Study title

Citizens' Opinion: Parliamentary Election Surveys 2023

Dataset ID Number

FSD3789

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3789

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Finnish Research Infrastructure for Public Opinion (FIRIPO)
• Grönlund, Kimmo (Åbo Akademi University. Faculty of Social Sciences, Business and Economics)
• Strandberg, Kim (Åbo Akademi University. Faculty of Social Sciences, Business and Economics)

Abstract

The study charted the respondents' political attitudes, voting behaviour and views on the 2023 parliamentary elections. The dataset includes data from six rounds of polling with the same respondents. The data were collected as part of the Citizens' Opinion panel, which is part of The Finnish Research Infrastructure for Public Opinion (FIRIPO).

First, the respondent's voting behaviour was surveyed by asking, for example, whether they planned to vote in the 2023 parliamentary elections, and if so, which party they planned to vote for. Those who indicated that they would not be voting were asking about their reasons for doing so (e.g. haven't found a suitable party or candidate, have inadequate information to make a voting decision). Political participation was examined with questions about interest in politics, forms of political participation engaged in (e.g. donating money to a candidate, participating in a peaceful demonstration, participating in a political party's campaign activities), and participation in citizens' initiatives.

Next, political attitudes were investigated with a series of statements (e.g. Finnish Members of Parliament are competent at their jobs, I trust my own abilities to take part in politics, by voting ordinary people can have an impact on political decision-making). The respondents' views on current political issues charted with a series of statements (e.g. immigration is mostly a good thing for Finland, Finland should be much more active in the fight against climate change, Russia is a security threat to Finland, public services must be cut to balance the Finnish economy), and they were asked to assess how important various topics in politics (e.g. taxation, minority rights, social and health care, national security and defence) were for them. The respondents were also asked whether they would for or against Finland's NATO membership if they had the chance.

Voting choice was surveyed by asking the respondents which factors (e.g. the party's values, the party's activities during the previous parliamentary term) had impacted their choice of political party in the 2023 parliamentary elections. The factors which impacted the respondents' choice of candidate in parliamentary elections (e.g. candidate's trustworthiness, candidate's previous political experience) were also examined. Additionally, the respondents were asked which political parties they would like to see in government after the 2023 parliamentary elections and which political parties they hoped would not be part of the government. Opinions were investigated on each political party in the Finnish parliament and the chairpersons of those parties. The respondents were also asked how they would feel about having a close friend or a colleague that supported each of the political parties in the Finnish parliament, and how they would react if their son or daughter married a supporter of each of the parties in the Finnish parliament. General attitudes towards the supporters of each political party in the Finnish parliaments were charted.

Trust in various institutions (e.g. the European Union, the Finnish President, political parties) was measured and satisfaction in democracy in Finland and in the EU was investigated. Satisfaction with the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Sanna Marin, the activities of opposition parties after the 2019 parliamentary elections, the government's approach to the war in Ukraine, and the government's approach to the COVID-19 pandemic were surveyed. The respondents were asked whether various areas (e.g. defence, care of the elderly, employment, taxation, minority rights) had improved or worsened since the 2019 parliamentary elections and whether they believed that the changes in those areas were due to the government's actions or caused by other reasons.

The respondents were asked how suitable they felt that different political systems (e.g. a democratic political system, a strong leader who does not have to care about the parliament or elections) were as a form of government in Finland. Views on democracy were studied by asking how essential certain factors (e.g. women have the same rights as men, the people elect their leaders in free elections, the media are free to criticise the government) were for democracy. Additionally, the respondents were asked for their opinions on various proposals concerning the future direction of Finland (e.g. Finland should accept fewer refugees, Finland should have a smaller public sector, Finland should have lower taxation even if it weakens public services).

Background variables included the respondent's age, gender, highest level of education, economic activity and occupational status, mother tongue, electoral area, and municipality type.

Keywords

democracy; elections; parliamentary elections; political attitudes; political participation; political parties; politicians; politics; voting; voting behaviour

Topic Classification

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

Series

FIRIPO Citizens' Opinion

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (D) available only by permission from the data depositor/creator.

Data Collector

• Citizen panel

Funders

• Research Council of Finland|Academy of Finland (345714)

Time Period Covered

2023

Collection Dates

2023-02-27 – 2023-04-24

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged over 18 residing in Finland

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Mixed probability and non-probability

The panel consisted of nearly 5,052 respondents, 80% of whom were recruited using various probability sampling methods. The remaining respondents were recruited using non-probability sampling.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

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

In the fifth and sixth collection round, the MTME experimental design was used. The acronym stands for MultiTrait MultiError, which refers to an experiment to determine measurement error. The same questions were asked in both the fifth and sixth rounds, and the number of scale levels (5 or 11 + can't say) and the direction of the scales (good --> bad, bad --> good) varied so that respondents received two different versions of the same question in the two rounds. The MTME variables are stored in the data with 5 scale levels (+ can't say) and scale direction from good to bad. When the data from the fifth and sixth rounds were combined, the responses from the fifth round with the question layout as described (5 scale levels, good to bad) were prioritized. If a different version of the question had been presented to the respondent (NA in the prioritized layout), the responses from the different versions of the questions were combined using R's coalesce function. This should minimise potential method and memory effects, as well as possible changes in values in the data. The order of prioritisation for merging the data was as follows: 1. Round 5, 5 scale levels, good --> bad 2. Round 5, 5 scale levels, bad --> good 3. Round 5, 11 scale levels, good --> bad 4. Round 5, 11 scale levels, bad --> good 5. Round 6, 5 scale levels, good --> bad 6. Round 6, 5 scale levels, bad --> good 7. Round 6, 11 scale levels, good --> bad 8. Round 6, 11 scale levels, bad --> good

To prevent identification of respondents, the researchers removed the variable concerning the respondents' municipality of residence.

Weighting

A weight variable (post_election_weight) was created to adjust the sample according to the marginal distributions of the target group. The weight variable was calculated using the anesrake R package. The values of the weight variable were set not to exceed seven in order not to compromise accuracy. The weight variable takes into account election results, gender, age, education, electoral district and language.

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 Research Infrastructure for Public Opinion (FIRIPO) & Grönlund, Kimmo (Åbo Akademi University) & Strandberg, Kim (Åbo Akademi University): Citizens' Opinion: Parliamentary Election Surveys 2023 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2023-08-22). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3789

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Special Terms and Conditions for Access

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

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

Grönlund, Kimmo & Strandberg, Kim (2023) Finland turned right: Voting and Public Opinion in the Parliamentary Election of 2023. Åbo, Åbo Akademi: Institutet för samhällsforskning.