Study title

Parish Employee Survey 2002

Dataset ID Number

FSD2029

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2029
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2029

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Church Research Institute

Abstract

The church employee survey studied the values, attitudes and religious beliefs of persons employed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Respondents rated how important work, friends, religion, politics etc. are to them. Spare time religious attendance, and frequency of other religious-minded spare time activities (e.g. praying, reading the Bible or religious literature, viewing religious TV programmes) were charted.

Some questions covered respondents' religious beliefs. Belief in God, importance of God for respondents, and religious community background were surveyed. Some questions focused on to what extent respondents believe church and Bible doctrines, like the existence of angels and the resurrection of Christ. Faith in afterlife and attitudes towards the Bible were examined. Respondents were asked whether there was any conflict between church doctrine and what they themselves think or believe in. They were also asked whether faith/religion gives them strength, and whether the Bible or the Evangelical Lutheran Church provide help in moral issues, family problems, spiritual needs, social problems or the meaning of life.

One theme pertained to opinions on parochial councils and parish boards. Views were probed on whether certain groups have too much or too little power in parish administration, and whether the powers of the council or the board should be increased. Respondents were also asked who should choose the vicar - the parochial council or the parishioners.

The survey carried a set of statements with which respondents assessed their own values and characteristics (e.g. "I often do something just to prove myself I can do it" or "I like competitive situations"). Job satisfaction, work load, and intentions to leave the parish job were investigated. Some questions charted social and other problems in the respondent's parish. Respondents also evaluated how the situation of certain groups will develop in their parish in future (e.g. children, youth, single parents, the elderly, families with children).

Background variables included respondent's gender, year of birth (categorised), job title, size and type of parish, diocese, how long the respondent had worked for a parish or the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and which party he/she had voted for in the last parliamentary elections.

Keywords

Bible; attitudes; employees; parishes; religious behaviour; religious beliefs; religious personnel; religious personnel; values; working conditions

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Humanities (Fields of Science Classification)
• Working conditions (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Religion and values (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Parish Employee Surveys

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Church Research Institute

Data Producers

• Church Research Institute

Time Period Covered

2002

Collection Dates

2002-08-11 – 2002-11-21

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Members of certain occupational groups working in the parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland: the clergy, church musicians, diaconal workers (parish social workers), youth and child workers, controllers (financial managers), and full-time mission secretaries.

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Stratified

The parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland were divided into six strata, and a representative sample was taken from each stratum. Each sample was representative in terms of dioceses and parish sizes.

1,190 questionnaires were sent, out of which 514 were returned before 30th August 2002, and additional 367 before 21st Novermber 2002 (after a reminder letter). Hence, the total number of responses was 881.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

74

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

3.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

To prevent identification of respondents, the job title 'lector' was combined into the same category with 'other clergy' in variable q38. (In the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, a lector is a theologian who is employed by the church but has not been ordained. These days, the job title of lector is rare within the church as it was first created for female theologians who could not be ordained as a pastor before 1986.) Additionally, the respondent's year of birth (q35) was categorised into five-year age groups and the open-ended variable 'Other, please specify' denoting work tasks was removed from the data.

The data do not include responses in 16 inadequately filled questionnaires. Responses to open-ended questions 13, 29, 31, 32, 33, 42 are missing, likewise responses to the open-ended alternatives of questions 7,9,10,11 and 18.

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

Church Research Institute: Parish Employee Survey 2002 [dataset]. Version 3.0 (2021-09-20). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2029

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

Kirkko muutosten keskellä: Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko vuosina 2000-2003 (2004). Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus. Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja; 89.

Monikasvoinen kirkko. Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko vuosina 2004-2007 (2008). Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja; 103. Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus.

Niemelä, Kati (2004). Uskonko niin kuin opetan?: seurakuntatyöntekijä uskon ja elämän ristipaineessa. Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus. Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja; 85.

Aroharju, Annika (2004). Seurakunnan luottamushenkilönä [verkkodokumentti]. Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus. Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen www-julkaisuja; 2. http://www.evl.fi/kkh/ktk/2_aroharju.pdf [viitattu 04.02.2005].