European Social Survey (ESS) is a biennial multi-country survey covering over 30 nations. The first round was fielded in 2002/2003. All participating countries are required to contribute to the central coordination costs of the ESS ERIC. In addition, each country participating in the ESS ERIC undertakes to cover the costs of fieldwork and national coordination. The Academy of Finland funds the project in Finland.
The interview data consist of a core module, which remains relatively constant from round to round, and two or three rotating modules, repeated at intervals. Additional data are collected through self-administered questionnaires. The core module monitors change and continuity in a wide range of social variables, including media use; social and public trust; political interest and participation; socio-political orientations; governance and efficacy; social exclusion; well-being, health and security; moral, political and social values; national, ethnic and religious alliances; demographics and socio-economics.
The FSD collections cover Finnish data for 2002-2016. For further information, see ESS Home Site.
The survey studied several themes, including the use of media, social trust, political participation and interest, political trust, political orientation and commitment, satisfaction with own circumstances and certain public services, perceptions of own well-being, religious views, experiences of discrimination, and national and ethnic identity. These themes are recurring in different ESS rounds.
Themes for the rotating modules in this collection round included health, use of medication and natural remedies, medical treatment and doctor's appointments, economic morality, trust and interaction between producers and consumers, balance between different areas of life, division of household work, family, work and well-being.
The self-administered follow-up questionnaire included the Schwartz Human Values Scale as well as test questions controlling the main questionnaire. Questions about alternative medicine, science and technology, and paranormal phenomena were also asked.
The respondents' socio-demographics were widely charted, including, among others, household composition, gender, age, type of neighbourhood, education, occupation, background information on spouse and parents, trade union membership, household income, and marital status.
2,900 people aged 15 or older living in Finland were selected for the sample from the Statistics Finland population database. After removing the overcoverage (deceased persons and persons residing abroad or in institutions), the net sample was 2,857 people. The population was divided by place of residence, gender and age. Each person selected for the sample was contacted at least four times before the case was classified as a non-contact. Each target person was sent a letter and brochure about the study and contacted by phone after. A smaller dataset was collected using a follow-up questionnaire. The response rate of face-to-face interviews was 70.8%. Out of the interviewed respondents, 85% responded to the follow-up survey.