Study title

Part-Time and Voluntary Fire Brigades 2002: Firefighters

Dataset ID Number

FSD1258

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1258
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd1258

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Suominen, Petteri (University of Tampere. Department of Political Science and International Relations)

Other Identification/Acknowledgements

• Palokangas, Miia (Tutkimustie Consulting)

Abstract

The survey is part of a research project focusing on the significance of voluntary fire brigades to the Finnish society. Fire brigades studied included part-time fire brigades, voluntary fire brigades and industrial fire brigades. Respondents were asked how long they had acted as fire fighters, was any other relative also a member, what kind of fire brigade it was and did they aim to continue with this voluntary work. Reasons for joining, duties in the brigade and membership in other non-governmental organizations were queried.

Opinions of the positive and negative aspects of the fire services work were charted. Respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with several statements relating to various aspects of voluntary fire brigades: e.g. training opportunities, brigades' political non-alignment, social responsibility, public image. Respondents' political participation was surveyed with questions about their elective offices and degree of activity in social issues. The significance of part-time and voluntary fire brigades to Finnish rescue services was studied by asking respondents to rate their importance. Respondents were also asked to estimate how much importance municipal residents and decision-makers give to the brigades.

Views were also probed on the suitability of certain bodies (e.g. police, health and social authorities, sports clubs) as co-operation partners for fire brigades. Some open-ended questions covered the future of voluntary brigades and the effects of regional rescue services system. Background variables included sex, age, marital status, number of children, vocational education and socio-economic group.

Keywords

agreements; cooperation; emergency and protective services; fire-fighting services; firefighters; municipalities; political participation; social systems; voluntary work

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Social behaviour and attitudes (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

• Suominen, Petteri (University of Tampere. Department of Political Science and International Relations)

Data Producers

• Ministry of the Interior. Department for Rescue Services
• Suomen Palosuojelurahasto (Fire Protection Foundation)

Time Period Covered

2002

Collection Dates

2001-11 – 2002-01

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland, Kajaani, Laihia, Loviisa, Muonio, Puumala, Valkeakoski

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Firefighters of part-time, voluntary and industrial fire brigades in six municipalities

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

Municipalities in the sample were selected thus that they represented different regions of Finland and different kinds of fire brigades: part-time, voluntary and industrial brigades. The population consisted of 236 brigade members. The response rate was 52,1% and 123 completed questionnaires were returned. The response rate of Kajaani was 58%, Laihia 70%, Loviisa 32%, Muonio 64%, Puumala 59% and Valkeakoski 59%.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

52,10

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

FSD1259 Part-Time and Voluntary Fire Brigades 2002: Members of Municipal Councils

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

For reasons of privacy, the place of residence variable q1 was removed from the data.

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

Suominen, Petteri (University of Tampere): Part-Time and Voluntary Fire Brigades 2002: Firefighters [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2019-01-18). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1258

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

Suominen, Petteri (2002). Arvon mekin ansaitsemme: tutkimus vapaaehtoispalokuntien yhteiskunnallisesta vaikuttavuudesta ja merkittävyydestä. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Poliitikan tutkimuksen laitos.