Study title

School Well-being Profile 2008-2009: Lower Secondary School, Grades 7-9

Dataset ID Number

FSD2423

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2423
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2423

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Konu, Anne (University of Tampere. Tampere School of Public Health)

Abstract

The survey focused on school well-being in grades 7-9 in Finland, studying student opinions on school facilities, the learning environment, social relationships in school, and means for self-fulfilment in school, as well as the students' perceived health status. The survey contained both statements and multiple choice questions. The respondents indicated to what extent they agreed with the statements using a five-point scale (i.e. from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree").

School facilities were studied with a number of questions about the classroom (e.g. size, temperature, ventilation, desks), toilet facilities, the dining room, the schoolyard and the school building (e.g. safety, functionality). Access to the school nurse and the school welfare officer were charted as well as opinions on the school timetable, order in the classroom, school rules and punishments, and the amount of school work. The statements relating to social relationships canvassed student-student relationships (e.g. classmate support, being accepted by others) and teacher-student relationships (e.g. fairness and friendliness of teachers). Parental attitudes to homework and school were studied. Views on the learning environment were probed with questions on help and encouragement received from teachers and classmates, group work in the classroom, and the fairness of teachers. The students also assessed whether their parents appreciated their school work, whether their parents motivated them for better performance in school, and whether their helped them with homework if needed. In addition, the respondents were asked whether they had been bullied at school during the ongoing term and whether they themselves had bullied someone else.

The statements on self-fulfilment explored different aspects of school work. Opinions on whether student opinions were taken into account in developing the school and in drawing up school rules (school democracy), and whether teachers encouraged students to express their views were charted. Views were probed on whether the respondents appreciated their school work, whether they had found a study method that suited them, and whether they had a chance to receive remedial teaching if needed. Regarding health, the respondents were asked about their perceived general health and whether they had had various symptoms (e.g. stomach ache, sleeping problems, headache, fear, anxiety) during the ongoing term.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, grade, and class id.

Keywords

bullying; educational facilities; health; parental encouragement; peer-group relationships; satisfaction; school classes; school-student relationship; schoolchildren; schools; secondary schools; social networks; teacher-student relationship

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Medical and health sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Compulsory and pre-school education (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• General health and well-being (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

School Well-being Profile

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• Konu, Anne (University of Tampere. Tampere School of Public Health)
• Lintonen, Tomi (University of Tampere. Tampere School of Public Health)
• Kainulainen, Lauri (University of Tampere. Department of Computer Sciences)
• Kivimäki, Hannu (University of Tampere. Department of Computer Sciences)
• Finnish National Board of Education

Data Producers

• Finnish National Board of Education
• Pirkanmaa Hospital District
• Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
• University of Tampere. Tampere School of Public Health
• Juho Vainio Foundation

Time Period Covered

2008-08 – 2009-05

Collection Dates

2008-09 – 2009-05

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

7-9 graders in Finnish lower secondary schools

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Availability

No specific sampling method was used in data collection - instead, the respondents were students in schools which actively volunteered to participate in the survey. The School Well-being Profile was not widely advertised to schools. Teachers heard about it in various seminars, for instance. The Well-being Profile was designed to be a tool for schools to use for development and self-assessment. Still, the schools using the Profile had to commit themselves to subjecting the data for scientific use.

The survey questionnaire was available on a web page administered by the Finnish National Board of Education, and an id code was required to access it. Schools could register for the service and thereby receive a school id, which enabled them to create id codes for their students. The students then filled in the questionnaire, also providing the id code they had received. Only the responses with the id were saved. Thus, each student could fill in the questionnaire only once. The technical implementation of the survey ensured that the respondents answered all background questions (excluding age) and at least two thirds of the questions in each module.

Restrictive factors preventing schools from participating, in addition to not volunteering actively, included not having access to the Internet and unwillingness to use a web tool in their development work. There were differences between schools, for instance, in the speed of the Internet connection, in the IT equipment available and in the way the equipment was used.

49 schools participated in the survey, and 6,239 students responded.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

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

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Open-ended questions and information related to school names, municipalities and contact persons have been 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

Konu, Anne (University of Tampere): School Well-being Profile 2008-2009: Lower Secondary School, Grades 7-9 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2009-06-18). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2423

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.

The Well-being Profile Website

Related Materials

Konu, Anne & Rimpelä, Matti (2002). Well-being in schools: a conceptual model. Health Promotion International, vol. 17, no 1, 79-87.

Koulun hyvinvointiprofiili [verkkodokumentti]. http://www2.edu.fi/hyvinvointiprofiili/ [viitattu 18.6.2009].

Related Publications

Konu Anne & Viitanen Elina & Lintonen Tomi (2010). Teachers' well-being and perceptions on leadership practices. Journal of Workplace Health Management, Vol. 3 Iss: 1, pp. 44-57.

Konu Anne & Lintonen Tomi (2006). School well-being in Grades 4-12. Health Education Research 2006;21(5): 633-642.

Konu Anne & Lintonen Tomi (2006). Theory-based survey analysis of well-being in secondary schools in Finland. Health Promotion International 2006; 21(1): 27-36.

Lintonen Tomi & Konu Anne (2006). The Well-being Profile: An Internet tool for school health promotion. Promot & Educ 2006; 8(4): 230-235.

Konu Anne & Koivisto Anna-Maija (2011). The School Well-being Profile. A valid instrument for evaluation. In LG Chova, M Belenguer, AL Martinez: EDULEARN11 Publications. Barcelona 4th-6th of July 2011, pp. 1842-1850, IATED.

Konu Anne (2010). Koululaisten hyvinvoinnin arviointi ja alakoulujen hyvinvointi 2000-luvulla. [The Evaluation of the Well-being of Schoolchildren, and the Well-being of Elementary Schools during 21st Century] In Joronen K and Koski A: Tunne- ja sosiaalisten taitojen vahvistaminen kouluyhteisössä. Tampere: Tampere University Press, 13-32.

Konu Anne (2005). Hyvinvointiprofiili koulun kehittämisen välineenä [The Well-being Profile as a Tool for School Development]. Teoksessa Peltonen Heidi (toim.) Opiskelun tuki esi- ja perusopetuksessa. 2005. Opetushallitus, 256-265.

Konu, Anne & Joronen, Katja & Lintonen, Tomi (2015). Seasonality in School Well-being. The Case of Finland. Child Indicators Research 8, 265-277. DOI: 10.1007/s12187-014-9243-9

Kylliäinen, Saija (2015). Sosiaaliset suhteet koulun työyhteisön hyvinvoinnin voimavaroina. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Terveystieteiden yksikön pro gradu -tutkielma. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:uta-201502181118

Konu A, Rimpelä M. 2002. Well-being in Schools - a conceptual model. Health Promot Int 17(1):79-87.

Rantaeskola, Anne (2017). Alakoululaisten kokema kouluhyvinvointi lukuvuosina 2005-2006 ja 2015-2016. Itä-Suomen yliopisto. Kasvatustieteen pro gradu -tutkielma.