Authors

• Moring, Tom (University of Helsinki. Swedish School of Social Science)
• Pehkonen, Juhani (TNS Gallup Finland)

Keywords

advertising, elections, gender, parliamentary elections, political support, presidential candidates, presidential elections, voting

Abstract

The survey focused on the 2006 presidential elections in Finland. First, the respondents were asked whether they had voted in the second round of the presidential elections, whether their opinions on the candidates had changed after the first round of the elections, and whether the candidates had appeared more often or less often in entertainment programmes on TV and in tabloids and magazines compared to the last presidential elections. The respondents were also asked whether the entertainment programmes on TV had highlighted the candidates' characteristics and personality, and which of the TV programmes featuring one or more of the candidates the respondents followed.

The respondents were also asked which candidate they had voted for in the second round of the elections, and at which point they had finally decided on who to vote for. They were also asked to assess their choice of candidate in the second round of the elections with the help of questions and statements. The respondents were asked which factors influenced their choice of candidate, and from which information sources they had received information concerning their decision. Views on the credibility of the candidates' appearances during the second round of the campaign were probed, as well as whether the respondents felt close to any political party. Opinions on the position of men and women were charted with the help of gender-related questions and statements. Finally, the respondents gave their opinions on whether some of the presidential duties are better suited for a man than a woman.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, marital status, education, occupation, annual income, and place of residence. The data also include a case id variable idnro, which can be used to append this data to FSD2137.