Tekijät

• Tuominen, Minna (University of Turku. Department of Social Research)

Asiasanat

adolescents, family life, friends, happiness, leisure time, parents, schoolchildren, social interaction, trust

Sisällön kuvaus

The survey charted the well-being and social relationships of sixth-graders and their parents/guardians living in the Turku region. Themes of the survey included, among others, leisure time activities and hobbies, friendships, home and family, and views on life and other people.

The survey for sixth-graders contained questions on, for example, how they spent their leisure time, how many hobbies they had, and how satisfied they were with their life. Questions also examined how many friends the sixth-graders had, how often they met with their friends, whether they ever felt lonely, and how happy they thought they were. The sixth-graders' home environment and family were surveyed with questions about household composition, languages spoken at home, worries about money, and major life changes (e.g. moving, parents' divorce). Views on life and other people were charted by asking the respondents whether they agreed or disagreed with various statements on giving and receiving help, how much they trusted other people, and whether they had a positive or negative attitude towards different groups of people. Questions also focused on moral issues (e.g. whether the respondents thought lying to one's friends was acceptable for one's own gain) as well as opinions on immigration and sexual minorities. The sixth-graders could complete the questionnaire on paper or online. The respondents completed the questionnaire during class and were supervised by their teacher or the researcher. The teachers were given separate instructions if they supervised the class.

In the survey for the parents/guardians of the sixth-graders, questions first examined family composition and living arrangements of the sixth-grader. The respondents were also asked how they spent their leisure time, how satisfied they were with their life, and how often they met their friends, relatives or colleagues outside of work. Views on and trust in other people were surveyed, and the respondents were asked about giving and receiving help. Finally, various attitudinal statements were presented. The parents/guardians responded to the questionnaire online.

Background variables included the sixth-grader's age and gender, and the parent's/guardian's year of birth, gender, level of education, economic activity and occupational status, languages spoken at home (categorised), household income, and number of parents/guardians and children in the household (categorised).