Study title

ISSP 2006: Role of Government IV: Finnish Data

Dataset ID Number

FSD2248

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2248
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2248

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• International Social Survey Programme (ISSP)
• Blom, Raimo (University of Tampere. Department of Sociology and Social Psychology)
• Melin, Harri (University of Turku. Department of Sociology)
• Tanskanen, Eero (Statistics Finland)

Other Identification/Acknowledgements

• Borg, Sami (University of Tampere. Finnish Social Science Data Archive)
• Nieminen, Markku (Statistics Finland)

Abstract

The year 2006 survey examined Finnish attitudes towards government officials and decision makers, and what is right and wrong in society. Respondents’ opinions on taxation and prevention of terrorism were also probed.

First, the respondents were asked whether people must obey the law without exception, whether protests against government should be allowed, and what kind of protests these could be. The respondents also gave their opinions on what kind of acts should be allowed for extremists who want to overthrow the government by revolution. Views on legal system were charted by asking respondents to decide which is worse: convicting an innocent person, or letting a guilty person go free.

One topic pertained to economic policy. The respondents were asked what kind of economic policy measures they supported or opposed. Opinions were gathered on increasing and decreasing government spending, responsibilities of government officials, and whether the current government was successful in different areas.

Questions related to terrorism included what kind of measures the authorities should have the right to take, if they suspected that a terrorist act was being planned. Some questions covered low, medium, and high income taxation. The respondents were also asked how often they were asked to help influence important decisions in other people's favour, and whether they knew people who could be asked to do the same for them.

Opinions were explored on fairness of public officials and corruption. Further questions covered whether the respondents or their family members had come across a public official who had hinted he/she wanted, or had asked for, a bribe or favour in return for a service in the last five years.

The national section of the questionnaire (questions 52-67) investigated views on Finnish economy by asking what kind of social and economic developments had taken place in Finland in the last five years, and who was mainly responsible for these developments. Some questions addressed which groups had too much or too little influence on EU policy making in Brussels. The respondents were also asked whether they thought it to be pertinent that authorised representatives of various companies and lobbying groups directly attempt to influence EU policy making in Brussels. Attitudes towards EU farming subsidies and EU decision making were also charted. Some questions covered how much a Member of European Parliament (MEP) can influence EU policy and decision making, and how people's knowledge of EU decisions and actions could be increased. Opinions on the MEP salaries and subsistence allowances were queried as well.

Background variables included respondent's gender, year of birth, household size, level of education, economic activity, occupation, industry class, regular weekly working hours, employment type, managerial position, employer type, trade union membership, voting behaviour, religiosity, monthly income and type of location.

Keywords

European integration; citizen participation; corruption; economic policy; government policy; government role; politicians; public administration; public expenditure; public officials; social influence; social protest; taxation; terrorism

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Social welfare policy (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

ISSP (International Social Survey Programme)

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• Statistics Finland

Data Producers

• University of Tampere. Department of Sociology and Social Psychology
• Statistics Finland
• Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Time Period Covered

2006

Collection Dates

2006-09-20 – 2006-11-24

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged between 15 and 74 living in Finland

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Data Sources

Variables denoting region of residence and statistical grouping of municipalities are based on register data.

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Systematic random

Classification order: municipality code and date of birth.

The sample size was 2,500 persons, out of which 94% were Finnish-speaking and 6% were Swedish-speaking. 13 persons were unable to answer. Therefore, the questionnaire was sent to 2,487 persons. 1,189 questionnaires were returned. There were 1,298 non-respondents, 7 of them declined to answer, 5 of them had an unknown address, and 1,286 of them did not participate for other reasons.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

47.8

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

1.0

Related Datasets

FSD3149 ISSP 2016: Role of Government V: Finnish Data

Weighting

The data contain two weight variables, which were created using a calibration method in order to improve estimation efficiency and to correct non-response bias. The weights are based on the following population distributions: 1) gender, 2) age groups (15-24, 25-34, ..., 65-74), 3) NUTS3 areas so that Greater Helsinki area was treated separately, and 4) municipality type (urban, semi-urban, rural). The first weight variable (paino_1) weights the results to match the whole Finnish population (the sum of the weights equals to the size of the Finnish population). The second weight variable (paino_2) does not produce this kind of extension (the weighted mean is 1 and the sum equals to the number of cases). Both variables are based on the same calibration process, only the scale is different.

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

International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) & Blom, Raimo (University of Tampere) & Melin, Harri (University of Turku) & Tanskanen, Eero (Statistics Finland): ISSP 2006: Role of Government IV: Finnish Data [dataset]. Data version 1.0 (2007-04-03). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2248; URN: https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2248

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.

