Study title

Parish Employee Survey 2004

Dataset ID Number

FSD2834

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2834

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Church Research Institute

Abstract

The church employee survey studied the views of people working in the parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Staff views were charted on worship service reform, confirmation training reform, parish activities, ordination of women, other religions and homosexuality.

First, the respondents were asked to rate the importance of a number of activities conducted by the parishes. The activities mentioned included graveyard maintenance, help phone, missionary work, confirmation classes, parish magazines etc. Some questions focused on the worship service reform, its goals and feedback from parishioners. Views were also probed on the successfulness of the confirmation training reform.

Personal opinions on the ordination of women were charted, as well as views on church blessing on same-sex couples and whether church ministers or youth, office or maintenance workers of the church could live together with a same-sex partner. One set of questions explored how positive or negative views the respondents had of other churches (e.g. Orthodox Church, Catholic Church, Evangelical Free Church) or of other religions/religious communities (e.g. Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, scientology, Buddhism, Mormons).

Background variables included the respondent's gender, year of birth (categorised), number of persons in the parish, diocese, job title, length of service in the church, type of municipality (urban or rural), and political party R had voted for in the 2003 parliamentary elections.

Keywords

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland; civil partnerships; homosexuality; ordination of women; parishes; religions; religious ceremonies; religious communities; religious personnel; religious personnel

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Humanities (Fields of Science Classification)
• Religion and values (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Parish Employee Surveys

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• Church Research Institute

Time Period Covered

2004

Collection Dates

2004-03 – 2004-04

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Employees working in the parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Information not available

The sample was 1,601 persons (of whom 10 were non-contacts).

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

33.9

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

3.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

No detailed information on the sampling procedure available.

To prevent identification of respondents, the job title 'lector' was combined into the same category with 'other clergy' in variable q20. (In the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, a lector is a theologian who is employed by the church but has not been ordained. These days, the job title of lector is rare within the church as it was first created for female theologians who could not be ordained as a pastor before 1986.) Additionally, the respondent's year of birth (q17) was categorised into five-year age groups.

Responses to the open-ended questions 3 and 9, open-ended questions at the end of the questionnaire, and open-ended answer alternative of question 20 are missing from the data. The data do not include the cases where the questionnaire was left empty, was incomplete, or a dublicate (identical with another case).

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

Church Research Institute: Parish Employee Survey 2004 [dataset]. Version 3.0 (2021-10-04). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2834

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

Hytönen, Maarit & Kääriäinen, Kimmo & Niemelä, Kati & Salonen, Kari (2004). Kirkko muutosten keskellä. Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko vuosina 2000 - 2003. Jyväskylä: Gummerus. Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja; 89.

Monikasvoinen kirkko. Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko vuosina 2004-2007 (2008). Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja; 103. Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus.

Related Publications

Monikasvoinen kirkko. Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko vuosina 2004-2007 (2008). Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja; 103. Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus.

Hytönen, Maarit & Kääriäinen, Kimmo & Niemelä, Kati & Salonen, Kari (2004). Kirkko muutosten keskellä. Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko vuosina 2000 - 2003. Jyväskylä: Gummerus. Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja; 89.

Hytönen, Maarit (2005). Kirkollisten toimitusten teologia. Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja; 91.