Study title

Finnish Opinions on Security Policy and National Defence 2012

Dataset ID Number

FSD2810

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2810
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2810

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Advisory Board for Defence Information (ABDI)

Abstract

The annual survey charted Finnish public opinion on foreign policy, defence policy, security, military alliances, military service, military reforms and Finland's military presence in Afghanistan.

Opinions were charted on the success of foreign policy during the previous few years, funds allocated to the Defence Forces and whether Finland should resort to armed defence in case of any sort of attack. Respondents were asked how the global security situation would develop in the next five years, whether Finland should form military alliances and whether Finland should apply for NATO membership. Views were probed on the current, conscription-based defence system. Concern caused by certain phenomena and issues, such as economic situation in Europe, international crime, income inequality, cyber crime and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction was charted.

Some questions pertained to issues affecting the safety and security of Finland. These included, among others, EU membership, potential NATO membership, Finland's participation in the EU defence and increased foreign investment in the Finnish economy. The role of the Finnish Defence Forces was surveyed as well as satisfaction with defence policy during the previous few years. The respondents were asked to evaluate how much impact factors such as modern weapon systems, maintaining good relations to neighbouring countries and the amount of funding have on credible defence.

Opinions on Finland's chances to defend itself against an enemy in conventional warfare were investigated, along with views on how well Finland has prepared for the prevention of various security threats, such as infectious diseases/epidemics, environmental hazards, political pressure from other states and terrorism. Regarding Finland's military presence in Afghanistan, the respondents were asked whether Finland should continue civilian crisis management and development cooperation in Afghanistan.

The respondents' readiness to participate in defending Finland in case of attack were queried as well as views on Finnish military cooperation in the EU, with NATO and other Nordic countries. Opinions on the effects of the Finnish Defence Forces reform were surveyed.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, age, occupational status and economic activity, marital status, occupation of the household head, household composition, ages of children living at home, level of education, gross annual income of the household, newspaper reading and television viewing habits, type of accommodation, consumer durables in the household, Internet use, municipality of residence, the number of inhabitants in the municipality of residence, and political party choice in the previous parliamentary elections.

Keywords

European integration; armed forces; conflict resolution; conscription; defence; defence and state security policy; foreign policy; foreign relations; international alliances; international conflict resolution; military expenditure; national security; public expenditure

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

2012

Collection Dates

2012-09-20 – 2012-10-10

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 age, gender, province and municipality type distributions. For this study, interviews were conducted in 80 municipalities, 39 of which were urban 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

160 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 2012 [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-08-21). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2810

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 Materials

Suomalaisten mielipiteitä ulko- ja turvallisuuspolitiikasta, maanpuolustuksesta ja turvallisuudesta (2012). Helsinki: Maanpuolustustiedotuksen suunnittelukunta MTS. Tiedotteita ja katsauksia marraskuu 2012; 2/2012.

Related Publications

Suomalaisten mielipiteitä ulko- ja turvallisuuspolitiikasta, maanpuolustuksesta ja turvallisuudesta (2012). Helsinki: Maanpuolustustiedotuksen suunnittelukunta MTS. Tiedotteita ja katsauksia marraskuu 2012; 2/2012.

Finns' Opinions on Foreign and Security Policy, Defence and Security Issues (2012) [online]. Helsinki: Advisory Board of Defence Information, ABDI. http://www.defmin.fi/files/2248/Survey_in_english_28_11_2012.pdf [cited 7 Feb. 2014].

Finns' Opinions on Foreign and Security Policy, Defence and Security Issues - Graphs (2012) [online]. Helsinki: Advisory Board of Defence Information, ABDI. http://www.defmin.fi/files/2249/Statistics_in_english_nettiin_28_11_2012.pdf [cited 7 Feb. 2014].

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

Vartiainen, Mikko (2021) Maanpuolustustahtoisuuden yhteys turvallisuuden ja turvattomuuden tunteisiin maanpuolustustiedotuksen suunnittelukunnan mielipidekyselyissä. Johtamisen ja sotilaspedagogiikan laitos. Maanpuolustuskorkeakoulu.