ISSP is a continuous programme of cross-national collaboration on social science surveys. It is based on annual, internationally integrated surveys carried out in all participating countries. A self-financed consortium of various research institutions is in charge of the programme. The ISSP data collection started in 1985, and in Finland in 2000, along with the national membership.
The GESIS in Germany is responsible for archiving the ISSP data. Country-specific codebooks and questionnaires can be found on the GESIS ISSP web pages. ZACAT, the data portal of the GESIS, offers information on ISSP surveys, with online retrieval, analysis and download. Their Data Catalogue DBK allows retrieval and download of data and questionnaires. Both services are free of charge but downloading requires registration. The ZACAT registration is valid for DBK and vice versa.
In Finland, ISSP surveys are carried out in collaboration by three institutions: Finnish Social Science Data Archive, Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Tampere, and the Interview and Survey Services of Statistics Finland.
In 2024, the theme of the international International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) survey was the digital society. The dataset includes Finnish views on the digital society as well as the use of the Internet and digital technology. The survey explored, among other things, the frequency and ways of using the Internet, digital skills, concerns related to data protection, and attitudes toward artificial intelligence and robotics.
Respondents were asked about the prevalence of Internet use, with which devices and where they used Internet (e.g., home, workplace, public spaces), and the purposes of Internet use, such as communication, information retrieval, shopping, entertainment, and social media. The survey also examined reasons for not using the Internet.
The survey inquired at respondents' experiences with, for example, online fraud and harassment, as well as trust in different sources of information, other Internet users, or societal institutions. Respondents reported their participation in social and political activities both online and offline. In addition, they were asked about views on privacy, the protection of personal data, and authorities' rights to monitor digital communication.
The survey also explored perceived benefits and drawbacks of digital technology for different population groups (e.g., gender, age, education level, region, income level). Questions related to artificial intelligence and robotics addressed attitudes toward the use of AI in various areas of life, such as medical procedures or travel, concerns about job automation, and opinions on the reliability and use of AI-generated information.
Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, year of birth, marital status, level of education, occupation, voting behaviour, gross income, current labour market status, household size, and major region (NUTS 2). In addition, background variables included the education, occupation and labour market status of the respondent's spouse.
Respondents were selected by systematic random sampling from a population database. The sample size was 3100 persons, of whom 1383 responded to the survey. Before sampling, the respondents were sorted by municipality code and date of birth. Respondents were contacted a maximum of six times during the survey, by letter invitations, e-mail and paper forms. The total loss was 1717, of which 10 were drop-outs and 10 were refusals.