Since 1984, the Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA) has conducted surveys studying changes in Finnish attitudes, values, and perceptions of the present and the future. For related studies, see the Finnish EU Attitudes 1992-2012 series. Since 2013, EVA has not distinguished between national value and attitude surveys and EU attitude surveys. From 2018 onwards, the EVA Surveys on Finnish Values and Attitudes have been consistently biannual.
The series aims at measuring and analysing citizens' views on Finnish society. The data allow a detailed empirical analysis and systematic follow-up of change in public opinion. Each dataset contains both new themes and recurring themes with questions repeated over the years.
Themes covered include democracy, market economy, welfare, environment, society and politics, Finland's international position, economic depression, economic growth, Finnish identity, and views on the future. The surveys are funded by EVA and have usually been carried out by Yhdyskuntatutkimus and Taloustutkimus. More information on the surveys can be found on the EVA Arvopankki website (in Finnish).
The study charted Finnish people's values and attitudes. The themes of the Autumn 2021 survey included the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, county elections, the organisation of public health and welfare services in the new wellbeing services counties, personal identity, and the future of urban and rural areas in Finland.
First, the respondents were presented with a variety of attitudinal statements concerning, among other topics, the Government's actions to combat COVID-19, politics, minorities, reliability of information, and freedom of speech.
Regarding COVID-19, the respondents were asked whether they thought the epidemic was threatening to their own health and livelihood as well as the health and livelihood of people close to them and Finns in general. Remote working was also surveyed, and the respondents were asked whether they would like to continue working remotely after the pandemic.
Various questions surveyed the respondents' interest in and knowledge of the new wellbeing services counties. The respondents were asked whether they would vote in the 2022 county elections that would decide the county councils responsible for the wellbeing service counties, as well as how interested or motivated they were in voting in elections in general. The respondents' views were also examined on which public services (e.g. basic education, social security benefits, public transportation) should belong to the wellbeing services counties in the future and whether the wellbeing services counties should have the power to collect taxes.
Opinions on Finland's current health care system were charted with questions on how well different aspects of health care, such as equality between citizens, waiting times for surgeries, and freedom to choose, were handled at present. The respondents were also asked which health care service provider they primarily used (public, private, or occupational health services) and how healthy they thought they were at present. The respondents' views on the future of urban and rural areas of Finland and opinions on how housing, business, and entrepreneurship should be promoted in sparsely populated areas were surveyed.
The respondents' personal identity was examined with questions on how important various aspects were as constructors of their identity (e.g. nationality, gender, age, occupation). Views on conflicts and contrasts between different groups in Finland (e.g. politicians and the people, employers and employees, men and women) were charted, and the respondents were asked whether they thought various population groups, such as people living in urban or rural areas, disabled people, or the elderly, were particularly privileged or discriminated against in Finland. Finally, opinions on political participation and social influence as well as Finland's EU membership and the euro as Finland's currency were examined.
Background variables included gender, age group, size of the respondent's municipality of residence, region of residence, employer type, employment status, type of employment contract, occupational group, employment sector, trade union membership, political party preference (which party the respondent would vote for), self-perceived social class, mother tongue, and annual income of the respondent's household.
A stratified random sample was drawn from among the internet panel of Taloustutkimus. 2,042 people responded to the survey. The final data were weighted at Taloustutkimus to be representative of the Finnish population with respect to age, gender, region of residence, education, occupation/occupational status, employment sector, and political party preference (which party R would vote for in national elections).
The internet panel of Taloustutkimus, randomly drawn from Finland's population register, consists of individuals aged 15-79 who have entered their demographic and sociographic information when registering to the panel and have given their consent to Taloustutkimus to invite them to participate in various surveys. Responding to any survey is voluntary and participants can leave the panel any time they want.