Study title

Digital Citizenship and Access to Services in Rural Areas: Citizen Survey 2016

Dataset ID Number

FSD3556

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3556

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Kivivirta, Ville (University of Lapland)
• Selkälä, Arto (University of Lapland. Faculty of Social Sciences)
• Suikkanen, Asko (University of Lapland)
• Syväjärvi, Antti (University of Lapland)
• Viinamäki, Leena (Lapland University of Applied Sciences)
• Voutilainen, Olli (University of Vaasa. Levón Institute)

Other Identification/Acknowledgements

• Research assistant Jaana Ilmasti participated in developing and conducting the survey by commenting on the survey's contents and storing the responses received to the survey.

Abstract

The survey charted the experiences and views of people living in the Lapland, Ostrobothnia and North Karelia regions on the use and accessibility of digital services. The survey focused especially on the usability and functionality of e-services in sparsely populated rural areas. The survey was conducted as part of the Digikansalaisuus ja palveluiden saavutettavuus maaseudulla (Digital Citizenship and Access to Services in Rural Areas) research project by the Universities of Lapland and Vaasa and the Lapland University of Applied Sciences. The project was funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Development Fund for Agriculture and Forestry, MAKERA).

First, the respondents were asked about their skills and habits regarding internet use. Questions included, for example, which digital devices the respondents had at home, how they would describe the internet connection they used, for which purposes they had used the internet in the past year, and how often they used the internet on average. The respondents were also presented with various statements regarding the use of digital services, such as whether they thought it was too expensive to use digital services or using digital services saved time. Further questions charted the respondents' use of public e-services, including whether they had both used the e-services and visited the physical office of the same public service in the past month or year. Additionally, the respondents were asked how important they thought various aspects of public services were (e.g. a physical office in their municipality of residence, ease of use of the e-services) and how well the same aspects were fulfilled in their own experience. Finally, the functionality and usefulness of public e-services from the respondents' personal point of view were examined.

Background variables included the respondent's municipality of residence, distance from municipality of residence to the regional centre of the NUTS3 region, main way of transportation when travelling to the regional centre, gender, age, level of education, and status in employment.

Keywords

countryside; information society; online services; public sector; public services; rural planning; technological literacy; telecommunications equipment

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Information society (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Information technology (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social change (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

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

Data Collector

• Kivivirta, Ville (University of Lapland)
• Selkälä, Arto (University of Lapland. Faculty of Social Sciences)
• Suikkanen, Asko (University of Lapland)
• Viinamäki, Leena (Lapland University of Applied Sciences)
• Voutilainen, Olli (University of Vaasa. Levón Institute)

Time Period Covered

2016

Collection Dates

2016-10

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland, Lapland (excluding Rovaniemi), Ostrobothnia (excluding Vaasa), North Karelia (excluding Joensuu)

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged over 18 residing in Lapland, Ostrobothnia and North Karelia (excluding residents of the regional centres (Rovaniemi, Vaasa and Joensuu))

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Stratified: Disproportional

Probability: Stratified: Proportional

The total sample (3,000) was first divided equally (equal allocation) between all three regions. A sample of 1,000 persons was drawn from each region using proportional stratified sampling. Municipality of residence formed the first degree of stratification and age the second. In each region, people were drawn from all municipalities except the regional centres.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

35.4

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: Finnish.

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

Data Version

1.0

Related Datasets

FSD3557 Digital Citizenship and Access to Services in Rural Areas: Public Authority Survey 2017

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

To prevent identification of individuals, the variable denoting the respondent's year of birth was removed from the data at FSD, and a new continuous age variable was created. Additionally, information on the respondent's postal code and mother tongue were removed from the data.

The researchers added value 8 "Entrepreneur/self-employed", which was not included in the questionnaire, to variable k3 in the data. The archived data do not include variables k14, k33, k34 or the open-ended responses to variables k7, k8, k11k8, k12k5, k30 and k31, because they were not delivered to FSD.

Weighting

The data contain a weight variable [paino] formed by the researchers. To ensure a representative study, the samples from North Karelia and Lapland were weighted to be representative of the population in terms of age groups, and the sample from Ostrobothnia was weighted in terms of municipality of residence and age groups by first combining the Swedish-speaking municipalities with the Finnish-speaking municipalities to ensure a sufficient number of respondents in each sample.

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

Kivivirta, Ville (University of Lapland) & Selkälä, Arto (University of Lapland) & Suikkanen, Asko (University of Lapland) & Syväjärvi, Antti (University of Lapland) & Viinamäki, Leena (Lapland University of Applied Sciences) & Voutilainen, Olli (University of Vaasa): Digital Citizenship and Access to Services in Rural Areas: Citizen Survey 2016 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2022-08-01). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3556

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

Viinamäki, Leena & Kivivirta, Ville & Selkälä, Arto & Voutilainen, Olli & Syväjärvi, Antti & Suikkanen, Asko 2017. ...ajasta ja paikasta riippumatta... Digikansalaisuus ja palveluiden saavutettavuus maaseudulla -hankkeen loppuraportti. LAPIN AMKIN JULKAISUJA. Sarja A. Referee-tutkimukset 1/2017. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-316-190-0

Related Publications

Viinamäki, Leena & Kivivirta, Ville & Selkälä, Arto & Voutilainen, Olli & Syväjärvi, Antti & Suikkanen, Asko 2017. ...ajasta ja paikasta riippumatta... Digikansalaisuus ja palveluiden saavutettavuus maaseudulla -hankkeen loppuraportti. LAPIN AMKIN JULKAISUJA. Sarja A. Referee-tutkimukset 1/2017.