Study title

Gallup Ecclesiastica 2011

Dataset ID Number

FSD3094

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3094
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3094

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Church Research Institute

Abstract

The survey investigated religiosity and church membership of Finnish people as well as their participation in parish activities. Questions about faith, matters related to spirituality, religious communities, and family were asked.

The respondents were first asked whether they were members of a church or other religious community. Those who were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland were asked the importance of certain reasons for the Church membership (e.g. the possibility to participate in Church service, the Church teaches Christian love of one's neighbour) and whether they had considered quitting the Church. Those who were not members of the Church were asked whether they had previously quit the Church, what their reasons for quitting had been, whether they had considered joining the Church.

Participation in congregational and spiritual life was charted with questions focusing on, among others, how often the respondents participated in church services, the Eucharist or other spiritual events and how often they prayed, read the Bible, watched or listened to religious programmes on TV or radio, and visited web sites related to religion or the Church. A number of questions surveying satisfaction with the parish, its services, and communication were presented. The respondents were also requested to estimate how well certain adjectives described the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, using pairs of opposite adjectives (e.g. spiritual-secularised, tolerant-intolerant).

Opinions on the development of the Church were examined. The respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with statements such as "the Church should, above all, focus on helping the less fortunate" and "the Church should take a stronger stance for marriage and family", whether they would've been prepared to pay more church tax to maintain parish services, and how much they had given to charity in the previous year. Regarding the religion in the society and the relationship between church and state, the respondents were asked opinions on religious things supported and maintained by the state as well as responsibilities and rights of the Church.

Views were probed on the belief in God as well as the firmness of belief in a number of religious tenets and phenomena (e.g. the virgin birth of Jesus, Heaven, the Last Judgement). The respondents' religious identity was examined by asking whether they saw themselves as, for instance, religious, spiritual, materialistic, Christian, Lutheran, believing, born-again Christian, religious conservative, humanist, pagan, atheist or agnostic. Membership in revivalist movement or Lutheran community was queried as well as views on religious pluralism.

The respondents' religious upbringing was investigated by asking about, for example, the recital of bedtime prayer, observation of Sabbath and discussions about religious matters in the respondent's childhood home. The respondents were further asked whether they had received a religious upbringing from family members (e.g. mother, father, grandparents), and whether they intended to give their own children a religious upbringing. Attitudes towards the members of different religious communities and irreligious movements were charted as well as opinions on the use of religious symbols in public.

A number of questions charting the respondents' values were presented (e.g. same-sex marriage, same-sex relationships, and ordination of women). Questions investigating trust in institutions and opinions on national identity, equality, and ways to connect with God were presented. The respondents were asked about their religious or supernatural experiences as well as their notions and views of Jesus, the Bible and the afterlife. Finally, interest in spirituality and belief in UFOs, alternative medicine, reincarnation, and fortune-telling were investigated.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's age, gender, marital status, economic activity and occupational status, education, region of residence, municipality type, household composition, Internet use, and political party choice as well as monthly income of the household.

Keywords

beliefs; church; church and state; membership; ordination of women; protestantism; religion; religious attendance; religious beliefs; religious communities; religious doctrines; religious practice

Topic Classification

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

Series

Gallup Ecclesiastica

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• TNS Gallup

Time Period Covered

2011

Collection Dates

2011-11-18 – 2011-12-02

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 15-75 living in Finland

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability

The data were collected as part of the TNS Gallup Forum panel. Gallup Forum is an Internet panel of Kantar TNS, whose over 50,000 members are randomly sampled from Finnish municipalities to represent the Finnish population. A sample was drawn from the panel for the purposes of this survey. The data contain the responses of 4,930 people.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

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: Finnish and English.

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

Number of Cases and Variables

382 variables and 4930 cases.

Data Version

2.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The variable charting the respondents' municipalities of residence was removed from the data during archiving. The data does not contain the responses to "Other, which?" type of questions.

Weighting

There is a weight variable 'WTkirkko' in the data, which weights the data to represent the Finnish population in terms of age, gender, place of residence, and church membership.

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: Gallup Ecclesiastica 2011 [dataset]. Data version 2.0 (2018-07-24). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3094; URN: https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3094

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

Haastettu kirkko. Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko vuosina 2008-2011 (2012). Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja 115. Porvoo: Bookwell Oy.

Related Publications

Haastettu kirkko. Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko vuosina 2008-2011 (2012). Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja 115. Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus

Ketola, Kimmo, Hytönen, Maarit, Salminen, Veli-Matti, Sohlberg, Jussi & Sorsa, Leena (2016) Osallistuva luterilaisuus. Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko vuosina 2012-2015: Tutkimus kirkosta ja suomalaisista. Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja 125. Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus.

Pauha, Teemu & Ketola, Kimmo (2015) Mikä selittää suomalaisten islam-vastaisuutta? Teoksessa: Kohtaamisia: Kirjoituksia uskonnosta, arjesta ja monikulttuurisuudesta (toim. Hämäläinen, Riku & Pesonen, Heikki), 94-105. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. Uskontotiede 16.

