Do you want to participate in the research project Total Defense Study 2025?

The purpose of the project Total Defence Study 2025

This letter is an inquiry about whether you would like to participate in a research project where the objective is to:

• gain more knowledge about Norway’s total defense through this survey
• use the survey results as data in two or more scientific articles that will be publicly available and unclassified
• use the findings in the articles in further analyses and discussions in a larger doctoral project that will also be publicly available and unclassified
• communicate the findings to relevant actors working with emergency preparedness, security, and defense, as well as within academia, including teaching and research communication

Why are you being asked to participate?

You are receiving this request because you have responsibilities in an organization that plays a significant role in Norway’s total defense during peace, crises, and war.

We have sent this request to several individuals in the Home Guard, the Police, the business sector, and civilian emergency-preparedness organizations. Your organization has sent out the survey on behalf of the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI).

Who is responsible for the research project?

• The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) is responsible for processing the information in the project.
• Other collaborating institutions are:
• The Department of Political Science at the University of Oslo (primary supervisor)
• The Norwegian Defence University College (co-supervisor)
• The Ministry of Defence, Department for Security Policy and Operations (FD II), funding the doctoral project
• The research network Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research at Stanford University (research stay abroad)

Participation is voluntary

Participation in the project is voluntary. There will be no negative consequences if you choose not to participate or later request to have your information deleted.

What does participation entail for you?

• You will receive a survey by email from either the Armed Forces HR and Conscription Centre (FPVS), a Norwegian police district, Yrkestrafikkforbundet, or the Norwegian Union of General Workers (Norsk Arbeidsmandforbund), depending on your affiliation.
• The survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete.
• We will collect background information: gender, age, level of education, marital status, whether you have dependents, whether you have completed military or civil service, your organizational and district affiliation, your form of employment, whether you have a leadership role and your potential experience with participation in emergency exercises and international operations.
• We will record the information electronically and extract it as part of a dataset.
• We will process the dataset in the analysis program R Studio on the project manager’s work computer. The computer is protected in line with FFI’s security culture and approved security systems.

A brief note on privacy

We will only use your information for the purposes described in this document. We handle the background information confidentially and in accordance with data protection regulations.

You can read more about privacy on this page.

Best regards,

The Project manager at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment

 

Detailed privacy information – how we store and use your data

• The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) project manager collects, stores, and processes the data material. Only the project manager will have full access to the data. If necessary, statisticians and supervisors at the University of Oslo, in addition to research colleagues at the University of Oslo, FFI, and the Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research (SCANCOR) at Stanford University, will review parts of the aggregated data and the codes in the analysis program R Studio together with the project manager to ensure the quality of the analysis results.
• In principle, all data is anonymous. Still, if we need to, we will create a written agreement with those assisting the project manager in quality assurance of the dataset analysis with the project manager.
• We will provide all or part of the R Studio codes we used for the data analysis to relevant journals during publication because other researchers need to be able to verify the research results by testing the codes on a different dataset.
• We will store the data for up to five years on approved security systems (we store the data in a cloud service) after the project concludes, meaning until 2030. We do this to ensure access to the data material for the project manager, either through FFI’s security systems or by transferring it to another approved security system in the defense and security sector. This solution aims to facilitate traceability as well as any revisions and updates during the publication phase.
• You will not be identifiable upon publication because the survey is anonymous. Only aggregated data at the group level will be analyzed and presented.
• We rely on the survey tool Confirmit to conduct and manage the surveys. Confirmit is a globally recognized software system used by several large survey organizations.
• Although Confirmit has offices inside and outside the EEA, we will store the Total Defense Study 2025 data within the EU and follow European legislation. In rare cases, technical personnel at Confirmit in the USA may assist with technical issues, but this is done under strict security procedures to protect your privacy.

You can also find more information about FFI’s privacy policy here and the study here.

What gives us the right to process your data?

We process your data based on your consent.

We process your information for purposes related to scientific research and because we consider the research project to be in the public interest.

The privacy services at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment and the Norwegian Defence University College have assessed that the processing of background information and your responses in the survey are in accordance with data protection regulations.

Your rights

As long as you are identifiable in the dataset, you have the right to object to, request access to, rectify, and request deletion of information we process about you. However, identifying you in this dataset will be very difficult because we would need to do so by way of your personal information, which we do not collect or access.

If you still wish to withdraw from the survey, you can contact us at sporreundersokelse@ffi.no and provide information that allows us to identify your responses. We will respond to your request within one month. We will explain to you if we believe we cannot determine your responses or if you cannot exercise your rights.

You also have the right to file a complaint with the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) regarding how we process your data.

What happens to your data when the research project concludes?

We plan to conclude the project in the fall of 2025, and the project manager will defend the doctoral dissertation in early 2026 unless there are any delays in the project for various reasons.

• We will store the data on approved security systems for up to five years (we store the data in a cloud service) after the project concludes, meaning until 2030. We do this to ensure access to the data for the project manager, either through FFI's security systems or by transferring it to another approved security system in the defense and security sector. This solution aims to facilitate traceability as well as any revisions and updates during the publication phase and traceability.
• We will delete the data in 2030 unless there are any unexpected delays in the completion of the project.
   
• No other person at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment or within the Armed Forces will have access to the data, nor will your employer or labor union.

Questions

If you have any questions or wish to exercise your rights, please contact:

• Project manager, sporreundersokelse@ffi.no

• Our Data Protection Officer at FFI: Jo Daniel Liseth, jo-daniel.liseth@ffi.no, +47 63 80 71 10