Study title

Barometer for Swedish-speaking Finns 2006

Alternative Title

Finlandssvenska barometern 2006

Dataset ID Number

FSD3198

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3198

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Herberts, Kjell (Åbo Akademi University. Social Science Research Institute)

Abstract

This study charted the identity of Swedish-speaking Finns and their opinions on various aspects of everyday life, such as politics and society, the use of mass media, values, and the sense of belonging. The study was funded by the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland (Svenska kulturfonden).

The first questions revolved around language. The respondents' and their families' Finnish and Swedish language skills were surveyed. It was examined whether the respondents had used Swedish, Finnish or both in different types of contexts, e.g. at home, at school, with friends, and at work. After this, the respondents were asked about their identity as a Finland-Swede, and how proud, glad or ashamed they felt being someone from the Swedish-speaking minority. Views on native speakers of different languages in Finland were also probed.

The survey also charted the respondents' trust in different organisations such as the government, the church, social services, the universities, the police, and daycare services. The next questions concerned the respondents' political orientation. It was queried which party the respondents would vote for if the parliamentary elections were held at the time of the survey, how they thought different institutions' and groups' influence on society had changed, and which political topics they deemed important in the upcoming 2007 parliamentary elections. It was queried whether the respondents had voted in the 2003 parliamentary elections, and which parties had acted on their personal political concerns. They were also asked to evaluate a set of attitudinal statements about the Swedish-speaking minority in regard to politics.

The next questions concerned media, the press, radio, and television. The respondents' preferred newspapers, radio stations and television channels were surveyed, as well as their internet use, and they were also asked to grade a variety of TV channels and radio stations and their programming.

After this, the respondents' values and beliefs were examined with questions regarding their trust in different groups of people and people in general, and if the respondents believed in e.g. God, life after dead, and telepathy. Questions were also asked regarding the Diocese of Borgå, Finland's only Swedish-speaking diocese.

Finally, the respondents' activity in different types of associations and the local parish was examined. They were asked to log their activity in associations and parishes for two weeks, and it was also queried whether their residential area offered these types of activities sufficiently.

Background variables included, for instance, region of residence, age group, gender, education level, economic activity and occupational status, marital status, and household composition.

Keywords

Swedish-speaking Finns; cultural identity; identity; language; mass media; minority groups; minority language users; national identity; politics; press; radio (joukkoviestimet); social systems; television; values

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Cultural and national identity (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Barometers for Swedish-speaking Finns

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (A) openly available for all users without registration (CC BY 4.0).

Data Collector

• Åbo Akademi University. Institute for Finland-Swedish Sociological Research

Time Period Covered

2006

Collection Dates

2006-10 – 2006-11

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People residing in Finland (including Åland) between the ages 18 and 85 who have Swedish as their registered mother tongue.

Time Method

Longitudinal: Cohort/Event-based

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Simple random

The Population Register Centre picked a random sample of 4,000 persons from people residing in Finland who had Swedish as their registered mother tongue. A total of 1,890 filled questionnaires were received.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

47.3

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: Swedish.

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

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Responses to open-ended questions were categorised or removed from the data. Two variables, municipality of residence and birth year, were categorised to prevent identification. In the "number of children in the household" variable, values of four and over were categorised into a single category.

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

Herberts, Kjell (Åbo Akademi University): Barometer for Swedish-speaking Finns 2006 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2017-11-01). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3198

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

Opinioner och trender i svenskfinland (2008). Toim. Herberts, Kjell. Vaasa: Åbo Akademi. Institutet för finlandssvensk samhällsforskning.

Related Publications

Opinioner och trender i svenskfinland (2008). Toim. Herberts, Kjell. Vaasa: Åbo Akademi. Institutet för finlandssvensk samhällsforskning.