The Finnish Opinions on Security Policy and National Defence series includes all surveys conducted by the Advisory Board for Defence Information (ABDI). Their focus is on security policy, foreign policy and national defence. The FSD collections cover data from 1992 onwards. The surveys contain a set of core questions repeated over the years.
The autumn 2022 round of the annual Finnish Opinions on Security Policy National Defence 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. This survey round also included questions about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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, whether the respondents would be prepared to participate in national defence according to their abilities, 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. Satisfaction with defence policy in the previous few years was also investigated.
The respondents were asked to evaluate the impact of several countries and organisations, such as Russia, China, US, UN, NATO and EU, on Finland's security. The respondents were asked to evaluate Finland's preparedness for the prevention of various security threats, such as armed attack, energy supply issues, infectious diseases and epidemics, environmental hazards, political pressure from other states, economic crisis, terrorism, and attacks against information systems and networks. Views on how the military situation in nearby regions would develop during the next decade were also examined.
Next, the respondents were asked whether their trust in the future of the European Union had weakened, strengthened or stayed the same. Views on co-operation between EU and NATO to increase security in Europe were also investigated. Additionally, the respondents' trust in the ability of the Finnish Defence Forces to defend Finland against military threats was examined. The respondents were asked how different issues affected the safety and security of Finland. These included, among others, Finland's EU membership, Finland's NATO membership, participation in the EU defence and in international crisis management. Views were also charted on Finnish military cooperation in the EU, with NATO, other Nordic countries, and the United States.
Concerns caused by certain phenomena and issues were charted, such as withdrawals from arms controls agreements, climate change, various infectious diseases and epidemics, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, organised crime, international terrorism, fake news, cyberthreats, political extremism, racism, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and current developments in Russia, the US, the Middle East and Afghanistan. The respondents' views on Finland's application to join NATO were also surveyed. On the topic of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the respondents were asked whether the EU and its member states should continue to offer military and financial support to Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia.
Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, age, economic activity and occupational status, household composition, ages of children living at home (categorised), gross annual income of the household, level of education, type of accommodation, region of residence, number of inhabitants in the municipality of residence, political party choice in the previous parliamentary elections, and political party choice if the parliamentary elections were held at the time of the survey.
Respondents were drawn using quota sampling with quotas based on age, gender, region and type of municipality. The sample was weighted to represent the target population.
Because of the coronavirus epidemic, the study was conducted as a combination of face-to-face interviews and an online survey distributed to the Taloustutkimus internet panel. In total, 523 face-to-face interviews were conducted, and 510 responses were received for the online survey distributed to the internet panel.