Knowledge of Politics and Society 2008: Turku Region Upper Secondary Schools 2007-2008

The survey charted the political knowledge of pupils in the final year class of upper secondary schools in the Turku region (Finland). The knowledge areas queried were basic political concepts, the political systems of Finland and the EU, and Finnish national economy. Opinions on politics and democracy were also surveyed. The data were collected as part of the research project "Knowledge of Politics in International Comparison 2007-2010" at the University of Turku. The same questions were presented in other surveys conducted by the project: FSD2499 Knowledge of Politics and Society 2008 and FSD2344 Knowledge of Politics and Society 2008: Turku Region Vocational Institutions 2007-2008. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education and Culture provided funding for the project. First, opinions on politics were charted. The respondents were asked how interested they were in politics, how much information they had received from various sources (e.g. from educational institutes at different levels, friends, home) to understand social and political issues, how close they felt to specific political parties or civic/voluntary organisations and on what grounds they made their party/candidate choice in elections. Further questions covered the perceived importance of voting in different elections, the respondent's political and civic participation and participation methods. The respondents also rated how important they held a number of sources to be for obtaining political and social information (e.g. television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, events, contacts with decision-makers, personal communication). Television, radio, newspaper and Internet use was charted as well as reasons for using the Internet. Next, political knowledge and knowledge of the Finnish political system were studied. The respondents were asked to assess the level of their own political and social knowledge. A number of questions explored knowledge on what the concepts of politics, democracy and political left and right entail. The respondents also graded the functionality of Finnish democracy and placed themselves on the left-right axis. Further questions investigated factual knowledge on Finnish constitution, proportional electoral system, electoral districts, functions of political parties, functions and powers of Parliament and the Prime Minister, parties represented in the coalition government and Parliament, elections, national incomes policy negotiations, etc. Knowledge on EU issues was charted by asking the respondents in what year Finland became a member state, which countries were members in the EU or belonged to the euro zone, powers of the EU, legislation, to which EU institution representatives were elected by direct vote, how many votes Finland had in the Council of Ministers, how many members Finland had in the European Parliament, what were powers of the Parliament and the length of the electoral period. Knowledge on Finnish national economy was explored through questions on local taxation, state budget, impact of inflation on purchasing power, and state income tax. Background variables included the respondent's gender, year of birth, municipality of residence, basic education, type of neighbourhood, annual gross income of the household, and mother tongue.

本调查针对芬兰图尔库地区普通高中毕业班学生的政治认知水平展开调研。调研覆盖的知识领域包括基础政治概念、芬兰与欧盟（EU）的政治制度，以及芬兰国民经济；同时还收集了受访者对政治与民主的看法。
本调研数据作为图尔库大学"2007-2010年跨国政治认知比较"（Knowledge of Politics in International Comparison 2007-2010）研究项目的一部分采集所得。该项目还开展了另外两项采用相同问卷的调查：FSD2499《2008年政治与社会认知》与FSD2344《2008年政治与社会认知：2007-2008年图尔库地区职业院校》。本项目由芬兰司法部与教育文化部资助。

首先开展政治态度调研：询问受访者对政治的关注程度、从各类渠道（如各级教育机构、朋友、家庭）获取社会与政治议题信息的情况、对特定政党或公民/志愿组织的亲近程度，以及其在选举中选择政党/候选人的依据。后续问题涵盖对不同选举中投票重要性的认知、受访者的政治与公民参与情况及参与方式。受访者还对获取政治与社会信息的各类渠道（如电视、广播、报纸、杂志、互联网、活动、与决策者的接触、人际沟通）的重要性进行了评分。此外还调研了电视、广播、报纸与互联网的使用情况，以及使用互联网的原因。

接下来开展政治认知与芬兰政治制度认知调研：请受访者评估自身的政治与社会知识水平。一系列问题探究了受访者对政治、民主及政治左右翼（political left and right）概念的内涵认知。受访者还对芬兰民主的运行状况进行评分，并在左右翼政治光谱中为自身定位。后续问题涉及芬兰宪法、比例代表制选举制度、选举选区、政党职能、议会与总理的职能与权限、参与联合政府与议会的政党、选举、国民收入政策谈判等方面的事实性认知。

欧盟议题认知调研通过提问展开，具体问题包括芬兰加入欧盟的年份、欧盟成员国及欧元区（euro zone）成员国、欧盟的权限与立法机制、通过直选产生代表的欧盟机构、芬兰在欧盟理事会（Council of Ministers）的投票权数量、芬兰在欧洲议会（European Parliament）的议员人数、欧洲议会的权限及选举任期时长。

芬兰国民经济认知则通过以下问题探究：地方税收、国家预算、通货膨胀对购买力的影响，以及国家所得税。

本次调研的背景变量包括受访者性别、出生年份、居住市镇、基础教育水平、社区类型、家庭年度总收入以及母语。