and this community was poorly understood and treated with
suspicion. The survey results provided a
more accurate and constructive picture of our country’s Muslim population, in part
by demonstrating how much they share in common with other Canadians. It was well covered in the media (thanks to a
partnership with the CBC) and much appreciated by the Muslim community.
The Institute’s
mission is to promote relevant and original public opinion and social research
on important issues of public policy and social change in Canada. The underlying premise is that through such
research that organizations in all sectors, as well as individuals, can better our
country today, how it has been changing, and where it may be heading. A major focus of the Institute’s mandate is to
survey individuals and groups not usually heard from, asking questions not
normally asked. All of our research is
in the public domain (available through our website at www.environicsinstitute.org), and
in most cases we publicize our studies in partnership with major media
organizations such as the CBC and the Globe
and Mail.
In addition to
conducting its own research projects, the Institute promotes the importance and
use of public opinion research as important input into public policy and
decision-making. We also aim to serve as
a centre of excellence for responsible public opinion research methods and
application, through education, training and consulting.
308: Does the
Institute do any political polling?
KN - The short answer is
no. The mandate of the Institute is to conduct important research that is not
being done by other organizations, to address important gaps in our knowledge
and understanding. Political polling is
being well covered by others in Canada, and so is not an area where we need to
direct our efforts. We do have an
interest in the broader topics of democracy and civic engagement, and this is
reflected in some of our studies.
308: What kind of
research has the Institute done in the past?
KN - Our research falls
into three broad streams:
1. Our most substantial projects focus on
conducting meaningful research with poorly-understood and often marginalized
parts of our country’s diverse population.
In addition to our survey of Muslims (which we hope to update this
fall), the Institute conducted the landmark Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study (www.uaps.ca), which was the first to focus on
Aboriginal communities in our cities (more than half of our Aboriginal
population now lives in cities). We are
currently in the early stages of launching a major study of the diverse Black
community in the Greater Toronto Area. For these projects we use a
community-based research model, in which we actively engage the community being
studied in all phases of the project, including an initial scoping of the
issues to be addressed.
2. Our second stream addresses the Canadian
population as a whole, and focuses on building understanding of Canadian public
opinion on public policy and social trends as they are today and how they are
changing over time. Our signature
project is Focus Canada, which is the
longest-running public opinion research program in Canada (launched in 1976)
that provides a credible, independent and sustained source of Canadian public
opinion on important issues facing the country.
Focus Canada was a
syndicated study conducted on a quarterly basis by Environics Research until
2009 when the federal government instituted a moratorium prohibiting its own use
of any form of syndicated public opinion research. In 2010, the Environics
Institute took over Focus Canada as a non-profit project and is now conducting
it as an annual survey. The emphasis is on continuing the ongoing tracking at
the national and regional levels to identify how Canadian public opinion is
changing (or not) over time on a wide range of issues.
3. Finally, the Institute also conducts research
that places Canada in an international context, to help us better understand
how current and shifting public opinion and social values in this country
compare with what is happening in other parts of the world. For instance, the Environics Institute was the
Canadian partner in the 2012
AmericasBarometer (www.AmericasBarometer.org),
a multi-country public opinion survey on democracy and governance across the
Americas that is conducted every two years by a consortium of academic and
think tank partners in the hemisphere.
308: What are some of
the most interesting findings you’ve had in your research?
KN - There are many
interesting and often counter-intuitive findings from our research, including
the following:
·
Most Muslims in this country want to fit in and be part of broader
society, but most other Canadians think they do not. This is an example of
where research can uncover a positive story that can lead to broader public
acceptance (2006 Survey of Muslims in
Canada).
·
Canadians feel strongly connected to the world outside the country’s
borders, and this is reflected in a variety of ways. This includes a
substantial financial contribution to international organizations and family
members (i.e. through remittances), which in 2007 was estimated to total $27
billion, dwarfing the federal government’s official development assistance
total of $4 billion (Canada’s World Poll,
2008).
·
Contrary to popular belief, most Aboriginal Peoples living in Canadian
cities are not transient, but have made the city their home and is where they
want to be. For many, the city is proving to be a venue for creative
development of Aboriginal culture, rather than remaining bound to rural
traditions. The overall picture of
Aboriginal life in the city is very different from what one sees on most of the
country’s reserves (Urban Aboriginal
Peoples Study, 2008-09).
·
Canadians believe being a good citizen is more than having a passport
and obeying the law. Just as important
are having an active commitment to ones community, and being accepting of
others who are different. Moreover,
Canadian-born and foreign-born citizens share a remarkably similar vision of
what it means to be a good citizen (Canadians
on Citizenship, 2012).
308: My readers might be more familiar with the
Environics Research Group, which does political polling. Can you explain how
the two organizations are different?
The Environics
Research Group is one of Canada’s leading public opinion and market research
companies, and as such is a commercial, for-profit business that conducts
research on behalf of its clients. The Environics
Institute is a non-profit entity that conducts its own research or collaborates
with partners in launching joint projects that would not otherwise be
done. The Institute has no formal
business or financial relationship with Environics Research (or with other
businesses that are part of the Environics Group of Companies). The Institute maintains its own financial and
administrative systems, its own website and social media presence, and has an
external Board of Directors.
**********Thanks to Dr. Neuman for taking the time to answer these questions, and I hope some of you will take a look at the work the Institute is doing.
