FSD3067 Finnish National Election Study 2015
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Study title
Finnish National Election Study 2015
Alternative Title
CSES
Dataset ID Number
FSD3067
Persistent identifiers
https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3067https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3067
Data Type
Quantitative
Authors
- Grönlund, Kimmo (Åbo Akademi University. Social Science Research Institute)
- Kestilä-Kekkonen, Elina (University of Tampere. School of Management)
Other Identification/Acknowledgements
- Borg, Sami (University of Tampere)
- Strandberg, Kim (Åbo Akademi University)
- von Schoultz, Åsa (Åbo Akademi University)
- Tiihonen, Aino (University of Tampere)
- Wass, Hanna (University of Helsinki)
- Westinen, Jussi (Åbo Akademi University)
Abstract
Finnish National Election Study 2015 charted the political participation, political attitudes, party allegiance, candidate and party choice, and voting behaviour of Finns. Further topics included citizens' initiative, different ways of having a say, and future prospects of Finland. The data were collected after the elections through face-to-face interviews and a self-administered drop-off questionnaire. The interview data contain Finland's contribution to the international CSES study (module 4).
First questions in the interview covered interest in politics, attention paid to media coverage of the elections (including social media), Internet use, discussions about politics with others, party identification and self-perceived social class. The respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with some statements relating to voting, democracy, the electoral system, and decision-making. Willingness to influence things by own activity (for instance, by participating in a demonstration or joining a consumer boycott) was charted as well as membership in a political party. Concerning citizens' initiative, the respondents were asked whether they thought the introduction of the initiative had promoted democracy in Finland and whether they had signed any initiatives. Opinions on the importance of the Internet and social media as channels of civic engagement were surveyed.
The survey also carried a set of attitudinal statements on voting, politics, political parties, politicians and public political influence (e.g. 'I have no say in what the Government and Parliament decide' or 'By voting, ordinary people can influence political decision-making'. With regard to the future prospects of Finland, the respondents were asked which future directions they thought sounded good or bad (e.g. "more entrepreneurship and market economy", "better equality between men and women").
The CSES module explored the respondents' opinions on the economic situation of Finland, own financial situation, whether public expenditure on various things should be increased or decreased, whether the Government should take measures to bridge the income gap, and whether it made a difference who was in power or who people voted for. The respondents were asked to place themselves and the parties on a left-right axis. Questions also covered satisfaction with democracy in Finland and whether the respondents felt close to any party. Voting behaviour was studied with questions on whether the respondents had voted, the candidate of which party they had voted for, whether they had considered voting for a candidate of any other party and if yes, which party, whether they had voted in the previous parliamentary elections and which party they had voted for. Opinions on the party leaders were surveyed. Finally, the respondents' factual knowledge of politics was tested with a few questions.
Non-voters were asked why they had not voted and how self-evident not voting had been to them. All those who had voted were asked what had influenced their choice of party, to what extent various issues had influenced their candidate choice, whether they had voted for a candidate who was of the same age and gender as themselves, and when they had decided which candidate and party to vote for. The respondents' perceptions of how much different things and people had affected their political opinions were studied. Trust in government and other institutions, groups and people was charted as well as views on the performance of the Government in the previous electoral term.
The self-administered questionnaire surveyed the extent to which the respondents agreed with a number of statements relating to values and Finnish politics, whether they identified with different groups, and information sources used for making the voting decision. The respondents were also asked whether they had been contacted personally by a party or a candidate during campaigning, whether their family or friends and acquaintances had tried to influence their voting decision, and how easy it had been for the respondents to find a suitable party and candidate. Online voting and political activities and participation on the Internet were charted as well as time spent on following news and other programmes on politics and topical issues. Other topics included views on own financial situation and the Finnish economy and employment situation, satisfaction with own life, and opinions on who should make the important political decisions. Finally, personality traits of the respondents were surveyed using the Ten-item personality inventory (TIPI).
Variables beginning with 'k' are national election study variables, 'q' denotes CSES variables, 'p' denotes variables in the self-administered questionnaire, 'a' denotes CSES administrative variables and 'd' denotes background variables.
Background variables included, among others, the respondent's year of birth, gender, education, marital status, health status, trade union membership, economic activity and occupational status, employer type, unemployment periods, religiosity and religious attendance, mother tongue, gross annual household income, number of people in the household, type of neighbourhood/municipality, housing tenure, and electoral district.
