Study title

EVA Survey on Finnish Values and Attitudes Spring 2023

Dataset ID Number

FSD3781

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3781

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA)

Abstract

The study charted Finnish people's values and attitudes. The themes of the Spring 2023 survey included the parliamentary elections of spring 2023, politics, foreign policy, taxation, and public finance.

First, the respondents were presented with attitudinal statements concerning a variety of social topics, such as politics, immigration, political parties, taxation, the right to strike, the labour market and foreign policy.

Next, the respondents were asked about their intentions to vote in the parliamentary elections of spring 2023, their voting behaviour, and how many political parties had candidates for whom they would vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Opinions on what were the most important themes (e.g. social security, taxation, public finance, national security) that impacted the respondents' choice of political party and candidate were also surveyed. Questions charted what the new government should focus on (e.g. improving employment, lowering taxation, increasing funding for education, stricter environment policy, cutting public expenditure) and what the respondents' views were on the composition of the new government (which political parties should or should not be included in the new government, and which qualities (e.g. determination, adaptability, independence) the respondents desired from political leaders in Finland.

Opinions on tax policy were examined with questions concerning whether different taxes should be increased or decreased and attitudes towards taxation were investigated with a series of statements (e.g. taxation in Finland is too harsh, tax cuts should not be made if they lead to the deterioration of social security and public services, tax cuts would increase tax revenue as economic activity would increase). The respondents' views on balancing Finland's public finances were investigated, and opinions on the reformation of labour legislation were surveyed with attitudinal statements on various measures that would limit workers' right to strike. The respondents were also asked to assess which factors (e.g. climate and weather, Finnish education system, cost of living and taxation, security and stability of Finnish society) would be attractive or unattractive for potential immigrants moving to Finland.

The respondents were asked which issues (e.g. relationship with Russia, relationship with USA, relationship with China, co-operation with Nordic countries, Finland's NATO membership, international crisis management) should be prioritised in Finland's foreign policy. Additionally, the respondents were asked how well-acquainted they were with issues concerning Finland's foreign policy and state security policy. Opinions were also charted on Finland's NATO membership, Finland's EU membership and the currency change to euro.

Background variables included the respondent's age group, number of inhabitants in the municipality of residence, region (NUTS3), type of employer, working hours, type of employment contract, education, economic activity and occupational status, employment sector, trade union membership, what political party would vote for in parliamentary elections, self-perceived social class, mother tongue and annual gross income of the respondent's household.

Keywords

attitudes; decision making; fiscal policy; labour market; parliamentary elections; political parties; politics; public debt; public finance; taxation; trade union rights

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• International politics and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Government, political systems and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Economic policy, public expenditure and revenue (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

EVA Surveys on Finnish Values and Attitudes

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• Taloustutkimus

Time Period Covered

2023

Collection Dates

2023-01-31 – 2023-02-13

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

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

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Multistage

A stratified random sample was drawn from among the internet panel of Taloustutkimus. Altogether, 2,043 people responded to the survey. The final data were weighted at Taloustutkimus to be representative of the Finnish population with respect to age, gender, region of residence, education, occupation/occupational status, employment sector, and political party preference (which party R would vote for in national elections).

The internet panel of Taloustutkimus, randomly drawn from Finland's population register, consists of individuals aged 15-79 who have entered their demographic and sociographic information when registering to the panel and have given their consent to Taloustutkimus to invite them to participate in various surveys. Responding to any survey is voluntary and participants can leave the panel any time they want.

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

To prevent identification of respondents, open-ended 'comment' responses were removed from the data during archiving. Additionally, municipalities with less than 4,000 inhabitants were removed from the municipality variable by FSD.

Weighting

The data contain a weight variable [paino], which weights the data to be representative of the Finnish population aged 18-79 with respect to age, gender, region of residence, education, occupation/occupational status, occupational sector, and political party preference.

