Study title

Everyday Life and Participation 2017

Dataset ID Number

FSD3498

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3498

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Koivula, Aki (University of Turku)
• Sirppiniemi, Ringa (University of Turku)
• Koiranen, Ilkka (University of Turku)
• Oksanen, Janna (University of Turku)

Abstract

The survey charted Finnish values, participation in society, media use, and social relations. The survey was conducted as part of the Poliittiset kuplat (Political bubbles) research project by the Economic Sociology department at the University of Turku, funded by the Foundation for Municipal Development and Helsingin Sanomat Foundation.

First, the respondents' values were examined with several statements on, for example, whether they had a positive or negative attitude towards abortion, progressive taxation, immigration, religion, and patriotism. The respondents were also asked how closely they felt they belonged to various groups, such as a family, friend group, neighbourhood, or religious community. Social and political participation were surveyed with questions on whether the respondents had, for example, voted in any elections in the past five years or signed a petition, as well as whether they belonged to and participated in the activities of any groups or organisations (e.g. political parties, religious communities, student organisations). Political activity was examined further with questions on which political parties the respondents felt were most important to them, where they would place themselves on the political left-right scale, how important various factors were to them when deciding which candidate they would vote for (e.g. the candidate's occupational history, education, honesty, or gender), and whether they discussed politics with people close to them.

Next, the respondents' media use was surveyed. Questions included, for example, how often the respondents watched TV, spent time on social media, and read online newspapers, as well as how often they used specific social media services (e.g. Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn) and how many followers they had on different social media platforms. The respondents' opinions were examined regarding online services, the role of traditional and social media today, and scientific research. Trust in various institutions and actors, such as the Government, politicians, the media, and universities, was also charted. The respondents' views on the most important things for a citizen of Finland (e.g. freedom of speech, right to privacy, conscription) as well as the most significant risks in today's society (e.g. infectious diseases, unemployment, environmental issues) were examined. Finally, the respondents' social relations were surveyed with questions on how many friends and acquaintances they had, how often they spent time with them, whether they trusted other people, and whether they often felt lonely. The respondents were also asked to describe the occupation, political position (left-right), and views of three of their closest friends.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, year of birth, degree of urbanisation of municipality of residence, marital status, household size, level of education, economic activity and occupational status, job title, type of employment contract, sector of employment, perceived social class, and household income.

Keywords

interpersonal relations; mass media; online services; participation; political behaviour; politics; social media; social systems; trust

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (C) available only for research including master's theses.

Data Collector

• Koivula, Aki (University of Turku)
• Koiranen, Ilkka (University of Turku)
• Oksanen, Jaana (University of Turku)

Time Period Covered

2017

Collection Dates

2017-01-11 – 2017-03-14

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 18-84 whose mother tongue is Finnish and who are living in Finland

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Simple random

The questionnaire was sent by post to 4,001 people residing in Finland whose mother tongue was Finnish. The sample was randomly drawn from among the Finnish population register. Taking into account those who could not be contacted, the final sample consisted of 3,969 people. 1,648 people responded to the survey (41.5%).

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

41.5

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.

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

To prevent identification of individuals, identifiers were removed from the data at FSD: the number of children under 18 in the household (k7b) and household income (k17) were top-coded, any location information for respondents living in the Åland Islands was removed, and the variables denoting the name of the respondent's municipality of residence and municipality code were removed. Variables denoting NUTS3 and NUTS2 regions, degree of urbanisation of municipality of residence, and electoral district were left in the data. The researcher categorised the variables denoting occupation according to the ISCO-08 classification.

Open-ended responses were removed from the data because of problems with character encoding.

Weighting

The data contain a post-stratification weight variable, which weights the data to be representative of different age groups of the population in terms of gender. The age groups are: 18-26, 27-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74 and 75-84.

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

Koivula, Aki (University of Turku) & Sirppiniemi, Ringa (University of Turku) & Koiranen, Ilkka (University of Turku) & Oksanen, Janna (University of Turku): Everyday Life and Participation 2017 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2022-05-13). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3498

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

Koivula, Aki & Sirppiniemi, Ringa & Koiranen, Ilkka & Oksanen, Janna (2017) WORKING PAPERS IN ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY : Arkielämä ja osallistuminen -kyselyn tutkimusseloste. Turun yliopisto, sosiaalitieteiden laitos.

Tuikka, Pirita (2020) Sosiodemografiset ristipaineet ja poliittinen osallistuminen : Allardtin jalanjäljissä, nykymenetelmin tutkittuna. Pro gradu -tutkielma. Valtiotieteellinen tiedekunta, Helsingin yliopisto.

Koivula, A., Räsänen, P., Oksanen, A., & Keipi, T. (2021). Risk response over time: political compartmentalization of terrorism risk perception. Journal of Risk Research, 24(7), 781-795.

Saarinen, A., Koivula, A., & Keipi, T. (2020). Political trust, political party preference and trust in knowledge-based institutions. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy (https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-06-2019-0113)

Koivula, A., Koiranen, I., Saarinen, A., & Keipi, T. (2020). Social and ideological representativeness: A comparison of political party members and supporters in Finland after the realignment of major parties. Party Politics, 26(6), 807-821.

Vuorinen, J., Koivula, A. & Koiranen, I. (2018). Trust and privacy in messaging. Journal on www/Internet 16 (1), 56-69

Saarinen, A., Koivula, A. & Keipi, T. (2018) Eri puolueiden kannattajien suhtautuminen suomalaiseen tieteeseen ja tutkimukseen. Tiedepolitiikka 1/2018, 18-31.

Koiranen,I., Koivula, A., Mickelsson, R., & Saarinen. A. (2019). Kenen joukoissa seisot? SDP:n ja vihreiden puoluekokoukset edustavuuden näkökulmasta. Politiikka 61(4), 308-336.

Heidar, K., Helgi Kristinnsson, G., Saarinen, A., Koivula, A. & Keipi, T. (2019) "Who are the party members, and are they representative of the party voters?" In Nordic Party Members: Linkages in Troubled Times, eds. Demker, Marie, Heidar, Knut, and Kosiara-Pedersen, Karina, 75-96. London: Rowman & Littlefield International/ECPR.

Koivula, A. & Keipi, T. & Koiranen, I. & Räsänen, P. (2018) A Middle-Aged Social Internet with a Millennial Exodus? Changes in Identifications with Online Communities Between 2009 and 2017 in Finland. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10913. Springer, Cham

Keipi, T., Koiranen, I., Koivula, A. & Saarinen, A. (2017): A deeper look at party members - assessing members' and supporters' social structure. Research on Finnish Society 10 (2), 166-172