The Barometers for Swedish-speaking Finns survey opinions, attitudes, habits and trends among the Swedish-speaking population of Finland. The first barometer was fielded in 2002, and since then the barometer has been conducted once every year. FSD collections cover data from 2002 to 2009 and from 2019 onwards.
Since 2019, the surveys targeted at the Swedish-speaking population of Finland have been conducted using a citizen panel consisting of Swedish-speaking Finns (Den finlandssvenska medborgarpanelen Barometern). The panel is administered by Åbo Akademi University's Social Science Research Institute and is part of the Finnish Research Infrastructure for Public Opinion (FIRIPO) funded by the Research Council of Finland.
This study charted the identity of Swedish-speaking Finns and their opinions on various aspects of everyday life, such as politics and society, the use of mass media, values, and identity. The study was funded by the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland (Svenska kulturfonden).
The first questions revolved around language. The respondents' and their families' Finnish and Swedish language skills were surveyed. It was examined whether the respondents had used Swedish, Finnish or both in different types of contexts, e.g. at home, at school, with friends, at bureaus and banks, and at work. The respondents were asked to evaluate how happy they had been with the service they had received in e.g. post offices, city councils, police stations, and libraries. The respondents were also asked which language was or would be their children's language at school.
The respondents' views on media, the press, radio, and television were also surveyed. Their preferred newspapers, radio stations and television channels were examined, as well as the time the respondents spent with these types of media per day. The respondents' internet use was also examined.
The respondents' interest in different types of activism and associations was charted. Finally, the respondents were presented with attitudinal statements regarding the state of Swedish in Finland.
Background variables included e.g. region of residence, age group, gender, education level, economic activity and occupational status, marital status, and household composition.
The Population Register Centre picked a random sample of 2,000 persons from people residing in Finland who had Swedish as their registered mother tongue. A total of 1,108 filled questionnaires were received.