Other Material

See downloadable files at the top of the page.

ZA4700: International Social Survey Programme: Role of Government IV - ISSP 2006 data and further information in English available at GESIS pages.

Related Materials

The classification of occupations used in the data set: ISCO-88 (COM) - the European Union variant of ISCO-88

Related Publications

Virta, Sirpa (2007). Valtion vastuu ja tehtävät. Verotuksesta terrorismin torjuntaan. Raportti ISSP 2006 Suomen aineistosta. Tampereen yliopisto. Yhteiskuntatieteellisen tietoarkiston julkaisuja; 5.

Borg, Sami (2008). Hiljaa hyvä tulee. Puheenvuoro äänestysprosenteista ja vaaliaktivoinnista. Helsinki: Kunnallisalan kehittämissäätiö. Polemia-sarja; 71.

Miettinen, Juha (2012). Hyvinvointivastuu hyvinvointivaltiossa: julkisen vallan vastuunotto Suomessa 2000-luvulla. Kuopio: Itä-Suomen yliopisto. Sosiaalityön pro gradu -tutkielma.

Varhama, Jesse (2016). Taloudellisen aseman vaikutus finanssipoliittisiin mielipiteisiin. Turku: Turun yliopisto. Valtio-opin kandidaatintutkielma.

Nate Breznau (2019) The underlying Public Attitude Toward Government Responsibility to Intervene in Socioeconomics, 30 Years of Evidence from the ISSP, International Journal of Sociology, 49:3, 182-203, DOI: 10.1080/00207659.2019.1605028

Insa Bechert & Jonas Edlund (2015) Observing Unexpected Patterns in Cross-National Research: Blame Data, Theory, or Both? Attitudes toward Redistributive Taxation in Thirty-Three Countries, International Journal of Sociology, 45:4, 327-347, DOI: 10.1080/00207659.2015.1098272

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Ariely, Gal, and Eric M Uslaner. 2017. Corruption, fairness, and inequality. International Political Science Review 38(3): 349-362.

Jaeger, Mads Meier. 2018. Religion and Aggregate Support for Redistribution. Acta Sociologica Online First.

Vanheuvelen, Tom and Copas, Kathy 2018. The Intercohort Dynamics of Support for Redistribution in 54 Countries, 1985-2017. Societies 8(3).

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Fink, Joshua J. and Brady, David. 2020.'Immigration and Preferences for Greater Law Enforcement Spending in Rich Democracies.' Social Forces 98:3, 1074-111. DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/92zwa

Schakel, Wouter, Burgoon, Brian and Hakhverdian, Armen. 2020.'Real but Unequal Representation in Welfare State Reform.' Politics & Society 48:1, 131-63.

Ferland, Benjamin. 2020.'Electoral Systems and Policy Congruence.' Political Studies, Online First. DOI: 10.1177/0032321719895428

Biolcati, Ferruccio; Molteni, Francesco; Quandt, Markus & Vezzoni, Cristiano (2020): Church Attendance and Religious change Pooled European dataset (CARPE): a survey harmonization project for the comparative analysis of long-term trends in individual religiosity. Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, 1-25. DOI: 10.1007/s11135-020-01048-9.

Engler, Sarah and Weisstanner, David. 2021.The threat of social decline: income inequality and radical right support. Journal of European Public Policy 28:2, 153-173. doi: 10.1080/13501763.2020.1733636.

Busemeyer, Marius R., Abrassart, Aurelien & Nezi, Roula. 2021. Beyond Positive and Negative: New Perspectives on Feedback Effects in Public Opinion on the Welfare State. British Journal of Political Science 51(1):137-62. doi:10.1017/S0007123418000534

Vorsatz, Victor (2021): The Convergence of Political Values of Citizens Across EU Member States along EU Enlargement Rounds. In: SAIS Journal 24 (1): 95-113.

Biolcati, Ferruccio; Molteni, Francesco; Quandt, Markus and Vezzoni, Cristiano (2022): "Church Attendance and Religious change Pooled European dataset (CARPE): a survey harmonization project for the comparative analysis of long-term trends in individual religiosity." In: Quality and Quantity 56 (3): 1729-1753. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135020-01048-9.

Query, Jason, Thompson, Jon C. (2024) Cultural Distance and International Trade. Open Economies Review 35, 283-300. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11079-023-09729-2

Rybak, Adam (2023) Survey Mode and Nonresponse Bias: A Meta-Analysis Based on the Data from the International Social Survey Programme Waves 1996-2018 and the European Social Survey Rounds 1 to 9. PloS one 18(3). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283092.

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