30
June 2015 Paulina Schmitz Publieksonderzoek 70 Jaar Vrijheid Public Opinion Poll 70 Years Freedom
June 2015
Paulina Schmitz
Publieksonderzoek 70 Jaar Vrijheid
Public Opinion Poll 70 Years Freedom
Background information Objective Report structure Project management
Methodology Survey design Survey administration Representativeness
Part 1 - Sample characteristics Channels Age and gender Nationality
Part 2 - General analysis Positioning World War II Organizations Websites Sites Perceived knowledge and interest Channels
Part 3 - Focused analysis: Liberation Route Europe Awareness Website Interest Getting to know more about LRE Going on a tour Motivations Disincentives
Appendix Paper questionnaire
3333
4 4 4 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 12 13 14 15 16
18 19 21 22 23 24 25 27
29 30
Table of contents
2
Anne NijtmansCoordinator Specials De [email protected]
Max Meijer Project secretaris Stichting Musea en Herinneringscentra [email protected]
Peter Kruk Project Manager Liberation Route [email protected]
Paulina Schmitz Research Trainee at Bureau BUITEN and Liberation Route EuropeMSc Leisure, Tourism & Environment, Wageningen [email protected]
Anneke van Mispelaar Senior Advisor BUITEN, Bureau voor Economie en [email protected]
Background information
Objective
This report presents the results of the survey “Publieksonderzoek 70 Jaar Vrijheid / Public Opinion Poll 70 Years Freedom” that was commissioned by the Foundation Liberation Route Europe, De Gelderlander and the Foundation Musea en Herinneringscentra 40-45. Within the scope of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands in May 2015, De Gelderlander took the initiative to publish the special newspaper supplement “70 Jaar Vrijheid”, focusing on the meaning of commemoration and freedom in the past and in the present.This special newspaper supplement formed the initial stage for performing a survey within this theme. The objective of this survey is to learn more about people’s perceptions and behaviors related to 70 years liberation, freedom and remembrance of the Second World War in general.
Report structure
At the beginning of this report a brief overview of the methodology will explain the survey design, administration procedures and a word of caution on representativeness of the results. In the first chapter an assessment of the sample characteristics is provided. The second chapter of the report analyzes the results of the questions used in the questionnaire one by one. The third chapter specifically addresses the Liberation Route Europe.Apart from graphs that visiualize the quantitative results and tables that compare means of different variables, each section ends with a set of key points that summarize the most important information derived from the data.
Project management
This research project is unique in the form it was organized and supported. It is presented by Paulina Schmitz, MSc student in Leisure, Tourism and Environment at Wageningen University and research trainee at Bureau BUITEN and Liberation Route Europe Foundation. The survey was composed and executed in cooperation with De Gelderlander and the Foundation Musea en Herinneringscentra 40-45, and supported and supervised by Wageningen University, Bureau BUITEN and Liberation Route Europe.Involved in the management of the project were:
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Interest in historyImportance of keeping the remembrance of World War II aliveImportance of commemorating victims of World War IIImportance of the next generation learning about World War IIImportance of celebrating freedomInterest in getting to know more about World War II in the free timeKnowledge of selected organizations that are related to World War IIKnowledge of selected websites that are related to World War IIFrequency of visits to selected sites that are related to World War IIPerceived knowledge about World War IIRelevance of channels contributing to knowledge about World War IIInterest in getting to know more about World War IIInterest in the Liberation Route EuropeLocation of vacationsComposition of nationalities in personal circle of friendsGenderAgeEducationNationalityProvince of residenceChannel to access the surveyOpinion about the newspaper supplement “70 Jaar Vrijheid”
Methodology
Survey design
The research instrument that was used for this survey is a self-completion questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed in English and translated into Dutch. The Dutch paper version of the questionnaire can be found in the appendix. It addresses the following variables:
Survey administration
The Dutch questionnaire was printed in the newspaper supplement “70 Jaar Vrijheid” that appeared on Saturday 2 May 2015 in the newspapers De Gelderlander, De Gelderlander, De Stentor, De Twentse Courant Tubantia,BN/De Stem, Eindhovens Dagblad,and Brabants Dagblad. In total, the supplement was printed 650.000 times.