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

Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA): EVA Survey on Finnish Values and Attitudes Spring 2023 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2023-07-20). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3781

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

Haavisto, Ilkka (2023). Pohjolan linnake. Suomalaiset tähyävät pohjoiseen yhteistyöhön Natossa. EVA Analyysi 123 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki. Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. https://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/eva-analyysi-no-123.pdf [viitattu 14.11.2023].

Metelinen, Sami (2023). Suomalaiset haluavat tasavallan presidentin johtavan jatkossakin ulkopolitiikkaa [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Artikkeli 18.7.2023. https://www.eva.fi/blog/2023/07/18/suomalaiset-haluavat-tasavallan-presidentin-johtavan-jatkossakin-ulkopolitiikkaa/ [viitattu 14.11.2023].

Metelinen, Sami (2023). Suomalaiset arvostavat lakko-oikeutta, mutta toivovat selkeämpiä rajoja sen käytölle [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Artikkeli 7.6.2023. https://www.eva.fi/blog/2023/06/07/suomalaiset-arvostavat-lakko-oikeutta-mutta-toivovat-selkeampia-rajoja-sen-kaytolle/ [viitattu 14.11.2023].

Metelinen, Sami (2023). Venäjä, hintataso ja verot. Nämä ovat suomalaisten mielestä maahanmuuton esteet ja vetovoimatekijät [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Artikkeli 23.5.2023. https://www.eva.fi/blog/2023/05/23/venaja-hintataso-ja-verot-nama-ovat-suomalaisten-mielesta-maahanmuuton-esteet-ja-vetovoimatekijat/ [viitattu 14.11.2023].

Kujanpää, Emmiliina (2023). Puolet pitää verotusta Suomessa liian ankarana. Verokapina elää oikeistopuolueissa [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Artikkeli 16.5.2023. https://www.eva.fi/blog/2023/05/16/puolet-pitaa-verotusta-suomessa-liian-ankarana-verokapina-elaa-oikeistopuolueissa/ [viitattu 14.11.2023].

Metelinen, Sami (2023). EU-myönteisyys edelleen huippulukemissa. Kriittisyys yhteydessä epäluottamukseen politiikkaa kohtaan [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Artikkeli 9.5.2023. https://www.eva.fi/blog/2023/05/09/eu-myonteisyys-edelleen-huippulukemissa-kriittisyys-yhteydessa-epaluottamukseen-politiikkaa-kohtaan/ [viitattu 14.11.2023].

Haavisto, Ilkka (2023). Maahanmuuton leirit. Eripuraiset suomalaiset lämpenevät työperäiselle maahanmuutolle. EVA Analyysi 121 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki. Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. https://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/eva-analyysi-no-121.pdf [viitattu 14.11.2023].

Metelinen, Sami (2023). Hallituksenmuodostajan dilemma: painottaako taloutta vai maahanmuuttoa. Mitä äänestäjät sanovat? [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Artikkeli 14.4.2023. https://www.eva.fi/blog/2023/04/14/hallituksenmuodostajan-dilemma-painottaako-taloutta-vai-maahanmuuttoa-mita-aanestajat-sanovat/ [viitattu 14.11.2023].

Kujanpää, Emmiliina (2023). Yrittäjäriskin ystävät. Suomalaiset eivät lämpene osinkoverotuksen kiristämiselle [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Arvio 43. https://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/eva-arvio-043-1.pdf [viitattu 14.11.2023].

Haavisto, Ilkka (2023). Oikeiston asiajohtajuus on kokoomuksella. Vasemmistossa jyräävät vasemmistoliitto ja vihreät. EVA Artikkeli 25.3.2023 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki. Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. https://www.eva.fi/blog/2023/03/25/oikeiston-asiajohtajuus-on-kokoomuksella-vasemmistossa-jyraavat-vasemmistoliitto-ja-vihreat/ [viitattu 14.11.2023].

Haavisto, Ilkka (2023). Rautaisannos realismia. Suomalaisten hallitusohjelmatoiveita leimaa talousrealismi. EVA Analyysi 120 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki. Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. https://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/eva-analyysi-no-120.pdf [viitattu 14.11.2023].