Authors

• Borg, Sami (University of Tampere)

Keywords

parliamentary elections, political behaviour, political support, presidential elections, voting, voting behaviour

Abstract

The dataset is the first part of a survey studying voter opinions on polling, and the impact of polling on the 1994 presidential elections in Finland. The respondents were asked by what name they call polls measuring support for the presidential candidates and political parties. Next questions asked when they had voted in the first round of the presidential elections, how often they had seen poll ratings of different candidates in the media, and whether they had discussed these ratings with others. Views on to what extent polls affected people's choice of candidate were studied. Several questions focused on the impact of polls on the respondents' decision to vote in the elections, voting tactics, and choice of candidate. The respondents were asked how reliable they had thought the polls published before the first round were.

The respondents' voting behaviour was studied by asking whether they had voted in the first round, whom they had voted for, whether they had voted in advance in the second round, and how certain they were that they would vote for the candidate they supported at the time of the interview. They were also asked what party they would vote for if the parliamentary elections were held at that time.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, basic and vocational education, economic activity, province of residence, and municipality type.