To minimize the time consuming effort of manually digitalizing data from paper questionnaires, respondents were encouraged to fill in the survey online via the websites of the respective newspapers. The online version of the survey contained the same questions as the printed version. Moreover, the link to the survey was shared on the social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn by the different partners. By participating in the online survey, the respondents had the chance to win one out of four parachute jumps organized by the Liberation Route Europe Foundation.
Filling in the questionnaire on paper and sending it back by post to the LRE Foundation was also still possible, whereby postal costs had to be covered by the respondent. This strategy aimed at minimizing postal responses and maximizing online responses while at the same time not excluding respondents who are not familiar enough
Twi
hthe
tshuer vine
tye rwnaest .
open for respondents from 1 till 17 May 2015.
Representativeness
As a direct consequence of the sampling procedure caution has to be advised regarding the representativeness of the results of this survey. The sampling frame, meaning the collection of people that have been approached for this survey, consists of people who read the aforementioned newspapers and are connected to the aforementioned online media platforms. As this sampling frame cannot be hold representative for the Dutch population, representativeness for the whole population cannot be claimed.The results of this survey may however give an indication of possible patterns and trends that offer valuable information to the organizations involved.
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Part 1
Sample characteristics
577 42.6%
448 33.0%
133 9.8%
55 4.1%
40 2.9%
36 2.7%
33 2.4%
12 0.9%
9 0.7%
5 0.4%
4 0.3%
4 0.3%
1356 100.0%
Answer Bar Response %
Gelderland
Noord-Brabant
Overijssel
Zuid-Holland
Noord-Holland
Utrecht
Limburg
Flevoland
Friesland
Groningen
Zeeland
Drenthe
Total
780 59.6%
297 22.7%
131 10.0%
29 2.2%
18 1.4%
17 1.3%
17 1.3%
14 1.1%
4 0.3%
2 0.2%
1309 100.0%
Answer Bar Response %
Newspaper
Website of a newspaper
Other:
Word of mouth
Other website:
Website www.bureaubuiten.nl
Total
The publication in the newspaper generated the highest number of responses, followed by Facebook. Due to the regional distribution of the newspapers, most respondents come from Gelderland and Noord-Brabant.86 paper questionnaires were sent by post, almost all of them by respondents older than 65 years.
Channels
How did you get to know about this survey?
What province do you live in?
Key points
6
OffineNewspaper / word of mouth
OnlineLinkedIn / facebook / twitter / e-mail / websites
TotalAll channels
There is a clear distribution of approximately two thirds male and one third female respondents. There is no distinction in this pattern between respondents who got to know about the survey offline or online.65 % of all respondents are older than 50 years.Respondents who got to know about the survey from offline channels (newspaper and word of mouth) are generally older, while the age distribution of respondents who got to know about the survey from online channels approximates a normal distribution.
Age and gender
Key points
7
1328 97.4%20 1.5%4 0.3%3 0.2%2 0.1%2 0.1%2 0.1%1 0.1%1 0.1%1 0.1%0 0.0%0 0.0%
1364 100.0%
Answer Bar Response %DutchOther:BritishPolishMoroccanGermanIndonesianChineseBelgianFrenchSurinameseTurkishTotal
30 2.2%353 25.9%508 37.2%
91 6.7%
203 14.9%
180 13.2%
1365 100.0%
Answer Bar Response %lower educationmbohbo
vmbo
havo/vwo
university
Total
Almost all respondents are Dutch. Respondents with other nationalities have not been excluded from theanalysis, as the target group for this survey has been set as "people living in the Netherlands", notexclusively people with a Dutch nationality.More than half of all people in the sample (63,1%) have attained mbo or hbo as highest level of education.
Nationality
What is the highest level of education you have attained?
Key points
What is your nationality?
8
Part 2
General analysis
All statements score high or very high: World War II is still a relevant topic. "It is important that the next generation learns about what happened in World War II" is perceived as very important by most people (72%, followed by the need to keep the remembrance of World War II alive (70%, commemorating the victims of World War II (68% and celebrating freedom (64%.While a large amount of people feel a general interest for history (89%, fewer people like to learn about World War II in their free time (76%. These high-scoring results are likely to be at least party resulting from the fact that the questionnaire was published in a newspaper supplement that specifically focused on World War II. The readers of this supplement are likely to show more interest in this topic than the average Dutch person.
