The research programme Finnish Local Government 2004 was a joint programme launched by the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, universities and research centres. It was funded by Finnish municipalities and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities. The project engaged in a systematic and comparable analysis of the development of the municipal sector in 1995-2004. The 47 municipalities participating in the programme were representative of the Finnish local government sector.
The study programme comprised of 14 research modules. For most modules, data were collected through mail surveys. The data may be used for cross-sectional or time series analysis.
The survey focused on the service provision, administration and development of cultural services in Finnish municipalities. The respondents were heads of cultural services, or other management level employees responsible for cultural services. Similar surveys were carried out in 1999 and 2002.
Questions covered the services, resources, facilities and staff of cultural services. A number of questions investigated what kind of services and facilities there were (e.g. museums, theatres, orchestras, dance groups, movie clubs), who provided these services, and whether the municipality allocated funds for them. The respondents estimated the number of cultural events in the municipality, number of people attending, and number of associations, groups and other organisations operating within certain sectors (e.g. music, theatre, fine arts, literature). The respondents were also asked about contracted-out services and competitive tendering. Other themes covered charges and user fees, decision-making in the cultural administration, the impact of different bodies on the department of cultural services, and the use of performance measures. Development of the sector since 1992, the present state, and development policies for the future were charted.
Background variables included the respondent's gender, mother tongue, year of birth, job title, responsibility areas at work, work experience in the field, education, and elective offices.
Two-stage stratified sampling in selecting project municipalities. Total study of heads of cultural services or other management level employees responsible for cultural services in the selected municipalities.
The project municipalities were selected separately from those with less than 10000 inhabitants (28 municipalities) and from those with more than 10000 inhabitants (19 municipalities). The selection aimed to be representative within both groups in relation to all municipalities with the same population size. Large municipalities were over-represented because 70% of the Finnish population lives in large municipalities. Representativeness criteria included regional location, age and education of the population, industry structure, municipal economy parameters, political situation and variables related to municipal policy. The selected municipalities form a small scale model of all Finnish municipalities. The Åland Islands municipalities were excluded because of special features resulting from Åland's autonomy.
The questionnaire was sent to the heads of cultural services (or equivalent) of the selected municipalities. Because of organisational differences, in some municipalities the respondents were administrative directors of the municipal office or also acted as department heads of other sectors. Three reminder letters were sent.