Authors

• Borg, Sami (University of Tampere. Finnish Social Science Data Archive)

Keywords

elections, heads of state, parliamentary elections, political parties, political support, presidential candidates, presidential elections, voting, voting behaviour

Abstract

The survey studied voter opinions on pre-election polls (a Gallup poll), and the impact of polls on the first round of the 2000 presidential elections in Finland. The interviews examined how the polls affected voting activity and the choice of candidate.

The respondents were first asked how certain they were that they would vote in the second round of the elections, which one of the two candidates they would vote for if the elections were held at that time, and how certain they were that they would vote for the candidate they supported at the time of the interview. The survey also investigated whether the respondents had voted in the first round of the elections, when they had voted, and who they had voted for. Further questions covered whether the political party or the candidate had been more important in their choice of candidate in the first round, and when they finally decided who they would vote for.

In relation to polling, the respondents were asked how often they had seen or heard poll ratings on television, newspapers or radio. Further questions charted how often the respondents had discussed these ratings with others, and to what extent they believe these polls affected people's choice of candidate in general and their own choice in the first round of the elections.

The respondents were also asked how reliable they considered the polls published before the first round of the elections to be. Views were also probed on who the respondents would have voted for in the first round if no polls had been published during the week that preceded the elections.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, age, education, occupational status and economic activity, type of neighbourhood, household composition, household income, and which party R would vote for if the parliamentary elections were held at that time and which party R had voted for in the last parliamentary elections.