Study title

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

Dataset ID Number

FSD3557

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3557

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 downloading the survey into the Webropol system.

Abstract

The survey charted the views and experiences of public authorities providing services in the Lapland, Ostrobothnia and North Karelia regions on the functionality, accessibility and development of their digital services. 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 University of Applied Sciences of Lapland. The project was funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Development Fund for Agriculture and Forestry, MAKERA).

First, the respondents were asked to evaluate how much time they spent on digitalisation questions during their working hours and how many of their organisation's services were available digitally. The respondents were also asked to describe the functionality of their organisation's e-services and to evaluate how important various aspects of e-services were for their users (e.g. ease of use, saving money). Views on the organisation's digital service development were surveyed. Questions also examined whether the respondents agreed or disagreed with various statements regarding the usefulness and functionality of e-services from a citizen's point of view (e.g. whether public and private e-services fulfilled citizens' needs, whether it was important that those providing e-services take accessibility into account). Finally, the respondents were asked whether various aspects related to their organisation's services, such as the location of their service points and the digital literacy of their customers, supported vitality and equality in their region of operation as well as the improvement of the well-being of disadvantaged residents in the region. Questions also charted which age groups the respondents thought were most active in giving feedback on digitalisation-related questions and how the respondents thought their organisation would develop as a workplace due to digitalisation in the next five years.

Background variables included the respondent's organisation, position in the organisation, and main region of operation.

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 technology (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Information society (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

2017

Collection Dates

2017-01 – 2017-02

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

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

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Organization/Institution

Universe

Public service providers (authorities) in Lapland, Ostrobothnia and North Karelia (excluding public services providers (authorities) in the regional centres (Rovaniemi, Vaasa and Joensuu))

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

The survey was sent to all leading authorities (municipal manager, Director of Economic Development, Director of Basic Security and Chief Information Officer) of the regions, relevant local authorities in regional councils, hospital districts and their primary health care units, Regional State Administrative Agencies, and Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, in addition to members of the research project's steering group.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

21

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

FSD3556 Digital Citizenship and Access to Services in Rural Areas: Citizen Survey 2016

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Results of analysis based on the survey responses should be treated with caution, as the final number of respondents in the public authority survey remained low in the regions (n= 14-19).

To prevent identification of respondents, variable k3 (organisation) was recoded into a dichotomous variable.

The data do not contain open-ended responses to variables k4, k17 k18, k19, k20, k21, k22, k23 and k24 as they were not delivered to FSD.

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

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: Public Authority Survey 2017 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2022-08-01). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3557

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.