Study title

Finnish Opinions on Security Policy and National Defence 2016

Alternative Title

MTS-syystutkimus 2016

Dataset ID Number

FSD3142

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3142
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3142

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, and international armed conflicts at the time of the survey. Some questions examined views on factors affecting safety and security.

Opinions were charted on the success of foreign policy in the previous few years, funds allocated to the Defence Forces, whether Finland should resort to armed defence in case of any sort of attack, and how the global security situation would develop in the next five years. Views were probed on the current, conscription-based defence system and whether women should also participate in conscription. The respondents were asked whether Finland should form military alliances and whether Finland should apply for NATO membership.

Some questions pertained to issues affecting the safety and security of Finland. These included, among others, Finland's EU membership, potential NATO membership, participation in the EU defence and in international crisis management, and military non-alignment.

Satisfaction with defence policy in the previous few years was investigated. The respondents were also asked about Russia's recent actions and their possible impacts on Finland's security. Views were charted on Finnish military cooperation in the EU, with NATO, other Nordic countries, and the United States. The respondents were asked to evaluate what effect several countries and organizations, such as Russia, China, US, UN, and EU had on Finland's security.

Views were studied on Finland's preparedness for the prevention of various security threats, such as armed threat, infectious diseases and epidemics, environmental hazards, uncontrolled immigration, political pressure from other states, economic crisis, terrorism, and attacks against information systems and networks.

Concern caused by certain phenomena and issues was charted, such as the economic situation in Europe, global warming, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, international terrorism, cybercrime, increase in the number of asylum-seekers, racism, and current conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, and Turkey. Finally, the respondents were asked about their trust in the European Union.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, age, economic activity and occupational status, marital status, occupation of the household head, household composition, ages of children living at home, gross annual income of the household, level of education, type of accommodation, region of residence, number of inhabitants in the municipality of residence, Internet use, political party choice in the previous parliamentary elections, and political party choice if the parliamentary elections were held at the time of answering.

Keywords

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

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

2016

Collection Dates

2016-09-22 – 2016-10-11

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

Quotas based on age, gender, region and municipality type distributions. For this study, interviews were conducted in 93 municipalities, 52 of which were urban municipalities.

Collection Mode

Face-to-face interview: Computer-assisted (CAPI/CAMI)

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

107 variables and 1000 cases.

Data Version

2.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

To protect confidentiality, the 'municipality of residence' background variable [BV19] was removed from the data. The original case id [ID] was also removed.

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 2016 [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-07-10). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3142

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

Suomalaisten mielipiteitä ulko- ja turvallisuuspolitiikasta, maanpuolustuksesta ja turvallisuudesta (2016). Helsinki: Maanpuolustustiedotuksen suunnittelukunta MTS. Tiedotteita ja katsauksia 2/2016.

Finländarnas åsikter om Finlands utrikes-, säkerhets- och försvarspolitik (2016). Helsingfors: Planeringskommissionen för försvarsinformation PFI. PFI Pressmeddelanden och översikter 2/2016.

Finns' Opinions on Foreign and Security Policy, Defence and Security Issues (2016) . Helsinki: Advisory Board of Defence Information, ABDI. Bulletins and reports December, 2016.

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