Study title

Finnish Views on Democracy and Political Issues 2017

Dataset ID Number

FSD3192

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3192

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Borg, Sami (University of Tampere. Faculty of Management)
• Taloustutkimus

Abstract

The study charted Finnish views on democracy, society and safety. The public opinion survey was part of the "Fate of Democracy" project led by think tank Magma. The study contained attitudinal statements that the respondents were asked to evaluate on a scale ranging from "Strongly agree" to "Strongly disagree". The themes of the survey included safety, Finland's EU membership, multiculturalism and minorities, and trust in democracy and traditional media.

First, the respondents' opinions regarding elections and the functionality of democracy were charted with questions pertaining to issues such as whether voters in parliamentary elections can truly impact politics, and if Finnish matters would be tended to better if decision-making was left to independent experts instead of politicians and citizens. It was also asked if the ability to make citizens' initiatives had improved democracy in Finland. Some questions pertained to cyber threats, terrorism and Russia, as well as the extent of the respondents' trust in "traditional" media rather than social media, for instance. The study also canvassed attitudes with regard to foreign and security policy, e.g. with questions concerning Nordic cooperation, NATO and the European Union. The final questions covered matters related to multiculturalism, corruption, language policy, and safety, and the respondents' attitudes toward immigrants and asylum seekers were examined.

Background variables included gender, age, education level and type of municipality of residence.

Keywords

corruption; cybercrime; defence and state security policy; democracy; immigration; mass media; minority groups; minority language users; political attitudes; representative democracy; terrorist threats; voting

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Migration (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Information society (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Media (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• International politics and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Conflict, security and peace (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

• Taloustutkimus

Time Period Covered

2017

Collection Dates

2017-02-07 – 2017-03-08

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Persons aged 18 - 79 residing in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Quota

Taloustutkimus collected a survey sample representative of the Finnish population (n = 1000) in February and March 2017. The survey was conducted via computer-assisted telephone interviewing. The sample was picked from the population register. The sample included quotas representative of the population distribution in terms of age, gender, and region of residence. The sample also included the right proportion of Swedish-speaking Finns.

Collection Mode

Telephone interview: Computer-assisted (CATI)

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: English and Finnish.

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

Number of Cases and Variables

42 variables and 1000 cases.

Data Version

1.0

Related Datasets

FSD3227 Finnish Views on Democracy and Political Issues 2017: Swedish-Speaking Finns

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

To prevent identification, the following variables were removed during archiving: [samno], [postinumero], [kuntakoodi], [kunta] and [bv5_5_1]. The variables included postcodes, information about the municipality of residence, and rare mother tongues.

For other than confidentiality reasons, the following variables were removed from the data during archiving: an unnecessary "region of residence" variable and a "mother tongue" variable with rare languages and no responses.

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

Borg, Sami (University of Tampere) & Taloustutkimus: Finnish Views on Democracy and Political Issues 2017 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2018-06-08). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3192

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

Demokratins öde (2017) Toim. Forsgård, Nils Erik. Helsinki: Förlaget M

Nissinen, Jarkko (2019) Poliittinen luottamus ja sen horjuttajat - Tutkimus suomalaisten demokratiakäsityksistä ja heidän kokemastaan informaatiovaikuttamisen uhasta. Pro gradu -tutkielma. Helsingin yliopisto, Valtiotieteellinen tiedekunta, Politiikan ja talouden tutkimuksen laitos.