Positioning World War II
To what extent do you agree with the following statements?
Key points
10
I think that it is important to keepthe remembrance of World War IIalive.
I think that it is important tocommemorate the victims ofWorld War II.
I think it is important to celebratefreedom.
I think it is important that the nextgeneration learns about whathappened in World War II.
Generally speaking, I aminterested in history.
In my free time, I like to get toknow more about the history ofWorld War II.
Question
4.5
4.5
4.4
4.5
4.3
4.1
Ø
4.6
4.5
4.5
4.6
4.3
4.0
Ø
4.5
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.2
3.8
Ø
4.6
4.6
4.5
4.6
4.4
4.2
Ø
4.5
4.4
4.3
4.6
3.9
3.5
Ø
4.6
4.5
4.5
4.7
4.3
4.1
Ø
4.7
4.7
4.6
4.7
4.3
4.2
Ø
4.6
4.6
4.6
4.7
4.3
4.0
Ø
The table shows the average values of the different statements on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5(strongly agree).The gender comparison shows that men and women share (almost) the same opinion in the importanceassigned to keeping the remembrance of World War II alive, commemorating the victims, celebratingfreedom and letting the next generation learn about what happened in World War II. Men show a slightlyhigher interest in history in general and a higher interest in getting to know more about World War II in theirfree time.The age comparison shows that young people (below 25 years) assign most importance to the idea that thenext generation needs to learn about World War II. They show less interest in history in general and inspending their free time on World War II. The highest interest for this category is shared by people between35 and 49 years old. This group is also the one that finds the commemoration of victims and keeping theremembrance of World War II alive most important.
AgeGender
Positioning World War II
Total
Key points
To what extent do you agree with the following statements?
65+Male Female 0-24 25-34 35-49 50-64
11
People with a low interest in history
People with a high interest in history
Total
''The Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei' and the 'Anne Frank Huis' are by far the two best known organizations inthis list, almost everyone either knows what they do or knows them by name.For all other organizations, there is a visible difference between people are generally speaking interested inhistory and those who are not. STIWOT, the 'Stichting Informatie Wereldoorlog Twee' is the least known organization in this list, followed bythe vfonds.NIOD, the 'Instituut voor Oorlogs-, Holocaust- en Genocidestudies' and the Liberation Route Europeare approximately at the same pitch of publicity, while the NIOD is a small step ahead
Organizations
Which of the following organizations do you know?
Key points
12
The most known websites in this list are www.4en5mei.nl (40%), www.oorlogsmusea.nl (37%) andwww.liberationroute.nl (32%). Least known are www.vfonds.nl (7%) and www.tracesofwar.com (8%).Respondents show a high increase in interest in visiting all of these websites in the future. In the onlinesurvey this question contained weblinks to all the websites, potentially increasing this interest in future visits.
Websites
Have you ever visited this website before taking this survey?
Key points
Is it likely that you will visit this website in the future?
13
Only 7% of all respondents have not visited a military cemetery yet. The most visited museum in this list is the Oorlogsmuseum in Overloon, followed by the Airborne Museum'Hartenstein' in Oosterbeek and the Herinneringscentrum Kamp Westerbork in Hooghalen.The least visited museum in this list are the Museum Rotterdam '40-'45 NU and the BevrijdingsmuseumZeeland in Nieuwdorp. These scores are likely to result from the regional distribution of the sample. Most respondents come fromGelderland and Noord-Brabant, so that the museums in these regions are visited more often by therespondents in the sample than museums in distant regions.
Sites
Key points
How often have you visited any of the following sites?
14
Respondents feel best informed about what happened in the Netherlands during World War II, followed bywhat happened in Europe during World War II and least informed about what happened outside of Europe.68% do not feel well informed about what happend outside of Europe during World War II.The same amount of people (68%) would like to make up for that and get to know more about whathappened outside of Europe during World War II. The interest in learning is even higher for within Europe(81% interested or very interested) and for within the Netherlands (85% interested or very interested).The averages for all 3 geographical areas are very high, all scoring 3,8 or higher on a scale from 1 (notinterested at all) to 5 (very interested).
