Study title

Morality 2001

Dataset ID Number

FSD1250

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1250
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd1250

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Helsingin Sanomat. Weekly supplement Nyt

Abstract

The survey, conducted by the weekly supplement NYT of the daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat in the spring 2001, studied moral behaviour in Finland and citizens' attitudes to right and wrong in different everyday situations. The survey carried a set of attitudinal statements pertaining to lying, stealing from home, from work or elsewhere, shoplifting, infidelity, fishing without paying the fishing licence, traffic behaviour etc. The morality of the respondents was also charted by asking about tax evasion and insurance fraud. Background variables included respondents' age, sex, occupation, annual gross income and which party the respondent had voted for in the previous parliamentary elections.

The data are not representative of Finland's population. The subject matter of the survey interested women in particular, since more than three out of four respondents were women. In addition, most respondents were young people, the majority under 30 years of age.

Keywords

deceit; dishonesty; fraud; honesty; moral behaviour; moral values; property offences; swindle; tax evasion; theft

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Social behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Religion and values (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

• Räty, Reetta (Helsingin Sanomat. Weekly supplement Nyt)

Time Period Covered

2001

Collection Dates

2001-03-08 – 2001-03-22

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Readers of the NYT supplement of Helsingin Sanomat

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Availability

The survey was announced to all readers of the NYT supplement and respondents volunteered to participate.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Semi-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

2.0

Related Datasets

FSD1267 Unfaithfulness in Steady Relationships 2001

FSD1268 Moral Behaviour in Everyday Life 2001

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Because of technical problems at the time of the data collection, no data are available for two variables and, consequently, these variables are not included in the data set (1. Can one say to one's partner that a mate invited for a beer when invited himself? and 2. If you find a wallet on the street, will you take it to the lost property office?).

Letters sent by readers in connection with the survey and the responses of those who filled in a paper questionnaire are not included in the data. The survey contained several open-ended questions, the responses to which have not been categorised for statistic analysis. Some of the responses to the open-ended questions have been modelled into qualitative data. With Internet surveys it is impossible to control whether anyone responds to the survey more than once.

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

Helsingin Sanomat: Morality 2001 [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2003-08-28). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1250

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

Gronow, Kira & Grönvall, Ursula & Harju, Hannu & Hoikkala, Teemu & Matikainen, Kati & Niemi, Päivi & Räty, Reetta & Sadik, Sara (2001). Tilaisuus tekee varkaan. Helsingin Sanomat, Viikkoliite Nyt, numero 13/2001, sivut 12-17.