Keywords
Internet; election campaigns; elections; parliamentary candidates; parliamentary elections; party identification; personality traits; political allegiance; political attitudes; political awareness; political influence; political interest; political participation; political support; trust; voting; voting advice applications
Topic Classification
- Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
- Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
- Elections (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Series
Finnish National Election StudiesDistributor
Finnish Social Science Data Archive
Access
The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.
Data Collector
- TNS Gallup Finland
Data Producers
- Election Study Consortium
Funders
- Ministry of Justice
Time Period Covered
2015
Collection Dates
2015-04-24 – 2015-07-07
Nation
Finland
Geographical Coverage
Finland
Analysis/Observation Unit Type
Individual
Universe
People living in Finland and entitled to vote in the Finnish parliamentary elections in 2015 (excluding the Åland Islands)
Time Method
Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section
Sampling Procedure
Probability: Multistage
The sampling was based on prior knowledge of the groups into which the population can be divided into. In the first stage, the number of persons required by the study were regionally divided by NUTS2 major regions. In the second stage, municipality types were taken into account. Interviewees were selected based on the sampling. After the interview, the respondents were asked to complete a self-administered paper questionnaire with additional questions (drop-off questionnaire). The data consist of interviews of 1,587 people and questionnaires completed by 684 people. Out of the 11,500 people selected in the sampling frame, 4,044 refused to participate and 5,919 could not be reached.
Collection Mode
Face-to-face interview
Self-administered questionnaire: Paper
Research Instrument
Structured questionnaire
Response Rate
13.7
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
405 variables and 1587 cases.
Data Version
4.0
Related Datasets
FSD2556 Finnish National Election Studies 2003-2019: combined data
Completeness of Data and Restrictions
Numbering of response alternatives in the archived data does not strictly follow the numbering in the original questionnaire.
Persons mentioned in the Other Identification/Acknowledgements field of this data description participated in questionnaire design.
Variables D24_1 (specification of the respondent's religious community) and Q37_1 (specification of mother tongue) were removed from the data during archiving. In addition, municipality of residence (D39) was categorised into two classes (Helsinki-other).
Variables D24_1 (specification of the respondent's religious community) and Q37_1 (specification of mother tongue) were removed from the data during archiving.
Weighting
There is a weight variable (paino) in the data that weights the sample to match the mother tongue, age, gender and electoral district distributions in the population as well as the actual vote share of parties in the elections.
In 2021, updated weight variables were added for the main and self-administered questionnaires to enable more detailed comparison between the Finnish National Election Studies. The researchers recommend using these new weight variables when analysing the data. More information on the weight variables can be found in the attached background information file.
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
Grönlund, Kimmo (Åbo Akademi University) & Kestilä-Kekkonen, Elina (University of Tampere): Finnish National Election Study 2015 [dataset]. Version 4.0 (2021-09-14). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3067
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.
Election Study Consortium website
Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) website
Related Publications
Sivonen, Jukka (2017). Poliittisesti eriytyneet asiantuntijat? Ammattirakenteen ja poliittisen suuntautumisen yhteys jälkiteollisessa Suomessa. Turku: Turun yliopisto. Taloussosiologian pro gradu -tutkielma.
Intke, Maarit (2018): Asiantuntijapäätöksenteko ja poliittinen epäluottamus: Häivedemokratian kannatus Suomessa vuosina 2007, 2011 ja 2015. Turku: Turun yliopisto. Valtio-opin pro gradu -tutkielma.
Simi, Antti (2018). Ammattiliitto, jäsen ja sosialisaatio -Analyysi eroista ja yhtäläisyyksistä SAK:n, STTK:n ja Akavan jäsenliittojen jäsenten ja aktiivien talouspoliittisissa arvoissa. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Politiikan tutkimuksen tutkinto-ohjelma. Kandidaatintutkielma.
Kestilä-Kekkonen, Elina & Tiihonen, Aino & Westinen, Jussi (2018). Vääriä kysymyksiä vai vääriä vastauksia? Vasemmisto-oikeisto -ulottuvuus vuosien 2003-2015 vaalitutkimusten valossa. Politiikka 60:2, 92-111.