Perceived knowledge and interest
Key points
How interested are you in getting to know more about what happened ... during World War II?
How would you rate your knowledge about what happened ... during World War II?
15
The comparison of means shows that the channel that contributed most to the knowledge about World WarII among all respondents is film and TV (average 4,0 on a scale from 1 to 5). Closely behind are books (3,9).The working environment scored lowest (2.2).Visiting historical locations and newspapers / magazines share an average of 3,6, directly followed bymuseums, internet and online media, and school / education (all 3,5).The channels that appear to have the most intensive learning effect (% in category 'contributed a lot') arebooks (32%), followed by film and TV (24%) and visiting historical locations (24%).
Channels
Key points
To what extent did the following channels contribute to your knowledge about World War II?
16
School / education
Work / colleagues
Film / TV
Internet / online media
Books
Newspapers / magazines
Family and friends
Museums
Visiting historical locations
Question
3.5
2.2
4.0
3.5
3.9
3.6
3.4
3.5
3.6
Ø
3.4
2.3
4.0
3.6
4.0
3.6
3.4
3.5
3.6
Ø
3.8
2.1
4.0
3.2
3.8
3.5
3.6
3.4
3.6
Ø
4.2
2.0
4.0
3.8
3.5
2.8
3.4
3.5
3.7
Ø
3.7
2.1
4.0
4.0
3.7
3.0
3.4
3.7
3.8
Ø
3.6
2.3
4.0
3.7
4.0
3.4
3.3
3.6
3.6
Ø
3.6
2.3
4.0
3.4
3.9
3.7
3.5
3.4
3.6
Ø
3.3
2.3
3.9
3.1
4.0
3.9
3.4
3.4
3.5
Ø
Age
The gender comparison shows that women learn slightly more from school / education and from family andfriends than men, while men learn slightly more from their working environment, internet, books, newspapers/ magazines and museums. The age comparison shows that young people below 25 experience school as the most important channel,whereas this perception decreases with age.For older people, especially books and film and TV seem to be important sources of knowledge about WorldWar II.
Gender
Channels
Total
Key points
65+50-6435-4925-340-24FemaleMale
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Part 3
Focused analysis: Liberation Route Europe
Education
Age
Total
Gender
Awareness
Do you know the Liberation Route Europe Foundation?
Lower ed.
vmbo
university
havo/vwo
hbo
mbo
Male
Female
0-24
25-34
35-49
50-64
65+
19
Taking all respondents into account, one third has never heard of the Liberation Route Europe, one thirdknows them by name and one third knows what they do.The gender comparison shows that more men (73%) than women (56%) know the organization.The age comparison shows that the organization is less known among you people below 25 years (37%know it), while awerness levels only slightly fluctuate for the other age cohorts.The comparison of educational level shows that the Liberation Route is least known among universitygraduates (53% compared to 64%-71% for lower levels).It appears that people who are more interested in history in general know the Liberation Route Europe betterthan those who are not interested in history (68% compared to 58%).A bigger difference can be detected between people who are interested to learn more about World War II intheir free time compared to those who are not interested (73% compared to 49%).
Interest in history
Interest in getting to know more about World War II in free time
Awareness
Key points
Do you know the Liberation Route Europe Foundation?
Low
High
Low
High
20
Age
All respondents
Respondents who know what the Foundation Liberation Route Europe does
Gender
All respondents
Respondents who know what the Foundation Liberation Route Europe does (=34%)
One third of all respondents has visited the website of the Liberation Route before taking this survey.Age is not as determining for website visitation as one might have expected. It cannot be claimed thatyounger people would use the website more than older people.Out of all respondents who know what the Foundation Liberation Route Europe does, 68% of all men and63% of all women have visited the website. Reverse that also means that around one third of the people whoknow the organization have never been on the website.
Total
Website
Key points
Have you ever visited the website www.liberationroute.nl before taking this survey?
65+
50-64
35-49
25-34
0-24
65+
50-64
35-49
25-34
0-24
Female
Male
Female
Male
21
Respondents are more interested in getting toknow more about the Liberation Route Europetheoretically (average of 3,6 on a scale from 1 to5) rather than practically going on a tour along(parts of) this route (average of 3,1).Only a minority of respondents (38%) is interestedor very interested in actually going on a tour.
