Study title

EVA Survey on Finnish Values and Attitudes Autumn 2020

Dataset ID Number

FSD3494

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3494

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA)

Abstract

The study charted Finnish people's values and attitudes. The themes of the Autumn 2020 survey included the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, financing the welfare state, happiness, equality, birth rate, and social problems.

First, the respondents were presented with a variety of attitudinal statements concerning, among other topics, the Government's actions to combat COVID-19, politics, employment, reliability of information, and alcohol use.

Next, the survey examined the respondents' attitudes towards rebalancing public finance after the COVID-19 pandemic. Opinions on financing the welfare state were also charted with various questions. For instance, it has been said that financing the welfare state requires that Finns must work more/longer in the future than they do at present, one way or other. Relating to this statement, the respondents were asked to evaluate whether several ways of achieving the goal of making Finns work more/longer were good or bad (e.g. increasing the number of weekly working hours or making it more difficult to take early retirement or get disability pension).

Everyday well-being and happiness were also surveyed. The respondents were asked how happy they were at present and how satisfied they were with various matters, such as their income level, relationship status, and opportunities to influence in society. Questions also focused on what the respondents thought contributed to a happy life, for instance whether they thought that good relationships, health, social respect, interesting hobbies, or spirituality were prerequisites for happiness. Several questions charted views on equality and inequality among Finns (e.g. the presence of gender, generational, regional and occupational equality/inequality in Finland).

Views on the reasons behind the low birth rate in Finland were examined next (e.g. whether the respondents thought unemployment or general uncertainty contributed to the low birth rate). The respondents were also asked which policy means they thought might be effective in increasing the birth rate. Social problems were examined with questions on whether the respondents had personally experienced or otherwise closely witnessed problems such as anxiety or depression, bullying, substance addiction, problem use of alcohol, or gambling problems, during the past few years. Finally, the respondents' views were surveyed regarding the impact of Donald Trump and his administration on, for instance, the global status of and respect for the United States. Opinions on Finland's EU membership and the euro as Finland's currency were also examined.

Background variables included gender, age group, size of the respondent's municipality of residence, region of residence, employer type, employment status, type of employment contract, occupational group, employment sector, trade union membership, political party preference (which party the respondent would vote for), self-perceived social class, and annual income of the respondent's household.

Keywords

COVID-19; European integration; bacterial and virus diseases; birth rate; happiness; occupational life; public finance; social inequality; social problems; values

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Working conditions (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social conditions and indicators (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Specific social services: use and availability (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

EVA Surveys on Finnish Values and Attitudes

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• Taloustutkimus

Time Period Covered

2020

Collection Dates

2020-10-16 – 2020-10-28

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Persons aged 18 - 79 residing in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Multistage

Respondents of the survey were randomly drawn from the internet panel of Taloustutkimus. 2,019 persons responded to the survey. The final data were weighted at Taloustutkimus to be representative of the Finnish population with respect to age, gender, region of residence, education, and occupation/occupational status, employment sector, and political party preference (which party R would vote for in national elections).

The internet panel of Taloustutkimus, randomly drawn from Finland's population register, consists of individuals aged 15-79 who have entered their demographic and sociographic information when registering to the panel and have given their consent to Taloustutkimus to invite them to participate in various surveys. Responding to any survey is voluntary and participants can leave the panel any time they want.

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: 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

222 variables and 2019 cases.

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

To prevent identification of respondents, open-ended 'comment' responses were removed from the data during archiving. Additionally, municipalities with less than 4,000 inhabitants were removed from the municipality variable by FSD.

Weighting

The data contain a weight variable [paino], which weights the data to be representative of the Finnish population aged 18-79 with respect to age, gender, region of residence, education, and occupation/occupational status, occupational sector, and political party preference.

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

Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA): EVA Survey on Finnish Values and Attitudes Autumn 2020 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2021-01-28). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3494

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 Publications

Metelinen, Sami (2021). Kirottu velka. Suomalaiset kavahtavat julkista velkaa mutta pelkäävät leikkauksia [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Analyysi 89. https://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/eva-analyysi-no-89.pdf [viitattu 29.1.2021].

Kurronen, Sanna (2020). Hapuileva työlinja. Suomalaiset haluavat kaikki töihin mutta karsastavat työllisyystoimia [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Arvio 27. https://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/eva-arvio-027.pdf [viitattu 29.1.2021].

Metelinen, Sami (2020). Suomalaisten arvio Donald Trumpin presidenttikaudesta on synkkä [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Artikkeli. https://www.eva.fi/blog/2020/11/03/suomalaisten-arvio-donald-trumpin-presidenttikaudesta-on-synkka/ [viitattu 29.1.2021].

Metelinen, Sami (2020). Suomalaisten luottamus Venäjään horjuu, mutta Nato-kannatukseen se ei vaikuta [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Artikkeli. https://www.eva.fi/blog/2020/11/28/suomalaisten-luottamus-venajaan-horjuu-mutta-nato-kannatukseen-se-ei-vaikuta/ [viitattu 29.1.2021].

Kurronen, Sanna (2020). Päätetään paikan päällä. Puolet suomalaisista sopisi palkoista työpaikoilla [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Artikkeli. https://www.eva.fi/blog/2020/12/07/paatetaan-paikan-paalla-puolet-suomalaisista-sopisi-palkoista-tyopaikoilla/ [viitattu 29.1.2021].

Haavisto, Ilkka (2020). Koronatuet nakertavat suomalaisten EU-asenteita [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Artikkeli. https://www.eva.fi/blog/2020/12/15/koronatuet-nakertavat-suomalaisten-eu-asenteita/ [viitattu 29.1.2021].

Metelinen, Sami (2020). Epäluottamuksen paluu. Usko politiikkaan osoittautui koronakevään poikkeustilaksi [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Arvio 28. https://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/eva-arvio-028.pdf [viitattu 29.1.2021].

Haavisto, Ilkka (2020) Epäilyttävä paketti. Koronatuet nakertavat suomalaisten EU-asenteita. (verkkodokumentti). Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Arvio 29. https://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/eva-arvio-029.pdf

Tiensuu, Aku (2022) Joustava työmarkkina-asema ja mielipiteet aktivoinnista työssä olevalla väestöllä. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Sosiaalipolitiikan pro gradu -tutkielma.

Haavisto, Ilkka (2021). Lommo onnessa. Koronakriisi kolhaisi suomalaisten henkistä hyvinvointia [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Analyysi 96. hhttps://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/no_96.pdf [viitattu 3.1.2023].

Metelinen, Sami (2021). Tasa-arvoiset. Suomalaiset kokevat eriarvoisuuden vähenevän [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Analyysi 91. https://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/eva-analyysi-no-91.pdf [viitattu 3.1.2023].

Kurronen, Sanna (2021). Syntyvyys syvyyksissä. Pessimismi varjostaa synnytysikäisten näkymää [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Analyysi 90. https://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/eva-analyysi-no-90.pdf/ [viitattu 3.1.2023].

Kurronen, Sanna (2021). Hyssyttelyn hinta. Sosiaaliset ongelmat kasaantuvat alkoholin ympärille [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Analyysi 88. https://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/eva-analyysi-no-88.pdf [viitattu 3.1.2023].

Hirvelä, Aarni (2023)."Individualismi kriisin keskellä: Yksilökeskeisyyden vaikutus suomalaisten kriisiasenteisiin". Politiikan tutkimuksen kandidaatintutkielma. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto