Study title

Rural Finland 2009: Municipal Decision-Makers

Alternative Title

Landmarks Barometer 2009: Municipal Decision-Makers

Dataset ID Number

FSD2570

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2570

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Kurunmäki, Seija (Kuule)
• Leppänen, Anne (Kuule)
• Hellström, Eeva (Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra. Landmarks Programme)
• Aho, Pauliina (Taloustutkimus)

Abstract

The survey of local government decision-makers covered opinions on the significance, development and future of the rural areas in Finland. The barometer was developed for the Landsmarks Programme carried out by the Finnish Innovation Fund (Sitra).

The respondents were asked which descriptions, relating to the type of municipality, characterised the municipality they worked for. The descriptions included, for instance, 'the municipality has many agricultural areas', 'the municipality has a compact, urban-like population centre', or 'the municipality has many population centres'. One question covered whether there had been a municipal merger involving rural and urban areas in the municipality. The respondents were presented with pairs of statements and asked what kind of effect municipal mergers had had on decisions relating to the countryside (e.g. had public services suffered or improved, had the juxtaposition between the municipality population centre and villages in the sparsely populated areas increased or decreased).

Views were probed on the issue of teleworking and to what extent various factors formed a barrier to this type of working. The respondents were presented with a number of ways to develop rural areas and asked to rate their importance. Some questions explored what kind of business ventures they though could have potential in the countryside, what they saw as the most important goals for the development of their rural areas, and what kind of neighbourhoods the respondents saw as fulfilling people's hopes of a good life (living in a city, living in a rural area or alternating between living in a rural and an urban area, living in a neighbourhood that is neither rural nor urban).

Further questions studied what the respondents believed the countryside would be like in 2020 and what they hoped it would be like in 2020. Finally, the respondents were asked to evaluate how the significance of rural areas in Finland would develop in the future (increase, stay the same, decrease).

Background variables included the number of inhabitants in the municipality, type of municipality, region (NUTS) and municipality.

Keywords

businesses; image; rural areas; rural economics; rural environment; rural policy; rural sociology; telework

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Agriculture and forestry (Fields of Science Classification)
• Agriculture and rural industry (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Housing (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Rural Finland

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• Taloustutkimus
• Kuule

Data Producers

• Finnish Innovation Fund (Sitra). Landmarks Programme

Time Period Covered

2009

Collection Dates

2009-09-30 – 2009-10-06

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Municipal managers, financial managers, trades department directors and planning directors of Finnish municipalities

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Information not available

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

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

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The variable identifying the postal code has been removed from the data.

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

Kurunmäki, Seija (Kuule) & Leppänen, Anne (Kuule) & Hellström, Eeva (Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra) & Aho, Pauliina (Taloustutkimus): Rural Finland 2009: Municipal Decision-Makers [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-07-20). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2570

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

Maamerkit-barometri 2009. Muuttuva maaseutusuhde (2010) [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Suomen itsenäisyyden juhlarahasto Sitra. Maamerkit-ohjelma. http://www.sitra.fi/NR/rdonlyres/FC2E84B8-FD87-4746-9D87-8C9C4CDBE4FD/0/Maamerkit_Barometri_2009.pdf [viitattu 7.10.2016].