Interest
Liberation Route Europe gives you the chance to discover and experience the route that the Allied Forces took during the final phaseof the World War II: from southern England to the beaches of Normandy, the Belgian Ardennes, Brabant, Arnhem, Nijmegen, theHürtgen Forest and on to Berlin and the Polish city of Gdańsk.
Key points
How interested are you in...?
22
Interests
Respondents who rate their interest in history in general as...
Respondents who rate their interest in getting to know more about World War II in their free time as...
Total
Awareness of the Foundation Liberation Route Europe
General interest in history and specific interest in getting to know more about World War II in the free timeare playing an important role in the question weather or not a person would like to know more about theLiberation Route. The higher the level of awareness about the organization, the more a person would like to know about it.People who never heard about the Liberation Route before are least interested in getting to know moreabout it.The same pattern is visible among people who have visited the website: 85% of the people who visited thewebsite are interested in more information compared to 51% of the people who don't know the website.
Visited the website www.liberationroute.nl
Interest: Getting to know more about LRE
How interested are you in getting to know more about the Liberation Route Europe?
Key points
Never heard of it
Only know it by name
I know what they do
Low
High
No
Yes
Low
High
23
International orientation
Most frequent holiday location in the last two years
Age
Total
Interest in actually going on a tour along the route is highest among people between 25 and 49 years old(16% very interested, 30% interested).People who spend most of their holidays within the Netherlands are slightly less interested in going on a tour(30%) compared to people who usually spend their vacation outside of the Netherlands, but within Europe(43%) and people who travel mostly outside of Europe (38%).It appears that people who have more international friends are more interested in going on a tour thanpeople who spend their time solely among Dutch friends.
Level of international contacts in personal circle of friends
Interest: Going on a tour
1 = All my friends are Dutch2 = Most of my friends are Dutch and some have a non-Dutch nationality3 = Most of my friends have a non-Dutch nationality and some are Dutch
How interested are you in actually going on a tour along (parts of) this route?
Key points
Outside NL, withinEurope
Outside Europe
Within NL
2
3
1
65+
50-64
35-49
25-34
0-24
24
“Ik ben zeer geïnteresseerd in de Tweede Wereldoorlog en alles wat daarmee temaken heeft en deze reis lijkt mij prachtig om een keer te maken. Het is
de reis naar vrijheid voor Europa, ook al is er in de tussentijd veel veranderd.”
Count: 54Exemplary quotes:
Count: 32Exemplary quotes:
Count: 27Exemplary quotes:
Count: 24Exemplary quotes:
Motivations
"We zijn meerdere malen in normandie geweest wat daar staat is fantastisch enhoe die mensen daar alles in stand houden is werkelijk fantastisch en eeneer voor diegene die daar voor onze vrijheid zijn overleden. Het zou dan ookheel mooi zijn als zoiets dergelijks tot stand kon komen in onze omgeving.want ook hier is heel veel gebeurt en zijn veel mensen voor onze vrijheidgesneuveld."
“Ik wil de feiten en de gebeurtenissen van de geschiedenis weten...”
“Algemene interesse. Is belangrijk geweest voor hoe we nu leven.”
“Het zal voor mij bijdragen door meer specifieke kennis over deverschillende locaties.”
“Ik vind het interessant om op plekken te komen dieverbonden zijn met de Tweede Wereld Oorlog, zoals ook
nu het Westerborkpad wat ik aan het lopenben.”
“Onderdeel van verzamelen historische kennis”
“Omdat ik erg geïnteresseerd ben in de TweedeWereldoorlog. Ik heb ook meegedaan met deFrank Graham Cycle Liberation Tour 2013 en 2015.En ik doe ook vaak mee met evenementen vanKeep Them Rolling, met onze Jeep.”
“Mogelijk ervaren of het gevoel - de emotie -van de inspanningen en opofferingen
van de bevrijders er te vinden is.”
“Om in de voetsporen van onze bevrijders te treden.Dat brengt de verhalen tot leven.”
“Ik zou graag met eigen ogen zien en meemaken wat onzebevrijders hebben gezien. Ik ben erg geïnterreseerd in de WW2.”
“Weten wat onze bevrijdershebben doorgemaakt,
proberen iets voor te stellen vanhun ontberingen.”
