This book discusses what Pakistanis 'think collectively' on various local and international issues during the years 2007-09. It covers a diverse range of subjects, from democracy and War on Terror, to religious inclinations and consumption preferences. Furthermore, it dispels various fallacies about the general Pakistani public, for example, that the Pakistani public is largely illiterate and therefore incapable of understanding the complexities of governance or judicious foreign policies; or that it approves of wholesale violence in the name of religion; or that it is unaware of global climatic changes and is not concerned with any other issues beyond the basic necessities of life, and other such misconceptions.
A careful analysis of the data disproves or qualifies these misconceptions which flourish because measuring popular opinion is difficult while passing off unsubstantiated generalizations about an amorphous entity is easy. The only credible method for measuring public opinion is through scientific surveys. If seen in this light, this book will serve as a pioneering step towards enhancing a realistic understanding of our society.
Dr. Ijaz Shafi Gilani received his doctorate in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1977. He taught and served as Chairman at the Department of International Relations, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
Dr. Gilani founded Gallup Pakistan, the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup International which specializes in opinion and marketing research. He has headed and successfully completed over 100 research projects in the field of social and economic development, strategic studies and political behaviour. Dr Gilani has served as Project Director at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (1979-81), producing a pioneering study on labour migration and foreign
remittances. Besides, he co-founded and co-chaired the Crisis and Conflict Analysis Team, Institute of Strategic Studies (1984-93).
He has also served as Research Adviser, National Defence College; Honorary Senior Fellow and Member, Senate, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Islamabad; Member, Board of Governors, University of Management and Technology; Visiting Research Associate, Center for International Studies, MIT; Fulbright Visiting Specialist, Bates College; Senior Fellow and Adviser, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) from 1993-2000; Member, Board of Governors, Bahria University; FRIENDS; Institute of Policy Studies and several other notable research bodies.
Dr. Gilani has also delivered the Rashdi Memorial lectures for the Central Asian Society, Karachi University; Punjab University; and Sheikh Zayed Centre, Lahore. He has to his credit several publications on a wide range of subjects.
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