Study title

Municipal Environmental Administration Survey 1994

Dataset ID Number

FSD1174

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1174

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Joas, Marko (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Public Administration)
• Kettunen, Aija (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Public Administration)
• Hermanson, Ann-Sofie (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Political Science)

Abstract

The survey studied municipal (local) environmental administration, the role played by the elected officials and cooperation between different bodies in the management of environmental functions in municipalities. The main themes were the functioning of municipal environmental administration, its efficiency, state of the environment and environmental problems occurring in municipalities.

First questions dealt with the basic organisation of the municipal environmental functions: did the municipality manage them on its own or in cooperation with other municipalities. The respondents were asked to which extent their job included environmental functions and how the municipality's environmental administration and the overall administration was organised. The role of the elected officials was surveyed by asking which committee or other elected body managed the environmental issues and whether the respondent acted as a presenter of environmental issues in any committee. The interaction of environmental administration was examined by asking how often respondents were in contact with other persons, groups or bodies, which factors hindered communication and who normally initiates the contact. Environmental conservation's efficiency and functioning was studied by asking whether certain aspects of the municipal environment (e.g. hazardous waste disposal systems) had improved in the last five years, what the role of the environmental administration had been, and how big an effort the municipality had made to improve the environment. The respondents were asked to evaluate the overall state of their municipality's environment, whether certain environmental problems occurred in their municipality, how serious they were and whether they had been monitored (e.g. state of the soil and ground water, air pollution and noise level). The respondents were also asked to name five serious environmental conflicts which had occurred in the last five years in their municipality and which parties had been involved. The respondents' environmental attitudes and behaviour and the characteristics of their job were also surveyed.

Background variables included the name of the municipality, the respondent's age, sex and education, length of working experience in environmental management, length of other working experience, political inclinations and membership in organisations.

Keywords

conflict; environment; environment policy; environmental conservation; environmental degradation; environmental management; local government; local government officers; public administration

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Natural sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Environment and conservation (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

• Joas, Marko (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Public Administration)
• Kettunen, Aija (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Public Administration)
• Hermanson, Ann-Sofie (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Political Science)

Time Period Covered

1994

Collection Dates

1994-01 – 1994-05

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Political-administrative area (Municipality)

Universe

Finnish municipalities (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

The questionnaire was sent to chief environmental officials of every Finnish municipality, excluding the municipalities on the Åland Islands. There was one follow-up by telephone.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

93.2

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

2.0

Related Datasets

FSD1175 Municipal Environmental Administration Survey 1998

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

For data protection reasons information regarding individual municipalities must not be reported.

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

Joas, Marko (Åbo Akademi University) & Kettunen, Aija (Åbo Akademi University) & Hermanson, Ann-Sofie (Åbo Akademi University): Municipal Environmental Administration Survey 1994 [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-08-06). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1174

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

Kettunen, Aija (1998). Kunnat ja ympäristökonfliktit. Helsinki: Suomen kuntaliitto. Acta / Suomen kuntaliitto; 96.

Joas, Marko (2001). Reflexive Modernisation of the Environmental Administration in Finland: Essays of Institutional and Policy Change Within the Finnish National and Local Environmental Administration. Turku: Åbo Akademis Förlag.