Study title

Spirituality among the Readers of the New Age Magazine 'Ultra' 2011

Dataset ID Number

FSD2837

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2837

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Church Research Institute

Other Identification/Acknowledgements

• Ultra magazine

Abstract

The study charted alternative spirituality, its significance and practice among the readers of the Finnish new age magazine 'Ultra'. The respondents' world views and religious beliefs were investigated as well as their values and interest in sprituality.

The respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with several statements relating to religion, spirituality and different world views (e.g. "There exists a single indescribable divine truth that cannot be personified", "It is worth taking into account the position of the stars and planets when making big decisions").

Interest in spirituality was surveyed by asking the respondents which topics in Ultra they found most interesting (e.g. alternative medicine, religion, unusual phenomena), which views they thought were important sources of inspiration to them (e.g. Buddhism, Paganism, Humanism), and whether they had participated in different courses/lectures/sessions (tarot consultation, angel course) or practised yoga, meditation or shamanism. Reasons for practising meditation, prayer or equivalent were inquired, as were the frequency of church attendance, ways of celebrating important life events and belief in central Christian doctrines.

The respondents' values were investigated by presenting them several statements describing a person with certain characteristics and asking how much they thought they were like the persons described (e.g. "Success is important to him/her. He/she wants his/her accomplishments to be noticed").

Background variables included the respondent's gender, year of birth, marital status, highest education attained, membership of a religious community, religious orientation (regardless of membership to a religious community), type of municipality of residence and the political party R had voted for in the previous elections.

Keywords

ceremonies; esoteric practices; religion; religious affiliation; religious behaviour; religious beliefs; religious groups; spiritualism; values

Topic Classification

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

• Church Research Institute

Time Period Covered

2011

Collection Dates

2011-07 – 2011-08

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Readers of the Ultra magazine and people attending the Ultrapäivät event

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Availability

The survey was conducted as a reader survey in the Ultra magazine as well as at the Ultrapäivät summer event by handing out questionnaires to the visitors. 556 persons in total responded to the survey. The response rate was 13% out of all the questionnaires distributed.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

13

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

2.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

A variable containing the respondents' postal numbers has been removed during the archiving process.

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: Spirituality among the Readers of the New Age Magazine 'Ultra' 2011 [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-07-26). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2837

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

Ketola, Kimmo & Sohlberg, Jussi (2012). Tähän Ultran lukijat uskovat: Vaihtoehtoinen henkisyys lukijatutkimuksen valossa. Ultra (7-8), 10-13.

Related Publications

Ketola, Kimmo & Sohlberg, Jussi (2012) Tähän Ultran lukijat uskovat: vaihtoehtoinen henkisyys lukijatutkimuksen valossa. Ultra (7-8), 10-13.

Ramstedt, Tommy (2018) Knowledge and Identity within the Finnish Fringe-Knowledge Scene. Åbo Akademis förlag - Åbo Akademi University Press.