Study title

Parish Image and Knowledge Survey 2021

Dataset ID Number

FSD3586

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3586

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Kallioinen, