The research introduced in the newsletter is part of the 'Finnish attitudes towards energy issues' follow-up research and its survey of 2008. The research series has been used to clarify and follow people's attitudes towards questions on energy policy for the past twenty six years (1983-2008). The wide and comparable materials of the project enable the detailed empirical analysis and systematic follow-up of public opinion.

The current research results are based on responses from 1,501 people in total. 1,070 of the respondents represent the population of the whole country, others (431 people) represent the population of the special target municipalities of the research, i.e., Loviisa and Eurajoki. This time, the sample in Loviisa was regionally wider because it included, in addition to Loviisa, the residents of the other municipalities of Suur-Loviisa (Pernaja, Ruotsinpyhtää, Liljendal) which will be established at the beginning of 2010. In the time series study of people's attitudes during the whole follow-up period, the total amount of respondents has been 34,184.

The material was gathered as a written survey from 28 October 2008 to 5 January 2009. It represents the population aged 18 to 70 on the central demographic, economic and social, and regional factors. The research was bilingual: the respondents could choose a Finnish or Swedish questionnaire according to their mother tongue. The confidence interval of the results was 2 to 3 percentage points in either direction (depending on the distribution to be studied). In the results based on the municipality, the marginal was from 5 to 8 percentage points.

The research was carried out by Yhdyskuntatutkimus Oy and ÅF-Consult Oy (former ÅF-Enprima Oy) by order of Fortum Oyj (Fortum) and Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO). The responsible researcher and the author of the report was Pentti Kiljunen. Energiateollisuus ry - Finnish Energy Industries is responsible for reporting the survey results.

The research series was initiated at the University of Tampere with financing from Imatran Voima Oy in 1983. Its results have been published in eleven university reports (Kunnallistieteen laitoksen raporttisarjat, Tampereen yliopisto) and, after this, in many other publications and newsletters (for example, reports by Yhdyskuntatutkimus Oy, Finergy, IVO and Fortum). Up to now, the Finnish and English Internet reports have been published for ten research years. The results of the follow-up survey have also been introduced in articles and compilations that survey the development of the Finnish opinions (for example, Suhonen, Pertti: Yleinen mielipide. Helsinki 1997).

As previously, the current research material is handed over to the Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD, University of Tamper). FSD then provides the material for research and teaching purposes. According to FSD's statistics on use, the materials of the energy attitude research series have been one of the most requested in the archive. They have been utilised and are utilised in several academic research projects and theses in different universities.