Study title

Barometer for Swedish-speaking Finns, Autumn 2002

Alternative Title

Finlandssvenska barometern hösten 2002

Dataset ID Number

FSD3194

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3194
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3194

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Herberts, Kjell (Åbo Akademi University. Social Science Research Institute)

Abstract

This study charted the identity of Swedish-speaking Finns and their opinions on various aspects of everyday life, such as politics and society, the use of mass media, values, and identity. The study was funded by the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland (Svenska kulturfonden).

The first questions revolved around language. The respondents' and their families' Finnish and Swedish language skills were surveyed. It was examined whether the respondents had used Swedish, Finnish or both in different types of contexts, e.g. at home, at school, with friends, at bureaus and banks, and at work. The respondents were also asked which language was or would be their children's language at school.

The respondents were asked to evaluate a set of attitudinal statements about Swedish-speaking Finns, and the state of Swedish in Finland. The following questions covered views on mass media, the press, radio, and television. The respondents' preferred newspapers, radio stations and television channels were examined, as well as the time the respondents spent with these types of media per day and the reasons they listened to certain types of radio stations. The respondents' internet use was also examined.

The respondents' activities in different types of associations was charted, as well as their trust in different organisations such as the government, the church, social services, the universities, the police, and daycare services. The next questions concerned the respondents' political orientation and party preferences, which party the respondents would vote for if the parliamentary elections were held at the time of the survey, and which themes they found important in the upcoming 2003 parliamentary elections, e.g. the environment, geriatric care, education, and immigration.

The final theme concerned the respondents' values and ways of life. They were asked whether they had religious beliefs of different types, and to rate their trust in different groups of people and ethnicities. In addition, the respondents were asked what areas they thought Finland should develop in the following ten years. Finally, the respondents were presented with a set of attitudinal statements about current issues that they were asked to evaluate. The statements concerned, among other subjects, unemployment, taxation, joint municipal authorities, and universal basic income.

Background variables included, for instance, region of residence, age group, gender, education level, economic activity and occupational status, marital status, and household composition.

Keywords

Swedish-speaking Finns; cultural identity; identity; language; mass media; minority groups; minority language users; national identity; politics; press; radio (joukkoviestimet); social systems; television; values

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Cultural and national identity (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Barometers for Swedish-speaking Finns

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (A) openly available for all users without registration (CC BY 4.0).

Data Collector

• Åbo Akademi University. Institute for Finland-Swedish Sociological Research

Time Period Covered

2002-05 – 2002-11

Collection Dates

2002-10 – 2002-11

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People residing in Finland (including Åland) between the ages 18 and 80 who have Swedish as their registered mother tongue.

Time Method

Longitudinal: Cohort/Event-based

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Simple random

The Population Register Centre picked a random sample of 2,000 persons from people residing in Finland who had Swedish as their registered mother tongue. A total of 1,128 filled questionnaires were received.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

56.4

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: Swedish.

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

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Responses to open-ended questions were categorised or removed from the data. Two variables, municipality of residence and birth year, were categorised to prevent identification. In the "number of children in the household" variable, values of four and over were categorised into a single category. The variables measuring radio listening and television watching times in minutes were categorised into eight categories.

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

Herberts, Kjell (Åbo Akademi University): Barometer for Swedish-speaking Finns, Autumn 2002 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2017-10-12). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3194

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

Opinioner och trender i svenskfinland (2008). Toim. Herberts, Kjell. Vaasa: Åbo Akademi. Institutet för finlandssvensk samhällsforskning

Related Publications

Opinioner och trender i svenskfinland (2008). Toim. Herberts, Kjell. Vaasa: Åbo Akademi. Institutet för finlandssvensk samhällsforskning.