About the survey

The data collection for the STRIVE project will take place during the 2022-2023 academic year. About 3000 students from 18 secondary schools across Finland will fill out a questionnaire three times, in September/October, in January, and in April. It takes between 30 to 45 minutes to fill out the questionnaire. Some questions will be asked three times (at each data collection), but some questions will only be asked once. Instructions will be given by the teacher before the students start filling out the questionnaire.

What are the surveys about?

The surveys include questions in which pupils are asked to tell about their peer relationships, possible experiences with bullying, their well-being as well as feelings and thoughts. The pupil answers these questions by choosing the option that feels most accurate to them.

Additionally, pupils are asked to evaluate their peers. These questions are called peer nominations, and they are a common research tool in developmental psychology.

Sometimes we have been asked if children and adolescents may feel bad to evaluate their peers in a negative manner, for example if they click their name as an answer to a question like “Who bullies others?”. This is why we would like to point out a few things about peer nominations:

It is not compulsory to name anyone at any point in the questionnaire, and it is always possible to choose the option “nobody”. Participants can also choose not to answer a question. Participation on the whole is voluntary, and participants can also discontinue their participation at any point.

The question of whether peer nominations can cause conflicts or other problems has been researched quite a lot, and no negative effects have been found in relation to for example peer interaction, classroom relationships or self-esteem. In any questionnaire it is important to evaluate the possible drawbacks in relation to the possible gains. It is especially important in studies concerning children and adolescents that no harm or risks are involved. This is why peer nominations have been researched quite extensively by our research groups as well as by others, and we are confident that no such negative consequences exist.

For more information about the processing of data and privacy guarantees, see the privacy statement.