Study title

Barometer for Swedish-speaking Finns 2004

Alternative Title

Finlandssvenska barometern 2004

Dataset ID Number

FSD3196

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3196
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3196

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 the use of mass media, politics and society, leisure time activities, values, identity and the sense of belonging. The study was funded by The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland (Svenska kulturfonden).

The first questions revolved around language, the respondents' and their families' language skills (mainly Finnish and Swedish), and the use of languages in everyday interactions. It was examined whether the respondents had used Swedish, Finnish or both in different types of situations within the previous year, such as doctor's appointments, vehicle inspections, and visits to the city council, libraries and tax offices. The next questions concerned media, the press, radio, and television. The respondents' preferred newspapers, radio stations and television channels were surveyed, as well as their internet use.

The respondents were also presented with a variety of activities and asked if they had participated in them within the previous 12 months (e.g. playing a sport, going to the movies, working overtime, and praying to God). The next questions covered the respondents' ties to Sweden, e.g. whether they had family in Sweden, if they followed Swedish media, and if they spent time there on business trips. Some questions also concerned the respondents' political orientation and party preferences. The respondents were asked if they had participated in or discussed politics in different ways within the previous year, if they had voted in the European Parliament elections in 2004, and if they were going to vote in the upcoming 2004 municipal elections. The respondents' views were surveyed on democracy within the EU, Finland, the respondent's region of residence, and the respondent's municipality of residence.

Some questions covered The Swedish Assembly of Finland (Svenska Finlands folkting) and how their services should be developed. The respondents' trust in different organisations was charted, such as the government, the church, courts, social services, the universities, the police, and daycare services. Finally, the respondents were presented with a set of statements regarding current issues that they were asked to evaluate. The statements concerned, among other subjects, joint municipal authority, alcohol taxation, immigration, and Finland's EU membership.

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; leisure time activities; 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

2004

Collection Dates

2004-10 – 2004-11

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 1,138 filled questionnaires were received.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

56.9

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: 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.

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 2004 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2017-10-20). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3196

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.