Eurobarometer 50.1: Information Society Services, Food Quality, the Family, and Aid to Development, November-December 1998

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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 information society services, food quality, the family, and aid to developing countries. Those surveyed were asked if they used "information society" items such as satellite dishes, video recorders, computers, fax machines, fax modems, portable telephones, the Internet, pagers, and cable television, either at home for leisure or at work, and if they planned on purchasing such items. In addition, respondents were given several examples of services accessible through communication networks such as the Internet and television and asked if they would be interested in using these services. Examples included taking part in political debates with a politician, getting a doctor's advice on a health problem, planning a complete trip, reading newspapers, conducting job searches, and managing bank accounts. Food quality questions in this survey asked respondents how often their households purchased food items such as cheese, cooked meat, fruit, vegetables, honey, meat or poultry, pre-cooked meals, and beer. They were asked which was most important to take into account when buying the aforementioned products: the brand label, the quality label, the look of the product, the type of outlet where it was purchased, date stamps, or the product's traditional character. Respondents also defined their ideal for a quality food product. Other questions on this topic probed for respondent opinions on various product labels such as "designation of origin," "protected designation of origin," and "protected geographical indication" labels. Respondents were asked if they had ever seen or heard of any of these labels, where they had seen them, and what the labels meant to them. The survey also addressed the topic of the family in detail. Respondents were asked to list factors that influenced the number of children that people might wish to have, and to comment on the main roles of family in society and whether they were in favor of or against marriage and why. Those queried were also asked what the government's top priority should be in order to improve family life. In addition, respondents were asked whether marriage or having children changed their lives at all, and which areas, such as child care, health care, education, and the environment, should be taken care of by the government, by private companies, or by associations. Another topic in the survey addressed aid to developing countries. Respondents answered questions on whether it was important to help the people in poor countries and which nation was in the best position to aid poor countries. They were asked if this aid should increase or decrease and whether development aid provided by the European Community contributed to solving problems such as drugs, overpopulation, immigration, environment and pollution, and trade development. Respondents in Italy were asked to rate Italy's economic efficiency, and to comment on Italy's commitment to the European Union, the reliability of Italy in business, and the main political and economic obstacles for Italy in taking a stronger role in the European Union. Demographic and other background information provided includes respondents' age, sex, nationality, marital status, and left-right political self-placement, as well as household income, number of people residing in the home, occupation, size of locality, and region of residence.