Study title

Parliamentary Elections 2011: Candidate Responses to Helsingin Sanomat Candidate Selector

Dataset ID Number

FSD2701

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2701
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2701

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Helsingin Sanomat

Abstract

The data consist of responses given by the 2011 Finnish Parliamentary election candidates to Helsingin Sanomat candidate selector / voting advice application by 6 April 2011 (n=1843).

The attitudinal questions were divided rougly into the following themes: pensions, economy, taxation, national defence, foreign affairs, domestic issues, municipalities and government composition after the elections. Some questions were asked about the increase in income inequality, adoption rights for same-sex couples, nuclear power and child benefit. For each question, the candidate would choose the alternative best describing their opinion, but they also had a chance to comment on their choice and prioritise the issue (high-medium-low).

Questions covering pensions charted the opinions on what should be done to the retirement age, how working careers should be extended and what should be done about the earning-related pension index. Views on economic issues were surveyed by asking how the respondent would cut government spending, should Finland support indebted EU countries financially and how, and what R thought of the currency transaction tax. Questions focusing on taxation included: which tax the respondent would be prepared to increase, which tax exemption to cut etc.

Regarding national defence, the respondent was asked how conscription should be carried out and whether Finland should apply for NATO membership. Opinions on foreign issues were surveyed by asking, for example, whether Finland should take a stance on human rights issues and democracy in its political dealings with China and Russia. The respondent's views on domestic issues were charted by asking about the perceptions on Finnish gun law, compulsory learning of the second official language (Swedish), immigration politics etc.

Questions concerning municipalities probed opinions on issues such as outsourcing, mergers and suitable number of municipalities. Finally, the candidate was asked to choose three parties that should be in the next coalition government.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's age, gender, level of education, party affiliation, electoral district and region.

Keywords

defence and state security policy; economic policy; electoral issues; foreign relations; parliamentary candidates; parliamentary elections; political behaviour; politicians; regional policy; social policy; taxation; voting advice applications

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Elections (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (C) available only for research including master's theses.

Data Collector

• Helsingin Sanomat

Data Producers

• Helsingin Sanomat

Time Period Covered

2011

Collection Dates

spring 2011 ( 2011 )

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Parliamentary candidates in the 2011 parliamentary elections in Finland

Time Method

Cross-section

Data Sources

Helsingin Sanomien vaalikone: Eduskuntavaalit 2011 [Helsingin Sanomat Candidate Selector: Parliamentary elections 2011]

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

There were 2315 parliamentary candidates in the 2011 elections, 1843 of whom answered the questions in Helsingin Sanomat candidate selector.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

88

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

2.1

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

Helsingin Sanomat: Parliamentary Elections 2011: Candidate Responses to Helsingin Sanomat Candidate Selector [dataset]. Version 2.1 (2016-08-29). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2701

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.

More information on HS.fi blog (in Finnish)

FSD has not been informed of any publications related to the data.