Within the framework of the Public Opinion Programme, the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies organized an advisory meeting on Friday and Saturday, the 15th and 16^th of October, 2010 in Doha to discuss the project on "Arab Public Opinion Indicator". This workshop was organized to discuss the preliminary form proposed by the Center for the purpose of implementing this survey annually in the Arab countries where such field studies can be carried out. Approximately twenty researchers and specialists from various Arab countries as well as specialists in a variety of scientific and academic disciplines with a direct relationship to this field of research participated in this workshop. 

On the first day, the participants discussed the primary focus of the suggested "survey" without looking over the set of questions proposed in every section. For this, the discussion centered around the concepts and framework that should be delineated and utilized. Participants were asked to make additional suggestions and additions they deemed appropriate and germane among ideas and concepts in order to enrich the debate and to reach a realistic perception of what ought to be known about Arab public opinion. Participants presented a multiplicity of ideas and critical suggestions which are necessary to set up a framework of concepts as well as references for the questions of the first survey and subsequent ones. Also, they were asked to focus primarily on developing concepts and independent points of view in order to comprehend the societies in which we live, in addition to transforming these concepts into questions that can be applied to different Arab societies, so that we will be enabled to collect precise and reliable data (where answers are not given according to pre-prepared agendas).

After lengthy productive debates which lasted for six hours on the first day of the workshop, participants received a copy of the proposed survey in order to be read before the second day's meeting, while taking into consideration the discussions of the previous day when commenting on questions as well as suggesting additions and omissions.

On the second day, the participants studied the set of proposed questions for every section in light of the discussions of the first day, which centered on frameworks and concepts. Consultations were undertaken on the validity of the selection of topics and questions, as well as the addition of other topics and the elimination of others as the participants saw fit. There was detailed discussion on every question from the standpoint of "how" to measure opinion on the proposed topics and to "how" to formulate them into questions with statistical validity and significance.

The results of the discussions over the two days of the workshop led to the distillation of approximately two-hundred and fifty questions, distributed over ten sections in the questionnaire.  In view of the length of the survey and its density, it was deemed necessary to shorten it to a form under one hundred fifty questions where some topics were reduced, provided that a return to these will take place in subsequent surveys.

The discussions covered the following areas of concern: the extent of the satisfaction of the Arab citizen with life in general; his/her view of development; the role of the state in society; political and civil participation; his/her evaluation and assessment of forms of government; his/her opinion about the media, religion, and the issue of identity as well as inter-Arab relations, security and stability in the Arab world and international relations.

List of participants at the Advisory Meeting held for the project "Arab Public Opinion Indicator " in Doha, on Friday and Saturday, October 15th and 16th, 2010.