The National SOM Survey 1997

Since 1986 the research project ´Samhälle Opinion Massmedia´ (SOM) has been carrying out an annual nation-wide survey of Swedish opinions. This is accordingly the twelfth survey in this series. The questionnaire was divided into six subject fields: mass media; politics and society; Sweden´s relations to the rest of the world; energy, nuclear power and environment; leisure, media and public issues; and background. Most of the questions are replications of questions asked in one or several previous SOM-surveys. New media questions dealt with newspaper reading on the internet. The respondents also had to state if they agreed or not with a number of statements concerning morning paper usage. Respondents were also asked about the Swedish EU-membership and the effect of the membership on different areas. A number of questions dealt with the respondent´s willingness to pay more taxes if the money was used for environmental issues. New questions on media habits included: how often the respondent watched different programs on television; the reliability of different programs; reasons to watch different types of television programs; and opinions on a number of television personalities. The respondent also had to value how important a number of things are for a modern society to work properly. Furthermore there were questions about membership in religious denominations, geographical identity, domestic animals, media equipment mainly used by the respondent, and internet usage. Purpose: The main purpose is to establish time series that enable researchers to analyse how various changes in society affect people's attitudes and behaviour.