This proposal seeks QNRF support to develop and expand the Arab Barometer (AB) survey research project, and to institutionalize it firmly in the Gulf region by establishing Qatar University as a regional hub and core partner. The Arab Barometer is a rich multi-country survey project that provides data for theory-driven and policy-relevant scholarly inquiry, for a broader and more accurate understanding of ordinary men and women
in the Arab world, and for dissemination and outreach activities that promote good governance and a more complete understanding of the preferences of ordinary citizens. The data provide a more accurate and comprehensive picture of the attitudes and beliefs of men and women across the region. The surveys cover a wide range of topics, including views about countries? economic health and policy, politics and governance,
religion and the role it should play in politics, women?s role in society, and international affairs. To date, during the last decade, 29 nationally representative face-to-face surveys have been carried out over three waves in 14 Arab countries spanning North Africa, the Middle East, and the Gulf.

However, despite the AB?s wide coverage across the region, in the first three waves the number of Gulf countries remained limited. In these waves, the only three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries were included: Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, and each in only a single wave. Thus, fewer than 10% of all Arab Barometer respondents are Gulf nationals. Moreover, although 10 countries have fielded multiple waves of the survey to allow the investigation of changes in public opinion over time, none of these is a GCC member. This lack of coverage has hampered researchers seeking to include the Gulf countries in their analyses of Arab publics, both in general and when attempting to study important temporal trends. This proposal address these
limitations by increasing the number and scope of Arab Barometer surveys in the Gulf region, while at the same time putting in place the infrastructure for an Arab Barometer hub at Qatar University. The new surveys to be fielded in the Gulf will be carried out in Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. The Barometer?s hub and core partner in the Gulf will be established at Qatar University?s Social and Economic Survey Research
Institute (SESRI). The funds for which we seek support will thus ensure that the Gulf region in general, and social scientists at Qatar University and other institutions in GCC countries in particular, will be represented and deeply involved in all Arab Barometer activities.