Why are you interested in going on a tour along the route?
4. Past visits to related locations
1. Experience the place myself
2. General interest in history
3. Education / Increase knowledge
Keywords: See / feel / experience / understand / empathize
"Ik ben zeer geïnteresseerd om deroute verder af te leggen. Sinds ik in
2014 vanuit Normandië begonnen ben."
25
The most important motivation among all respondents is related to indeas of experiencing historical placeswith ones own senses and being able to empathize with the people of the past.
Motivations
15. Discover new things / curiosity
16. Meet people with the same interestsCount: 1
17. Enjoyment of walkingCount: 1
Count: 1
Count: 2
7. Fascinating / adventurous / impressive
Count: 206. Important to know about it
Count: 8
10. Desire to pass it on to next generation
9. Genealogical reasons
8. Part of personal hobbyCount: 12
Count: 11
Count: 9
Count: 12
5. Part of shared identity (who we are today)
14. Commemorate
13. Show respect / honor
12. Geographical proximityCount: 8
Count: 7
Count: 3
Key points
Count: 22
11. Desire to keep history alive
18. Research
26
Count: 10
Count: 15Exemplary quote:
Count: 28
Count: 25Exemplary quotes:
Count: 48Exemplary quotes:
Disincentives
“Voegt voor mij niets toe aan de informatieover de oorlog waarover ik reeds beschik”
“Heb niet de behoefte dit zelf te doen. Er over lezen is voldoende.”
“Ik ken de verhalen, heb veel plekken al uitgebreidomschreven gekregen en/of op tv en film gezien.Situatie rond Nijmegen is zeer goed bekend,omdat ik daar al decennia lang woon.”
“Ik ben van mening dat je over het verleden moet leren en het loslaten. Je kunt niet in het verleden blijven leven. Je kuntniets veranderen aan wat er is gebeurd. En er bij blijven hangen leid alleen maar tot herhaling.”
“Ik ben redelijk op de hoogte vanhet oorlogsgebeuren. Ik wil meer niet verder in verdiepen.”
"Te oud; iets minder gezond danwenselijk voor dergelijke 'excursie'."
"Voel me daar te oud voor."
“Rolstoeler, weinig energie,gebruik deze energie voor andere dingen”
“Ben zelf moeilijk mobiel.”
“Vanwege de leeftijd”
Why are you not interested in going on a tour along the route?
5. Visits to related locations in the past
4. The topic is not up to date anymore
3. No added value
2. Not interesting enough / interested in other things
1. Physical condition
27
The most important disincentive among all respondents is related to old age and physical conditions thatmake a tour along the Liberation Route impossible. Even though this reason might be specifically significantin this sample with 30% of all respondents being 65 years or older, this physical barrier appears to be animportant issue to address in order to not exclude anyone who is interested in the concept from experiencingthe route him- or herself.
“Soldaten zijn geen helden, zeker niet als zij voor volk en vaderlanddenken te sterven om een helden status Te verwerven.Routes als deze bevestigen alleen maar het heldendom.Voor mij ligt overigens daarbij het accent op dom.Want wie voor koning vaderland God of Allah wil sterven is dom.Wat wij moeten herdenken is dat wij nooit weer ons doorde leugen van vorstendom en religie moeten laten leiden,zoals wij twee millennia hebben gedaan.”
Count: 8Exemplary quotes:
Disincentives
“Niet geinteresseerd; ook dezeroute zal een eenzijdig gekleurd
verhaalzijn met betrekking tot de zwaar
bevochten 'vrijheid' waarvanniemand een gefundeerdeomschrijving kan geven.
De zogenaamde huidige 'vrijheid'heeft scherpe kanten.”
Count: 5
Count: 5
Count: 79. Takes too much effort / route is too long
10. Focus on World War II is too strong
Count: 78. There is nothing to see anymore / the landscape has changed
Count: 7
6. Disagreement with the focus the route sets
12. Too little information about the route / don't know itCount: 4
13. Only interested in local historyCount: 3
15. Too "heavy" theme for a leisure activity
14. Dislike travelingCount: 2
Count: 2
11. No feeling og connection to the topic
7. Family / travel company is not interested
Key points
28
Appendix
