A monitoring mechanism should be set up for Dr Chung's polls, according to pro-vice-chancellor Professor Wong Siu-lun.
In a statement on matters that had been discussed during meetings with Dr Chung, Professor Wong said he had expressed concern over 'the apparent lack of a robust monitoring mechanism in guiding the choice of topics and in ensuring the quality of the findings of the self-initiated polls conducted by Dr Chung and his team'.
He said a monitoring mechanism would help protect pollsters' credibility. 'Should there be an accountable mechanism, there will be a mechanism to protect the credibility of pollsters and the academic quality of the findings when there are doubts over the choice of poll topics. It is just like a quality control system.' Professor Wong denied such a move would be seen as interference with academic freedom. 'Academic freedom is protected. (Findings) can be made public freely and there is no mechanism of censorship,' he said.
But he declined to say whether he agreed with concerns allegedly expressed by vice-chancellor Cheng Yiu-chung and the Chief Executive's Office over Dr Chung's role as both a pollster and a political commentator.
'The doubts are absolutely reasonable. I did not ask Dr Chung to stop being a commentator. I only raised that worry for his reference. I also asked him whether he thought the two roles could be merged,' he said.