Right to information Act was introduced by the Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka under the Right to Information Act, No. 12 of 2016. With the establishment of the republic conditions, this concept signifies that the ownership to the general public to obtain public information was evolved. State and the public institutions are maintained by the tax levies of people. Hence, the fundamental principle being established is that the people have the right to know information of which the functions of the state are accomplish using public funds.

In this act, access to information indicates the ability of general public to obtain right and required information without any limitations. It denotes that the free accessibility of information and the diverse range of receiving information practice within the general public for their easy usage. More importantly, RTI ensures state of affairs that protects no restrictions on media and having freedom of access to information without any undue influence.

According to RTI, the responsibility to release information indicates the obligation of releasing the information upon receiving the due request from the respective personnel. In this act, the people have rights to demand information from state institutes and the institutes are bound to release the information accordingly. Similarly, it is a right of the people to receive that information without any delay and with complete accuracy.

A desk research was undertaken prior to start the primary surveys with the aim of developing the research frame work to the entire study in the stages of Qualitative and Quantitative. The desk research was done by covering the recent publications such as published books, leaflets, booklets, studies and RTI research conference papers at http://www.rti.gov.lk/media/world-rti-day-2018, publications and latest news on RTI available in RTI websites at https://www.rti.gov.lk/media/publications on the implementation of the RTI Act in Sri Lanka.

A comprehensive Qualitative study consists of Focus Group Discussions (FGD’s) focusing on a cross section of citizens who have applied through RTI Act were carried out prior to Quantitative survey.The qualitative insights required to indicate how RTI Act has impacted on various types of publics in Sri Lanka

The sample selected based on purposive sampling in order to ensure representation of the primary target groups, i.e., those who have made applications to any government institution and who have submitted appeals to the RTIC..

A comprehensive Quantitative study was carried out to identify the public perceptions of the RTI Act and its recognition among the public as an instrument for problem solving through RTI elicited information. A random sampling method was applied in all 25 administrative districts to select an adequate sample for the survey.

The sample consisted of citizens from all socio economic groups and linguistic backgrounds. The total sample size planned was 2500 and achieved 2515 considering representation of all 25 districts and other demographic elements such as gender, age, ethnicity, socio economic class etc. The interviews were carried out in Sinhala and Tamil.

The total of 2515 sample size that was achieved for the quantitative phase ensured 95% confidence level at <3% Margin of Error (MoE). This is a statistically valid sample to ensure country level robust analysis of data which ensures fair representation of the general public and hence findings of the study can be generalized.