Kiwis Count: Tikanga rangahau, pūranga hoki Kiwis Count survey methodology and archive
The Kiwis Count survey is how we measure trust in the Public Service. Information on the latest survey questionnaire and data from previous surveys is available.
Survey methodology
How trust and confidence are measured
Each quarter, a nationally representative sample of 2000 people are asked to participate in Kiwis Count through our researcher provider.
We ask about people’s trust in the Public Service based on their own experiences by asking participants to identify a service that they have recently used. They are then asked how much they agree or disagree that they can trust the organisation or service to do what is right.
The second core measure is trust in the Public Service overall. The survey gives a definition of the Public Service, then asks to what extent they trust the Public Service.
Changes in the survey over time
We started Kiwis Count in 2007. Over time, the substance of the survey has changed with modules swapped in and out based on changing information needs. The core trust questions described above have remained the same since 2012.
In 2023, we piloted changes before implementing a new version of the survey. More information about the pilot is available in the Technical Report.
Kiwis Count Pilot Technical Report 2023
The current questionnaire is available for download. Kiwis Count Questionnaire 2023
Data files
The data from previous Kiwis Count surveys is available for download.
Kiwis Count Data 2020 to June 2023
Kiwis Count Data Dictionary 2020 to June 2023
Note: The data dictionary contains a note that details changes to the ethnicity coding that were introduced in June 2023. Also note that the sample size has periodically changed across this time.
You can also find older Kiwis Count datasets at data.govt.nz — this is a directory of publicly available, non-personal New Zealand Government-held data and links to datasets held on other government organisations’ websites.