How the Arab News survey of French people of Arab origin was conducted

DUBAI: As a wave of Islamist attacks hit France, Arab News en Francais commissioned YouGov, the leading online polling company, to conduct a study to provide answers to the recurrent phenomenon.

The survey was based on a sample of nearly 1,000 respondents living in France, spread across five age groups, six countries of origin, three types of residential areas, five categories of employment and three educational levels. The aim was to ascertain the sense of inclusion and level of integration of French Arabs and Muslims in French society.

The survey covered a sample of 52 percent of women and 48 percent of men, across five age groups: 18-24 years (15 percent); 25-34 years (31 percent); 35-44 years (32 percent); 45-54 years (14 percent); and 55 years or older (8 percent).

A large proportion of the respondents identified their country of origin as Algeria (43 percent). The other prominent countries of origin were Morocco (32 percent), Tunisia (14 percent), Lebanon (3 percent), Egypt (2 percent) and other Arab states (6 percent).

The working status of the respondents fell into the following categories: 65 percent employed; 10 percent unemployed; 8 percent students; 3 percent retired; and 14 percent others. Of the respondents, 49 percent live in large cities, 39 percent in medium cities and 12 percent in rural areas.

The sample included people of various education levels: 20 percent do not hold a bachelor’s degree; 24 percent hold a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent; and 55 percent hold a higher education degree.

The findings show that 65 percent said they would support the French values of secularism in their home country. An even higher number, 80 percent, of respondents over 45 years of age supported this opinion. If the majority of respondents defended the French secular model, less than half (46 percent) opposed the same model in Arab countries.