Study title

Finnish Opinions on Security Policy and National Defence 2010

Dataset ID Number

FSD2593

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2593
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2593

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Advisory Board for Defence Information (ABDI)

Abstract

This annual survey charted Finnish public opinion on foreign policy, defence policy, security, military alliances, military service, Finland's military presence in Afghanistan, and the EU's new diplomatic service.

The respondents were asked how well Finland had managed its foreign policy and defence policy, should Finland join NATO or not, why should the country join or not join, and should Finland take up arms to defend itself if it were attacked.

One theme pertained to military service and the conscription system, should it abolished, should military service be voluntary also men, how should those doing the service be selected, should military service or civil service be obligatory for women etc.

Some questions focused on Finland's military presence in Afghanistan. Views were probed on what kind of operations Finnish troops should concentrate on in Afghanistan (e.g. should they help build democracy, educate local armed forces, educate the police, use military force to combat extremists), or should the troops be withdrawn.

Opinions on the EU were charted by asking how well the EU has managed its foreign and defence policy and what should be the most important duties and activities of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the European External Action Service. Further questions covered views on the impact of various factors on the security of Finland (e.g. the EU, UN, NATO, Russia, the U.S., Finland's participation in international crisis management or the European Rapid Reaction Force, increasing foreign ownership) and what factors were important for creating strong defence.

The respondents were asked to what extent they felt concern about a number of issues, such as the situation in Afghanistan, Iraq or the Middle East, global financial crisis, terrorism, environmental issues, use of nuclear power, nuclear weapons, climate change, economic situation in the world and in Finland, weapons of mass destruction etc. Views were probed on how well the country had prepared itself against a number of threats (terrorism, international crime, attack against communication networks, energy availability, uncontrolled immigration etc).

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, occupational status and economic activity, marital status, occupation of the household head, household composition, age of children living at home, education, gross annual income of the household, newspaper reading and television viewing habits, type of accommodation, municipality size and type, major region (NUTS2) and region (NUTS3) of residence, ownership of car, home, holiday home and consumer durables, Internet use, and political party choice if parliamentary elections were held at that time.

Keywords

European Union; armed forces; conflict; conflict resolution; conscription; defence; defence and state security policy; foreign policy; international alliances; international conflict resolution; international relations; national security; peace-keeping forces; terrorism

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Conflict, security and peace (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Finnish Opinions on Security Policy and National Defence

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Taloustutkimus

Time Period Covered

2010

Collection Dates

2010-09-24 – 2010-10-11

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 15 - 79 living in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Quota

Quota sampling based on the gender, age, province, and municipality type distributions. For this study, interviews were conducted in 90 municipalities, of which 48 were urban and 42 rural municipalities.

Collection Mode

Face-to-face interview

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: English and Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Number of Cases and Variables

223 variables and 1017 cases.

Data Version

2.0

Weighting

The data contain a weight variable (paino), matching the sample to the distributions of the 15 - 79 year-old population (in thousands).

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Advisory Board for Defence Information (ABDI): Finnish Opinions on Security Policy and National Defence 2010 [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-08-21). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2593

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Miten Suomen tulisi toimia Afganistanissa? Afganistanin mielipidetutkimus 2010 [verkkodokumentti]. Maanpuolustustiedotuksen suunnittelukunta MTS. http://www.defmin.fi/index.phtml?463_m=4465&s=263 [viitattu 10.1.2011]

Suomalaisten mielipiteitä ulko- ja turvallisuuspolitiiikasta, maanpuolustuksesta ja turvallisuudesta 2010 (2010) [verkkodokumentti]. Maanpuolustustiedotuksen suunnittelukunta MTS. http://www.defmin.fi/index.phtml?463_m=4475&s=263 [viitattu 10.1.2011]

MTS Survey 2010 (2010) [online]. Helsinki: Advisory Board of Defence Information, ABDI. http://www.defmin.fi/files/1685/MTS_survey_2010.pdf [cited 7 Feb. 2014].

MTS Survey Statistics 2010 (2010) [online]. Helsinki: Advisory Board of Defence Information, ABDI. http://www.defmin.fi/files/1686/MTS_Survey_statistics_2010.pdf [cited 7 Feb. 2014].

Gustafsberg, Harri & Nyman, Markku (2018). Yksilöresilienssi ja yhteiskunnan turvallisuus. Tampere: Mentoritiimi.