Study title

Knowledge of Politics and Society 2008

Dataset ID Number

FSD2499

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2499

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Elo, Kimmo (University of Turku. Department of Political Science)
• Rapeli, Lauri (University of Turku. Department of Political Science)

Abstract

The survey charted political knowledge of the Finns, focusing on basic political concepts, the political systems of Finland and the EU, and Finnish national economy. Opinions on politics and democracy were also surveyed. The data were collected as part of the research project "Knowledge of Politics in International Comparison 2007-2010" at the University of Turku. The same questions were presented in other surveys conducted by the project: FSD2343 Knowledge of Politics and Society 2008: Turku Region Upper Secondary Schools 2007-2008 and FSD2344 Knowledge of Politics and Society 2008: Turku Region Vocational Institutions 2007-2008. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education and Culture provided funding for the project.

First, opinions on politics were charted. The respondents were asked how interested they were in politics, how much information they had received from various sources (e.g. from educational institutes at different levels, friends, home) to understand social and political issues, how close they felt to specific political parties or civic/voluntary organisations and on what grounds they made their party/candidate choice in elections. Further questions covered the perceived importance of voting in different elections, the respondent's political and civic participation and participation methods. The respondents also rated how important they held a number of sources to be for obtaining political and social information (e.g. television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, events, contacts with decision-makers, personal communication). Television, radio, newspaper and Internet use was charted as well as reasons for using the Internet.

Next, political knowledge and knowledge of the Finnish political system were studied. The respondents were asked to assess the level of their own political and social knowledge. A number of questions explored knowledge on what the concepts of politics, democracy and political left and right entail. The respondents also graded the functionality of Finnish democracy and placed themselves on the left-right axis. Further questions investigated factual knowledge on Finnish constitution, proportional electoral system, electoral districts, functions of political parties, functions and powers of Parliament and the Prime Minister, parties represented in the coalition government and Parliament, elections, national incomes policy negotiations, etc.

Knowledge on EU issues was charted by asking the respondents when Finland had become a member state, which countries were members in the EU or belonged to the euro zone, powers of the EU, to which EU institution representatives were elected by direct vote, how many votes Finland had in the Council of Ministers, how many members Finland had in the European Parliament, what were powers of the Parliament and the length of the electoral period.

Knowledge on Finnish national economy was explored through questions on local taxation, state budget, impact of inflation on purchasing power, and state income tax.

The categorised variables ending in letter l contain the distributions of correct answers to questions examining the respondents' knowledge. Background variables included the respondent's gender, year of birth, municipality of residence, education, field of study if had university education, marital status, number of children, type of neighbourhood, economic activity and occupational status, type of employer, annual gross income of the household, and mother tongue.

Keywords

Internet use; mass media use; political awareness; political interest; political participation; political systems; voting

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Government, political systems and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• Taloustutkimus

Time Period Covered

2008

Collection Dates

2008-02 – 2008-03

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Finnish citizens aged 18 or over living in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Stratified

Quota sampling based on age, gender and municipality of residence. Interviews were conducted by using the starting point method. Five interviews were conducted from each randomly selected starting address.

Collection Mode

Face-to-face interview

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: English and Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Number of Cases and Variables

345 variables and 1020 cases.

Data Version

3.0

Related Datasets

FSD2343 Knowledge of Politics and Society 2008: Turku Region Upper Secondary Schools 2007-2008

FSD2344 Knowledge of Politics and Society 2008: Turku Region Vocational Institutions 2007-2008

FSD2629 Young People and Politics 2009

FSD2883 Young People and Politics 2009: Essay Responses

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

Elo, Kimmo (University of Turku) & Rapeli, Lauri (University of Turku): Knowledge of Politics and Society 2008 [dataset]. Version 3.0 (2018-07-19). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2499

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 Materials

Elo, Kimmo & Rapeli, Lauri (2008). Suomalaisten politiikkatietämys. Helsinki: Edita Prima. Oikeusministeriön julkaisuja 2008:6.

Rapeli, Lauri (2010). Tietääkö kansa? Kansalaisten politiikkatietämys teoreettisessa ja empiirisessä tarkastelussa. Turku: Turun yliopisto. Turun yliopiston julkaisuja. Sarja C;296.

Related Publications

Rapeli, Lauri (2010). Politiikkatietämyksen ajallinen vaihtelu Suomessa. Politiikka, 52(2), 133-139.

Rapeli, Lauri (2010). Tietääkö kansa? Kansalaisten politiikkatietämys teoreettisessa ja empiirisessä tarkastelussa. Turku: Turun yliopisto. Turun yliopiston julkaisuja. Sarja C;296.

Elo, Kimmo & Rapeli, Lauri (2008). Suomalaisten politiikkatietämys. Helsinki: Edita Prima. Oikeusministeriön julkaisuja 2008:6.

Elo, Kimmo & Rapeli, Lauri (2010). Determinants of Political Knowledge: The Effects of the Media on Knowledge and Information. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties 20(1), 133-146. DOI: 10.1080/17457280903450799

Elo, Kimmo (2009). Asking Factual Knowledge Questions. Reliability in Web-based, Passive Sampling Surveys. Social Science Computer Review OnlineFirst, published on August 20, 2009. doi:10.1177/0894439309339306

Elo, Kimmo (2009). Kiinnostuksesta se kaikki lähtee... Havaintoja äänestysikää lähestyvien nuorten politiikkatietämyksestä. Kasvatus 40(1), 36-48.

Elo, Kimmo (2009). Poliittinen tietämys ja puolueiden tulevaisuus. Teoksessa: Puolueiden tulevaisuus (toim. Rauli Mickelsson), 65-95. Helsinki: Oikeusministeriö. - (Oikeusministeriön julkaisuja 2009: 6)

Tolonen, Emilia (2011). Mikä motivoi liittoon?. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Valtio-opin pro gradu-tutkielma. urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-22422

Rapeli, Lauri (2014). Eduskunta ja kansalaismielipide. Teoksessa: Eduskunta. Kansanvaltaa puolueiden ja hallituksen ehdoilla (toim. Raunio, Tapio & Wiberg, Matti), 51-65. Helsinki: Gaudeamus.

Pakarinen, Rosa (2020) Political Knowledge of The European Union among Finnish Citizens and Its Effects to Political Participation. Malmö University. Bachelor's Thesis.