Description
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This round of Euro-Barometer surveys investigated life satisfaction, union membership, smoking habits, knowledge and views regarding cancer, views on the importance of NATO and certain national problems, attitudes toward democracy and individual liberties, attitudes toward immigrants and out-groups (i.e., people of another nationality, race, religion, culture, or social class), and knowledge of and attitudes toward European Community institutions and policies, including the Common Agricultural Policy and the creation of a single European market in 1992. Respondents also were asked to name current topics and events most important for them and to state whether or not certain causes such as the protection of wildlife and the promotion of world peace were worth taking risks and making sacrifices for. Questions on political party preferences asked respondents which party they felt the closest to, how they voted in their country's last general election, how they would vote if a general election were held tomorrow, and how they planned to vote in the June 1989 elections for the European Parliament. The survey also gauged respondents' perceptions of the general attitude of each country's political parties toward the European Community. The inquiry into out-groups asked respondents to identify groups that came to mind when they thought of people of another nationality, race, religion, culture, or social class. Respondents were asked if they counted any out-group members among their friends and if any of these persons worked at their place of employment or lived in their neighborhood. Additional questions asked respondents if they were disturbed by the presence of these out-groups and if they thought that these groups exploited social welfare benefits, increased unemployment, contributed to delinquency and violence, affected property prices, or reduced the level of education in schools. In West Germany, France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands, respondents were queried about their attitudes and feelings toward specific out-groups: Southern Europeans, North Africans, Turks, Black Africans, Asians, Southeast Asians, West Indians, Jews, Surinamers, and Northern Europeans. The section on cancer queried respondents about their knowledge of the causes of cancer and medical recommendations for its early detection and prevention, and asked respondents if they followed or intended to follow those recommendations. Additional information gathered includes family income, home ownership, number of persons and children under 15 residing in the home, size of locality, region of residence, occupation of the head of household, and the respondent's age, sex, occupation, education, religion, religiosity, subjective social class standing, and left-right political self-placement.
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