Individual datasets that do not belong to any series.
The survey charted various aspects of Finnish expatriates' political participation. Main topics of the survey included the 2019 Finnish parliamentary elections and postal voting, which was introduced during the elections. The survey was collected as part of the Facilitating Electoral Participation from Abroad (FACE) research project, and continued to study the themes of a previous survey (FSD3463 Finnish Expatriates' National Identity and Political Participation 2014).
Questions surveyed the respondents' voting behaviour, social participation, and general interest in politics. The respondents were asked about following politics in the media, forms of political participation they had engaged in (e.g. signing a petition, participating in a demonstration), participation in citizens' initiatives, and membership and participation in associations and organisations. Voting was examined with questions on, for example, the most important topics affecting the respondent's voting choice, the most effective means for increasing the voter turnout of Finnish expatriates, and the usefulness of postal voting.
The respondents were asked how satisfied they were with various aspects related to their own life, Finland, and their country of residence, and their trust in several institutions was examined. The respondents' sources of information on the parliamentary elections, e.g. candidates' or parties' websites or voting advice applications, were also surveyed. The survey included three open-ended questions on how the respondents chose the candidate they voted for or why they did not vote at all, which received a large number of responses (q24, q25 and q30). Responses were written in Finnish, Swedish and English.
Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, year of birth, highest level of education, occupation, marital status, reasons for moving abroad, current connections to Finland, and perceived social class and status.
The survey's population was approximately 250,000 Finnish expatriates who had the right to vote in Finnish elections. A stratified random sample of 10,000 Finnish nationals aged over 18 and living abroad was formed using the population register, and an invitation to participate in the study was sent by mail. The sample included Finnish expatriates in the 17 largest diasporas (a population of over 1,000 Finnish nationals with the right to vote residing in the same country) who had registered their mother tongue as Finnish or Swedish. 500 people were chosen from each country, with the exception of Sweden, where 1,500 people were selected for the sample. Additionally, the sample included 500 randomly selected Finnish nationals who had the right to vote and who were residing in other countries around the world.
The study was also advertised in the Suomen Silta magazine and the newsletter circulated by the Suomi-Seura organisation, as well as various informal Facebook groups for Finnish expatriates. Under 50 participants were recruited through advertising. The study included respondents from 50 countries.