Study title

Follow-up on Parliamentary Elections 2019

Dataset ID Number

FSD3707

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3707

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Nurmela, Sakari (Kantar TNS Finland)
• Pehkonen, Juhani (Kantar TNS Finland)
• Borg, Sami (Tampere University|University of Tampere)

Abstract

The survey studied voting behaviour in the 2019 parliamentary elections in Finland. The data were collected just after the elections.

First, a number of questions charted the respondents' use of and attitude towards candidate selectors / voting advice applications. The respondents were also asked whether they had followed election reporting, campaigning and advertising in different media (including the social media such as Facebook). Views were probed on the election campaigns of different parties. Other questions covered which parties' or candidates' advertisements the respondents had seen on TV and what was their attitude towards political advertising on TV, in newspapers, on the internet, and on social media.

Voting behaviour was investigated by asking whether the respondents had voted in the parliamentary elections just held, which party they had voted for and whether the candidate or the party had been more important in the choice. Information sources used for the voting choice were studied. Those who had voted were asked why they voted, which factors and issues had influenced their candidate choice, and at which stage they had made their final choice. The respondents who had voted were also asked whether they had considered voting for candidates from any of the other parties, and which parties they in general would consider voting for. Those who had not voted were asked which factors (e.g. 'I had trouble finding a suitable candidate for myself”, 'I am not at all interested in politics”) had contributed to that decision. One question focused on the performance of party leaders during the campaign.

The respondents were asked whether they intended to vote in the 2019 European Parliament elections and which party/group the candidate they intended to vote for was from. The respondents' interest in the 2019 parliamentary elections and the European Parliament elections was investigated. Additionally, the respondents were asked whether they had voted in the 2017 municipal elections and which party/group they had voted for.

Views were probed on acceptable measures to sustain public sector economy. Measures mentioned included, for instance, raising taxes, cutting retirement benefits or selling public sector property. Attitudes towards the role of politics in Finnish society were charted with various attitudinal statements (e.g. 'I have no say in what the government and parliament decide”, 'Sometimes politics seems so complicated that I don't really understand what's going on”). The respondents' opinions on which issues and objectives (e.g. increasing the birth rate, reducing income inequality, outsourcing public services) should be prioritised by the newly elected government were investigated. On the topic of the future of social and health services, the respondents were asked what solutions (e.g. special regional or county taxation, elected regional or county councils) would be needed to secure these services in the future. Finally, the respondents' views on social welfare reform were surveyed with a series of attitudinal statements (e.g. 'No social welfare reform is needed, we are doing fine without reforms”, 'I don't care how social and health services are organised in our country, as long as people have access to care”).

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, statistical grouping of municipalities, membership in a federation of trade unions, highest education level, household's annual gross income, and economic activity and occupational status.

Keywords

election campaigns; electoral candidates; government; parliamentary candidates; parliamentary elections; political attitudes; political behaviour; political interest; voting; voting advice applications; voting behaviour

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Elections (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Follow-ups on Finnish National and Local Elections (GallupChannel)

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• Kantar TNS Finland

Data Producers

• Kantar TNS Finland
• Tampere University|University of Tampere

Time Period Covered

2019

Collection Dates

2019-04-18 – 2019-04-24

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 18-74 living in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Multistage

The data were collected from eligible respondents on Kantar TNS's GallupKanava internet panel. Kantar TNS's GallupKanava is used to carry out commissioned surveys. The panel is made up of recruited Finnish citizens aged 15 and older. Self-recruitment is not possible. The size of the panel is approximately 30,000 individuals. The comprehensive structure of the panel ensures suitable respondents for all survey needs and that different types of attitudinal and population groups are represented in the surveys. The sampling was carried out as a 3-stage stratified sample. A total of 1,039 respondents completed the survey.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Self-administered questionnaire: Messaging (SMS/MMS)

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

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The archived dataset does not include the questionnaire form.

To prevent identification of respondents, original respondent numbers were deleted from the data at FSD.

Weighting

The data include a weight variable that weights the data to be representative of the population in terms of socio-demographic factors (gender, age, region).

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

Nurmela, Sakari (Kantar TNS Finland) & Pehkonen, Juhani (Kantar TNS Finland) & Borg, Sami (Tampere University|University of Tampere): Follow-up on Parliamentary Elections 2019 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2023-10-17). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3707

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

Borg, Sami & Koljonen, Kari (2020). Käyttöliittymä vaaleihin. Tutkimus vaalikoneista kansalaisten, ehdokkaiden ja journalismin näkökulmista. Tampere: Tampere University Press. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-359-026-7