Since 1984, the Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA) has conducted biennial surveys studying changes in Finnish attitudes, values, and perceptions of the present and the future. The series, formerly known as Finnish National Attitudes, aims at measuring and analysing citizens' views on Finnish society. The data allow a detailed empirical analysis and systematic follow-up of change in public opinion. Each dataset contains both new themes and recurring themes with questions repeated over the years.
Themes covered include democracy, market economy, welfare, environment, society and politics, Finland's international position, economic depression, economic growth, Finnish identity, and views on the future. The surveys are funded by EVA and carried out by Yhdyskuntatutkimus Oy. The FSD collections also include surveys on values and attitudes of corporate executives (for example, FSD1091), in which some of the questions presented in this series have been repeated.
The main themes of this survey were social welfare policy, taxation, political lobbying and influence, policies of the future government, candidate choice in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, and options for lengthening working lives in Finland.
First, the respondents were asked whether they agreed with a number of statements relating to political decision-making, climate change, political parties, politics, economic and fiscal policy, Finnish economy, working life, NATO membership, welfare, entrepreneurship, national identity, etc.
Opinions were charted on which tax rates (income tax, corporate tax, excise duty on alcoholic beverages, value-added tax rates etc) could be increased, kept at the same level or lowered. The respondents were also asked how they would rank Finland compared to other countries regarding a number of issues. The issues mentioned included, for instance, how well the political system, democracy and society on the whole work; material and mental well-being; the quality of education, social security and public services; Finland's image; economic competitiveness; equality; safety; income differences; amount of corruption.
The next set of questions probed views on how much certain bodies/operators (trade unions, employer organisations, public authorities, big businesses, the media, market forces, the EU, the EMU, lobby groups, voters etc) influenced political decisions in Finland and whether their influence was too great, appropriate or too low. Opinions were charted on what should be the focus areas for the future government (e.g. economy, employment, national debt, poverty, education, crime prevention, business environment, immigration).
One theme pertained to the forthcoming parliamentary elections. The respondents were asked how important certain aspects were for their candidate choice. The aspects mentioned included, for instance, the candidate image, party, charisma, expertise, values, image given on the Internet or in the social media, the candidate's gender, age, honesty, verbal skills. Opinions were charted on what would be good methods for lenghtening people's working lives (e.g. restricting access to early retirement, raising retirement age, abolishing conscription, measures to shorten unemployment periods, immigration, restricting access to unemployment benefits etc). The survey also investigated attitudes to Finland's EU membership, change of currency to euro, and whether the EMU membership was a benefit or disadvantage to Finland in the economic situation at that time.
Background variables included the respondent's gender, age group, basic and vocational education, size and type of the municipality of residence, industry of employment, region, economic activity and occupational status, trade union membership, self-perceived social class and the candidate of which political party R would vote for if the parliamentary elections were held at that time.
Random sampling from the Finnish population register (excluding the Åland Islands inhabitants). The sample was larger than in previous rounds, and less resources were allocated to follow-up procedures of non-respondents. Response rate cannot be given as there was no systematic follow-up. The sampling was stratified with one strata oversampling younger age groups.
The sample is representative of the Finnish population in terms of basic demographic characteristics, social class and region. In terms of education, the highly educated were slightly overrepresented.