Study title

Finnish Youth Survey 2018

Dataset ID Number

FSD3532

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3532

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• State Youth Council
• Finnish Youth Research Society. Finnish Youth Research Network

Abstract

Themes of the Finnish Youth Survey 2018 included Europe and influencing decision-making in society. Questions charted attitudes towards immigration and Finland's position in the European Union, trust in various institutions, and expectations for the future.

First, the respondents were asked how interested they were in politics and how much they trusted various institutions, such as the Parliament, the President, the justice system, and the police. The respondents were also asked which political party they felt closest to and how likely it was that they would vote in the 2019 parliamentary elections. Views on the EU were surveyed with questions on, for example, whether the respondents thought of Europe as a geographical region or a union of values, thought EU membership had been beneficial for Finland, and felt that the free movement of people was important. Questions charted the respondents' opinions on whether Finland should try to influence various issues during its presidency of the Council of the EU in 2019 (e.g. environmental protection, gender equality, improving EU-Russia relations). The respondents' views on politicians and political parties in Finland were also examined.

Next, the respondents were asked whether they had ever personally aimed to influence decision-making in society (e.g. by voting, through civil disobedience, through consumer choices) and how effective they thought various ways of influencing decision-making were. Views on national identity were surveyed with questions on how important the respondents thought several factors, such as having been born in Finland or being able to speak Finnish or Swedish, were for being truly Finnish. The respondents' attitudes towards immigration were also examined with statements on, for example, whether they thought that immigrants diversified Finnish culture and that most immigrants came to Finland just to profit from benefits funded by taxes. The respondents were asked how important various matters, such as material wealth, democracy, health, and peace, were for them personally, as well as how they saw their own identity (e.g. whether they felt Finnish, European, multi-cultural, foreign). Finally, views on potential causes of uncertainty and instability in the future (e.g. climate change, international terrorism, the EU collapsing) were charted, and the respondents were asked how optimistic or pessimistic they were about the future.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, municipality of residence, mother tongue, level of education, economic activity and occupational status, household composition and income, level of education of R's mother and father, and length of possible unemployment.

Keywords

European integration; adolescents; immigration; national identity; politics; social influence; trust

Topic Classification

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

Series

Finnish Youth Surveys

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• Kantar TNS Finland

Time Period Covered

2018

Collection Dates

2018-01-01 – 2018-02-28

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 15-29 residing in continental Finland

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Mixed probability and non-probability

First, a random sample was drawn from the population register by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. If a person had prohibited direct marketing and opinion polling, they were not included in the sampling. The size of the sample was 47,500 people, for whom phone numbers were determined using the subscriber database of Suomen Numeropalvelu Oy (maintained by Fonecta). A phone number could be found for 52 percent of the sample. Kantar TNS Finland then conducted phone interviews using quotas based on gender (female, male), age groups (15-19, 20-24, 25-29), and mother tongue (Finnish, Swedish, other).

In total, 1,901 young people were interviewed for the study. 10,232 people declined to be interviewed, so the response rate for the study was 19 percent.

Collection Mode

Telephone interview

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.

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

The archived data do not contain the original variables denoting the respondent's municipality of residence and NUTS3 region of residence. Additionally, variables related to questions t18a (Respondent's country of birth), t18b (Year when respondent moved to Finland), t18c (Are you a Finnish citizen?), t18d (Country of birth of R's mother), and t18e (Country of birth of R's father) were dropped from the data.

Weighting

A weight variable was placed in the data [weight], which weights the data to correspond to target population distributions of gender, age group, and major region (NUTS2).

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

State Youth Council & Finnish Youth Research Society: Finnish Youth Survey 2018 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2021-10-21). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3532

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.

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Vaikutusvaltaa Euroopan laidalla. Nuorisobarometri 2018. Toim. Elina Pekkarinen & Sami Myllyniemi. Nuorisotutkimusverkosto/ Nuorisotutkimusseura, verkkojulkaisuja 140. Helsinki: Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö & Nuorisotutkimusverkosto & Valtion nuorisoneuvosto. https://tietoanuorista.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/NB_2018_web.pdf [viitattu 22.10.2021]

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