Study title

Church Statistics Development Survey 2013

Dataset ID Number

FSD3265

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3265

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Salminen, Veli-Matti (Church Research Institute)
• Salomäki, Hanna (Church Research Institute)
• Ketola, Kimmo (Church Research Institute)

Abstract

The study charted the use of statistics in church development as well as the availability and usability of statistics on church activities and membership. The respondents were asked how they participated in compiling statistics in their parish and where they searched for information on parish operations and finances. A number of statements about church statistics were presented.

The respondents were also asked for what the church statistics were used and requested to name the three most important statistics in their work. Statistical analyses and reports needed by the respondents were surveyed as well as the effect of parish mergers on the compiling of statistics.

Background variables included the respondent's occupational group, place and line of work, age group, gender, years worked for the Church, and supervisory position as well as the diocese, size of the parish, and whether the parish belonged to a parish union.

Keywords

church; church administration; development; religious personnel; statistics

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Information society (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

• Church Research Institute

Time Period Covered

2013

Collection Dates

2013-09-09 – 2013-09-27

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Employees of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland who had a working email address

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Simple random

A sample of about one fifth of all church employee email addresses was randomly selected. The size of the sample was 3875 persons and 819 of them responded.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Computer-assisted (CASI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

21.1

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

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Open-ended variables q5e_avo (use of church statistics), q10_avo (occupational group), q11_avo (line of work), and q14_Avo (place of work) were removed to prevent identification. Some categories were combined for the variable charting the occupational group. Person names were removed from variable q2f_avo, exact occupations were removed from variable q7j, and a sentence constituting a risk of identification was removed from the feedback (q20). Edits and omissions by FSD are marked with [square brackets].

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

Salminen, Veli-Matti (Church Research Institute) & Salomäki, Hanna (Church Research Institute) & Ketola, Kimmo (Church Research Institute): Church Statistics Development Survey 2013 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2019-05-21). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3265

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.

FSD has not been informed of any publications related to the data.