Since 1984, the Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA) has conducted surveys studying changes in Finnish attitudes, values, and perceptions of the present and the future. For related studies, see the Finnish EU Attitudes 1992-2012 series. Since 2013, EVA has not distinguished between national value and attitude surveys and EU attitude surveys. From 2018 onwards, the EVA Surveys on Finnish Values and Attitudes have been consistently biannual.
The series 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 have usually been carried out by Yhdyskuntatutkimus and Taloustutkimus. More information on the surveys can be found on the EVA Arvopankki website (in Finnish).
The survey canvassed Finnish citizens' attitudes and values. The themes studied were social welfare, standard of living and economic growth, science and technology, nuclear power, environmental conservation and alternative social and political movements, equality between men and women and women's status, and the reliability of different information sources. The survey also examined the respondents' attitudes to politics and their participation in the activities of different associations and organisations. The respondents' views on the authority and power of various bodies (e.g. army, media, family, political parties) and on the acceptability of various methods used to influence decision-making were explored.
Background variables included the respondent's sex, age, marital status, number of children, place of residence, region of residence, occupational group, basic and vocational education, trade union membership, sector of occupation, potential supervisory status, monthly gross income, which party R voted for in the last parliamentary elections, voting intention in the next parliamentary elections, and social class.
The target group of the survey consisted of 4,500 Finns aged between 15 and 70, randomly sampled from the national population (both Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking), excluding the Åland Islands. 2,320 adequately completed questionnaires were returned, and the response rate was 51.6%.
The age distribution of the sample corresponds rather well with the national population age structure. Women were somewhat overrepresented but the representativeness of the sex distribution was adequate. Regional representativeness was excellent. Representativeness of political beliefs was satisfactory, although it is difficult to make precise comparisons.