Study title

Finnish Local Government 2004: Inhabitants 1996

Dataset ID Number

FSD1207

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1207

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Pekola-Sjöblom, Marianne (Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities)
• Mäki-Lohiluoma, Kari-Pekka (Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities)

Other Identification/Acknowledgements

• Rönkkö, Mauno (Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities)

Abstract

During its 10-year research period, the Finnish Local Government 2004 Research Programme conducted three extensive citizen surveys. This is the first survey, carried out in 1996. It studied inhabitants' opinions on municipal services and municipal decision-making. Citizens' political participation and political influence were also charted.

The respondents' satisfaction with their municipality of residence was probed; they were also asked whether they could imagine living there for the rest of their lives. The respondents were asked to what extent they identified with their neighbourhood, municipality, region, country, Scandinavia, EU or Europe on the whole.

Views were probed on how well certain municipal services (public services) functioned and whether the municipality should invest more or less in these services. Services covered were social services, health services, education and cultural services and municipal technical services, including fire and rescue services, land-use planning etc.

The respondents were asked whether they had been elected to any office in their municipality. Voting in municipal and other elections was charted. One question investigated whether the candidate the respondent had voted for in the municipal elections had been selected to the council. The respondents' party choice in the 1996 municipal elections and the consistency of party choice in different elections were studied.

Membership or participation in non-governmental organizations were charted. The respondents were asked how important it was to them that the candidate they had voted for promoted certain issues or represented certain groups.

Political participation was studied by asking the respondents whether they had used certain methods of influencing decision-making (e.g. taking part in demonstrations, signing petitions, contacting decision-makers) and by asking them to rate the effectiveness of these methods. The respondents also evaluated how important different traits and ways of acting were in good citizenship: paying taxes honestly, obeying the law and regulations, sacrificing personal interest for the common good, respecting public property, membership in a political party etc.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's sex, year of birth, marital status, mother tongue, education, tenure, employer sector and status in employment.

Keywords

citizenship; community identification; elected officials; elections; local government; local government elections; local government services; place of residence; political influence; political participation; politics; public services; voluntary organizations; voting behaviour

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Government, political systems and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social welfare policy (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Finnish Local Government 2004

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities

Data Producers

• Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities

Time Period Covered

1996

Collection Dates

1996-11-14 – 1997-03-31

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland, Espoo, Haukipudas, Humppila, Hämeenlinna, Iitti, Jaala, Joroinen, Kaarina, Karstula, Kemiö, Kerava, Kiikala, Kokkola, Kolari, Kotka, Kristiinankaupunki, Kuhmoinen, Lappeenranta, Leppävirta, Lieksa, Liljendal, Lumijoki, Mikkeli, Multia, Naantali, Noormarkku, Närpiö, Oulainen, Outokumpu, Padasjoki, Pieksämäki, City of Porvoo, Rural Municipality of Porvoo, Pudasjärvi, Punkaharju, Pyhäntä, Pylkönmäki, Ranua, Rääkkylä, Sonkajärvi, Suolahti, Tyrnävä, Vaasa, Vahto, Varkaus, Vehkalahti, Vimpeli, Virrat

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged between 18 and 70 living in Finland

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Multistage

Two-stage stratified sampling in selecting project municipalities. Simple random sample in selecting the inhabitants.

The project municipalities were selected separately from those with less than 10.000 inhabitants (28 municipalities) and from those with more than 10.000 inhabitants (19 municipalities). The selection aimed to be representative within both groups in relation to all municipalities with the same population size. Large municipalities were over-represented because 70 % of the Finnish population lives in large municipalities. Representativeness criteria included regional location, age and education of the population, industry structure, municipal economy parameters, political situation and variables related to municipal policy. The selected municipalities form a small scale model of all Finnish municipalities. The Åland Islands municipalities were excluded because of special features caused by their autonomy.

The selection process of the inhabitant sample: Population Register Centre randomly selected 300-1500 inhabitants in each selected municipality. The size of the sample was 25,400 persons. There were four follow-up mailings, of which the last one was sent only to those five municipalities where the response rate was very low.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

60

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

2.0

Related Datasets

FSD2273 Finnish Local Government 2004: Inhabitants 2004

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Maximum over-representation was 5.1% (married persons), maximum under-representation 4.4% (single persons)

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Pekola-Sjöblom, Marianne (Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities) & Mäki-Lohiluoma, Kari-Pekka (Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities): Finnish Local Government 2004: Inhabitants 1996 [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-08-08). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1207

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Kuntalaisten valta ja valinnat (1998). Toim. Kari-Pekka Mäki-Lohiluoma & Marianne Pekola-Sjöblom & Krister Ståhlberg. Helsinki: Suomen kuntaliitto. Acta; 97 & KuntaSuomi 2004 -tutkimuksia; 13.

Suomen demokratiaindikaattorit (2006). Toim. Sami Borg. Helsinki: Oikeusministeriö. Oikeusministeriön julkaisu 2006:1.

Pikkala, Sari (2006). Kuntademokratia indikaattoreiden valossa. Teoksessa: Suomen demokratiaindikaattorit (toim. Sami Borg), 231 - 261. Helsinki: Oikeusministeriö. Oikeusministeriön julkaisu 2006:1.

Pekola-Sjöblom, Marianne & Helander, Voitto & Sjöblom, Stefan (2002). Kuntalaisen monet roolit. Helsinki: Suomen Kuntaliitto KuntaSuomi 2004 -tutkimuksia; 37 & Acta-sarja; 147.

Pekola-Sjöblom, Marianne & Helander, Voitto & Sjöblom, Stefan (2006). Kuntalainen - kansalainen. Tutkimus kuntalaisten asenteista ja osallistumisesta 1996-2004. Helsinki: Suomen Kuntaliitto. KuntaSuomi 2004 -tutkimuksia; 56 & Acta-sarja; 182.

Myllyniemi, Sami (2008). Mitä kuuluu? Nuorisobarometri 2008. Helsinki: Opetusministeriö. Nuorisoasiain neuvottelukunta (Nuora), julkaisuja; 39 & Helsinki: Nuorisotutkimusverkosto. Nuorisotutkimusseura, julkaisuja; 88.

Kuitunen, Soile (2000). Kuntalaisesta ehdokkaaksi, ehdokkaasta valtuutetuksi: poliittinen rekrytointi vuoden 1996 kunnallisvaaleissa ja niiden ehdokasasetteluissa. Turku: Turun yliopisto. Turun yliopiston julkaisuja: sarja C: osa 157: Scripta Lingua Fennica Edita.

Juotasniemi, Janne (2005). Kuntalaisen osallistuminen luottamuksen näkökulmasta. Rovaniemi: Lapin yliopisto. Hallintotieteen pro gradu -tutkielma.

Demokratiaindikaattorit 2013. Toim. Borg, Sami. Helsinki: Oikeusministeriö. Selvityksiä ja ohjeita 52/2013. URN:ISBN:978-952-259-334-4