Ketola, Kimmo. 2014. Jäsenet kirkon verkoissa? Verkon käytön vaikutukset suomalaisten kirkkosuhteeseen. Teoksessa: Leikkauspintoja jäsenyyteen. Maarit Hytönen, Kimmo Ketola, Veli-Matti Salminen & Hanna Salomäki. Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35. Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus. 62-82.

Hytönen, Maarit 2015. Naispappeus, suomalaiset ja kirkko 2000-luvulla. Naisteologit ry:n jäseninfo 4/2015.

Hytönen, Maarit 2016. Suomalaisten suhtautuminen naispappeuteen 2000-luvulla. Crux 1/2016.

Salminen, Veli-Matti 2015. Uskonnot, kirkko ja julkiset instituutiot. Teoksessa: Kirkko etsii paikkaansa. Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 42. Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus, 13-20.

Salminen, Veli-Matti 2016. Suomalaisten uskonnollisuus - passiivinen osallistuminen, aktiivinen etsintä. Teoksessa: Miten Suomi uskoo. Toim. Joona Salminen. STKSJ 284. Helsinki: STKS, 62-76.

Sorsa, Leena 2015. Kirkkona valtiossa. Katsaus Suomen evankelis-luterilaisen kirkon valtiosuhteen edellytyksiin ja uudistuspaineisiin. Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen verkkojulkaisuja, 41.

Skoog, Emiliana (2018). Paholainen pappien keskuudessa. Tutkimus seitsemän seurakuntapapin pahuuskäsityksistä. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. Uskontotieteen pro gradu -tutkielma.

Lähteinen, Lilja (2020). Katsotko olevasi kristitty? - Kyselytutkimus lukiolaisten uskonnollisista käsityksistä. Kandidaatintutkielma. Helsingin yliopisto

Karhu, Juha (2020). Rukoilun merkityksestä juutalaisuudessa: Pro gradu -kyselytutkimus Suomen juutalaisten rukoilemiseen liittyvistä käsityksistä. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. Lähi-idän tutkimuksen pro gradu -tutkielma. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:hulib-202012155200.

Salomäki, Hanna & Hytönen, Maarit & Ketola, Kimmo & Salminen, Veli-Matti & Sohlberg, Jussi (2020): Uskonto arjessa ja juhlassa: Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko vuosina 2016-2019 [verkkodokumentti]. Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus. Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisuja 134. https://julkaisut.evl.fi/catalog/Tutkimukset%20ja%20julkaisut/r/4238 [viitattu 9.2.2021]

Salomäki, Hanna & Hytönen, Maarit & Ketola, Kimmo & Salminen, Veli-Matti & Sohlberg, Jussi (toim.) (2020): Kirkon kehittämistyön tukena: Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko vuosina 2016-2019. Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 64. Tampere: Kirkon tutkimuskeskus. https://julkaisut.evl.fi/catalog/Tutkimukset%20ja%20julkaisut/r/4240 [viitattu 9.2.2021]

Salminen, Veli-Matti (2020): Missä mennään, diakoninen kirkko? Nelivuotiskertomuksen havaintoja. Diakonian tutkimus 2/2020: 34-39. https://evl.fi/documents/1327140/45652999/Minne+menet%2C+diakoninen+kirkko+%28V-M+Salminen+DT+2_2020%29.pdf/3177e2f1-4dc0-c506-8a00-cd59dcf05017?t=1608543389147

Hytönen, Maarit (2021)Kuinka käy kristillisen kasvatuksen? Crux 1/2021. 36 - 39.

Hytönen, Maarit (2021) Kaste suomalaisten kokemuksena ja saarnojen aiheena. Vol 1 Nro 1 (2021): Uskonto, katsomus ja kasvatus. https://journal.fi/ukk/issue/view/7859

Salomäki, Hanna; Hytönen, Maarit; Ketola, Kimmo; Salminen, Veli-Matti & Sohlberg, Jussi (2021): Religion till vardags och fest. Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland 2016-2019. Kyrkans forskningscentrals publikationer 135. Tampere: Kyrkans forskningscentral.

Salomäki, Hanna; Hytönen, Maarit; Ketola, Kimmo; Salminen, Veli-Matti & Sohlberg, Jussi (2021): Religion in Daily Life and in Celebration. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, 2016-2019. Tampere: The Church Research Institute.

Taira, Teemu; Ketola, Kimmo & Sohlberg, Jussi (2022). Normalization of Nonreligious Identity in Finland. Journal of Contemporary Religion, doi:10.1080/13537903.2022.2138020

Ketola, Kimmo & Sohlberg, Jussi. 2022. Ketkä näkevät enkeleitä? Suomalaisten yliluonnolliset kokemukset ja enkeliusko kyselytutkimusten valossa. Teoksessa: Minna Opas & Tiina Mahlamäki (toim.), Uushenkisyys, 94-117. (Tietolipas 275) Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.

Holopainen, Niko (2024). Kenen uskonnonvaaputta toteutetaan? Katsaus suomalaiseen katsomusopetukseen. Kasvatustieteiden kandidaatintutkielma. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto.