This round of Eurobarometer surveys diverged from the standard Eurobarometer measures and queried respondents on the following major areas of focus: (1) discrimination, (2) radioactive waste, and (3) purchasing in the European Union (EU).
For the first major focus, discrimination, respondents were queried about how widespread various types of discrimination were, how common they were compared with five years ago, if in the past year they had personally felt discriminated against or witnessed discrimination, and the existence of multiple discrimination. Additional queries included how comfortable respondents would be with having a person from a different minority group as a neighbor, what criteria would put an employment candidate at a disadvantage, their feelings about having people from different minority groups holding the highest elected political position in their country, opinions about specific measures for equal opportunity in employment, whether enough effort was made to fight discrimination, and if they would know their rights if a victim of discrimination.
For the second major focus, radioactive waste, respondents were asked how informed they felt about radioactive waste, their opinions about nuclear energy, its management and the advantages of its use, and their opinions about radioactive waste and its disposal. Further queries asked respondents whom they trusted to give them information about radioactive waste management, their reactions to a radioactive waste site being built near their home, and their opinions about the management and monitoring practices of radioactive waste between EU member states and the EU.
For the third major focus, purchasing in the European Union, respondents were queried about whether they had purchased or tried to purchase goods/services in the last 12 months, in their own and in another EU country, the total value of purchases, and whether they had offers from sellers in other EU countries. Queries also asked if respondents experienced unsolicited, deceptive, or fraudulent offers, coercion, unfair contract terms, shopping at a distance, the cooling-off period, making complaints, and their interest and confidence in cross-border shopping in comparison to shopping in their own country. Finally, on the same topic, respondents were asked about their use of price comparison Web sites, the protection of consumers and the process for resolving disputes, financial services, holiday packages, and nonfood purchases.
Demographic and other background information includes age, gender, nationality, origin of birth (personal and parental), marital status, left-right political self-placement, occupation, age when stopped full-time education, household composition, religious affiliation, ownership of a fixed or a mobile telephone and other durable goods, social contacts, minority group affiliation, quality of life pertaining to health, type and size of locality, region of residence, and language of interview (in select countries).
