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.
The data was used to map the voting intentions of Swedish-speaking Finns in the 2023 parliamentary elections, as well as opinions on politics and statements concerning citizen participation. The data was collected as part of the Citizen Panel of Swedish-speaking Finns (Barometern), which is part of The Finnish Research Infrastructure for Public Opinion (FIRIPO).
The survey began by examining the respondents' voting intentions for the 2023 parliamentary elections. They were asked, for example, whether they intend to vote, whether the party or the candidate is more important when voting, and what factors influence their choice of candidate and party. Next, the respondents were asked for their opinions on political statements, such as 'decision-makers should be bound by voters' demands, even if it threatens future generations' and 'political leaders should focus on solving future problems, even if it means additional costs for current taxpayers.' Additionally, the respondents were asked to estimate how much they themselves—and Finns in general—would be willing to sacrifice to combat climate change.
After this, the respondents were asked whether they had engaged in various forms of civic participation within the past four years, or whether they could imagine doing so—for example, by signing a citizens' initiative. They were also asked about their trust in different institutions and whether people in general can be trusted. Finally, the survey explored how well certain statements described the respondents themselves. Examples of such statements included: 'I quickly notice if someone in a group feels uncomfortable' and 'Others often say I'm cold, even though I don't always understand why.
The background variables in the dataset are gender, language, year of birth, age, level of education, labor market status, region, classified age, education classified into three categories, self-assessed health status, marital status, religiosity, income level, type of residential area, and whether the respondent has children or grandchildren.
The survey was sent to individuals who are part of the Citizen Panel of Swedish-speaking Finns (Barometern). A total of 5,006 people responded to the survey. Participants were invited to join the panel in 2019 and 2022, and it is also possible to register independently. In 2019, the invitation was sent to over 35,000 randomly selected Swedish-speaking individuals living in Finland who were at least 18 years old. In 2022, the invitation was sent to 30,000 individuals meeting the same criteria. In 2019, over 4,700 people registered for the panel, and in 2022, approximately 4,500 people registered.