Eurobarometer 56.0 (Aug-Sept 2001)

This round of Eurobarometer surveys diverged from standard trend
questions, instead focusing on information and communication
technologies, financial services, and cultural activities. Respondents
were questioned about how important it was to use a computer in their
daily lives, whether and where they used a computer, for which uses a
computer or the Internet was important, and which other communication
products they used, such as cable TV and mobile phones. They were asked
what type of computer training they had received, whether they worked
remotely (telecommuted), whether communication technologies had been
introduced at their workplace, if so, what the outcome had been, and
how using a computer, e-mail, or the Internet had changed the way they
worked. Respondents were further queried on financial services,
governmental legislation of financial services, whether consumer
protection standards should be harmonized within the European Union
(EU), and what obstacles were preventing consumers from using financial
services in the EU. They were asked about their preferred method of
paying for significant purchases and the reasons for that preference,
whether they used cards with a confidential code, and the types of
financial accounts or loans they had. A final section focused on
cultural activities and asked respondents which type of television
programs they watched, whether they watched videos or DVDs, listened to
the radio, or owned a computer, how often they used the Internet and
for what purpose, how many books they had read in the past year,
whether they read newspapers or magazines, and what types of music they
listened to. They were asked to describe cultural activities they
engaged in, types of media they had access to at home (such as a
television set, records, CDs, video game player, books), and how many
television sets, encyclopedias, and books they owned.

Demographic and other background information provided includes
respondent´s age, gender, nationality, marital status, left-right
political self-placement, occupation, age at completion of education,
household income, region of residence, and subjective size of community.