Study title

Eastern Finnish Police Officers 1995-1998: Health and Working Conditions

Dataset ID Number

FSD2580

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2580

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Kerkkänen, Paavo (University of Joensuu)

Abstract

This study investigated the health, working conditions, job satisfaction and sense of humour of police personnel in Eastern Finland. The data were collected in the years 1995 and 1998 by using questionnaires (a, b, c, h, i), interviews (e, f), health check-ups and fitness tests (g).

The first questions in the occupational health care questionnaire (a) covered how occupational health care was arranged and how satisfied the respondents were with occupational health services. Several questions surveying the respondents' physical and psychosocial health were asked. The respondents were asked whether they desired or needed help and support from occupational health care for different health issues (e.g. losing weight, reducing stress). Factors deteriorating working conditions and job satisfaction were investigated (e.g. poor ergonomics, negative work environment).

The second questionnaire (b) explored the respondents' work-related symptoms (headaches, anxiety, slight fever etc.) Views on job satisfaction were studied in another questionnaire (c), in which the respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with a number of statements relating to atmosphere at work, facilities, wages etc.

Regarding the interviews in which the respondents' views on humour was studied (e, f), this dataset contains only the self-assessment variables. For this self-assessment, the respondents were requested to rate their own sense of humour on a scale of 4-10 (4 being the lowest). In 1998, the respondents were also asked how they would rate their sense of humour in a situation in which they were the target of good-humoured jokes and in a situation in which they were the target of malicious/agressive humour.

The results of health check-ups and fitness tests (g) included, among others, height, weight and blood pressure measurements. Blood tests were performed on the respondents to investigate their cholesterol, HDL-cholsterol, gamma GT and hemoglobin levels. The fitness tests included the UKK Walk test, a press-up and a chin-up test.

The Bergen Burnout Indicator (BBI) (questionnaire h) was used to survey how the respondents coped with workload stress. The indicator had 25 statements relating to the amount of work, work-life balance, physical and mental demands of the job etc. The Work Ability Index (WAI) (questionnaire i) investigated the respondents' capacity to work at the time of survey and in relation to the demands of the job, health problems affecting work, sick leave in the previous 12 months, estimation of own work ability in the future, and psychosocial health.

The background variables included the respondent's gender, age, basic education, vocational education, main duties at work and working time (i.e. shift work or standard work hours)

Keywords

health; job satisfaction; occupational diseases; occupational safety; personnel policy; police personnel; symptoms; working conditions

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Medical and health sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Working conditions (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Crime and law enforcement (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• General health and well-being (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Elites and leadership (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Psychology (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• Kerkkänen, Paavo (University of Joensuu)

Time Period Covered

1995 – 1998

Collection Dates

1995 – 1998

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland, North Carelia, Joensuu, Varkaus

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Police officers and commanding officers in the town of Varkaus and the former province of North Karelia & criminal investigators in the NBI's (National Bureau of Investigation) Joensuu unit

Time Method

Longitudinal: Cohort/Event-based

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Purposive

All commanding officers in the former North Karelia province and Varkaus participated in the study in 1995 and 1998. Additionally, all criminal investigators in the NBI's Joensuu unit were requested to participate. In 1998, the data were supplemented with the responses of 58 (non-commanding) police officers in North Karelia and Varkaus. In total, 74 respondents out of 105 participated the study in both years. Out of the remaining 31, 18 participated only in 1995 and 13 only in 1998

Collection Mode

Face-to-face interview

Self-administered questionnaire

Physical measurements and tests

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 following coding has been used to name the variables in the data: bv: background variables, a: occupational health care questionnaire, b: symptoms scale, c: job satisfaction questionnaire, e: interviews in 1995, f: interviews in 1998, g: health check-up and fitness test, h: Bergen Burnout Indicator (BBI), i: Work Ability Index (WAI). For the 1995 variables, single letters have been used, while the 1998 variables have been marked with double letters (e.g. aa, bb, cc) except for background variables (bv) and interviews (e & f). FSD has no information on the research design and methods used in the fitness test (g).

The dataset does not include all the data collected in the study. The data collected in 1995 do not include the variables connected to the questionnaires b and i and some of the variables in the questionnaire a. The data collected in 1998 do not include some of the variables in the questionnaire i. The Multinational Sense of Humour Scale (MSHS) (questionnaire d) is missing from the data collected in both 1995 and 1998. The respondents' names, workplaces and personnel groups have been removed from the data due to confidentiality reasons.

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

Kerkkänen, Paavo (University of Joensuu): Eastern Finnish Police Officers 1995-1998: Health and Working Conditions [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-07-20). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2580

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 Materials

Kerkkänen, Paavo (2003). Huumorintaju ja terveys itäsuomalaisten poliisien työssä 1995-1998. Joensuu: Joensuun yliopisto. Joensuun yliopiston yhteiskuntatieteellisiä julkaisuja; 62.

Related Publications

Kerkkänen, Paavo (2003). Huumorintaju ja terveys itäsuomalaisten poliisien työssä 1995-1998. Joensuu: Joensuun yliopisto. Joensuun yliopiston yhteiskuntatieteellisiä julkaisuja; 62.