DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02089
title: Eurobarometer 47.1: Images of Switzerland, Education Throughout Life, Racism, and Patterns of Family Planning and Work Status, March-April 1997
title: Archival Version

description: This round of Eurobarometer surveys queried respondents on
 standard Eurobarometer measures such as public awareness of and
 attitudes toward the European Union (EU), and also focused on
 Switzerland's image, racism, education throughout life, and patterns
 of family planning and work status. Respondents were asked if the
 Swiss federal system and the Swiss direct democracy system should be
 considered as models for other countries. Respondents were also asked
 whether Switzerland was a good example of a multicultural society,
 whether it was a conservative country in urgent need of reforms,
 whether it participated enough in efforts aimed at solving economic,
 social, and political problems, and whether it had a strong tradition
 of humanitarian aid. Opinions were sought on Swiss banking practices,
 including the role of the Swiss in business, accountability for
 foreign investors, and repayment to World War II victims. A series of
 questions pertaining to minority groups of different races, religions,
 and cultures was asked. Items included perceptions of the presence or
 number of minorities in the country, workplace, and neighborhood of
 the respondent, as well as the impact of such groups on societal
 values, the economy, job markets, education, Social Security, and
 sports. Also probed were respondents' views on rights for legal and
 illegal immigrants (noncitizens), including freedom of speech,
 housing, education, protection against discrimination, and
 circumstances for deportation. A few questions covered the "European
 Year against Racism" (1997) campaign and the role European
 institutions play or should adopt in the fight against
 racism. Respondents were also asked to rate their own degree of racism
 and to name groups they or their country found disturbing. If a group
 was named, respondents were asked if they could imagine having a close
 relationship with or working for someone from this group, and if it
 would be difficult to accept their child marrying into this group and
 having children with someone from this group. Information was also
 gathered on education and training throughout life. Respondents
 indicated reasons for or against lifelong training, the necessity of
 such training in light of evolving information and communication
 technologies, the impact of continuing training on their own private
 and work lives, and preferred types of training courses. Other queries
 concerned family planning and work situations. Respondents listed the
 number of children they had and indicated whether they were working
 part-time, full-time, or not at all. In addition, respondents
 specified the age at which women should have their first child and
 their last child, and commented on the ideal work situation while
 rearing children. Respondents also described preferred arrangements
 for taking care of elderly parents, including who should be
 responsible for payment. Demographic and other background information
 provided includes respondent's age, sex, marital status, and
 left-right political self-placement as well as household income, the
number of people residing in the home, and region of residence.
description: Multistage national probability samples.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Eurobarometer 47.1: Images of Switzerland, Education Throughout Life, Racism, and Patterns of Family Planning and Work Status, March-April 1997
description: Persons aged 15 and over residing in the 15 member nations
 of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France,
 Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.
description: (1) Data processing for this collection was performed
 at the Zentralarchiv fur Empirische Sozialforschung in Cologne,
 Germany. (2) The codebook and data collection instrument are provided
 as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The PDF file format was
 developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF
 reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how
 to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR
Web site.