Ahvo, Johannes (2018). Suomalaisten poliittinen verkko-osallistuminen. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Politiikan tutkimuksen tutkinto-ohjelma. Kandidaatintutkielma.
Borg, Sami (2018). Kuntavaalitutkimus 2017 [verkkodokumentti]. Keuruu: Otavan Kirjapaino Oy. https://kaks.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/tutkimusjulkaisu_kuntavaalitutkimus-2017.pdf [viitattu 5.11.2018].
Bekkers, R. & Sandberg, B. (2018). Grading Generalized Trust Across Europe [online]. Paper presented at the 6th ESS workshop, March 16, 2018, The Hague. https://osf.io/qntze/ [cited 7.1.2019].
Borg, Sami (2018). Suurten ikäluokkien poliittinen kiinnittyminen ja äänestysvalinnat 1970-luvulta nykypäivään. Teoksessa: Valta ja politiikka. Juhlakirja Ilkka Ruostetsaarelle hänen 60-vuotispäivänään (toim. Kestilä- Kekkonen, Elina & Raunio, Tapio), 150-171. Tampere: Vastapaino.
Paljakka, Mari (2019). Äänestämättä jättämisen syyperustelut eduskuntavaaleissa 2015. Tampere. Tampereen yliopisto. Politiikan tutkimuksen tutkinto-ohjelma. Kandidaatintutkielma.
Zur, Roi (2019). The Empty Center Phenomenon Revisited: Ideology, Valence, and the Electoral Failures of Centrist Parties. PhD Dissertation, University of California, Davis.
Suikkanen, Sanni (2019). Arvokonservatiivisuuden ja yhteiskunnallisen kontrollin suhde. Tiedelehti Hybris 2/2019.
Hobbs, Carl (2019). Demokratipreferenser bland finska medborgare : Stöd för representativ demokrati, deltagardemokrati, direktdemokrati och expertdemokrati. Pro gradu-avhandling. Statsvetenskapliga fakulteten, Helsingfors universitet.
Christensen, H. S. (2017). A Downward Spiral: The Use of Citizens' Initiatives and Political Trust [online]. Paper prepared for ECPR General Conference 2017. Panel: Democratic Innovations: Ideals and realities. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320559764_The_Use_of_Citizens%27_Initiatives_and_Political_Trust [cited 27.7.2020].
Pitkänen, Ville & Westinen, Jussi (2018). Samat huolet, eri näkökulmat. Tutkimus suomalaisten asenteista ja identiteeteistä [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: e2. https://e2.fi/publication/50 [viitattu 27.7.2020].
Pitkänen, V., & Westinen, J. (2017). Suomalaisten asenteet ja aktiivisuus energia-asioissa [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: e2. https://e2.fi/publication/9 [viitattu 27.7.2020].
Pitkänen, Marikki (2021) Sosioekonomisia arvoja vai jotain aivan muuta? Nuorten sijoittuminen vasemmisto-oikeisto-ulottuvuudella sekä vasemmisto-oikeisto-ulottuvuuden luonne vuosina 1991 ja 2015. Kandidaatintutkielma. Turun yliopisto, Filosofian, poliittisen historian ja valtio-opin laitos.
Paljakka, Mari (2022). Äänestysosallistumisen syyperustelut eduskuntavaaleissa 2003 ja 2019. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Politiikan tutkimuksen tutkinto-ohjelma. Pro gradu -tutkielma.
Garzia, D., Ferreira da Silva, F. & De Angelis, A. (2021). Leaders without Partisans. Dealignment, Media Change, and the Personalization of Politics. London: ECPR Press/Rowman & Littlefield International.
Isotalo, Veikko & Helimäki, Theodora & von Schoultz, Åsa & Söderlund, Peter (2023). Suomalainen äänestäjä 2003-2023. FNES: Vaalivälähdykset, 2023:13. https://www.vaalitutkimus.fi/suomalainen-aanestaja-2003-2023/ [viitattu 12.6.2024]
Söderlund, Peter (2023). Äänestäjien liikkuvuus vuosien 2019 ja 2023 eduskuntavaalien välillä. FNES: Vaalivälähdykset, 2023:7. https://www.vaalitutkimus.fi/aanestajien-liikkuvuus-vuosien-2019-ja-2023-eduskuntavaalien-valilla/ [viitattu 12.6.2024]
Study description in machine readable DDI-C 2.5 format
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