The question used to register people's feeling about the handover are open-ended questions with categorical answers. Respondents were asked to describe freely their feelings, and their answers were then categorized by the interviewers as "positive", "negative", "neutral", or "ambivalent". The adjectives enclosed in brackets are only there to help the interviewers.

The exact question asked is somewhat like this (in Cantonese): "Hong Kong has returned to China … How do you feel right now?" The answers provided by the respondents should reflect their feeling at the time of the interview, not that during the handover in 1997. With the exception of the first year, respondents' answers probably reflect their general feeling of the prevailing social conditions in June and July, not anniversary activities.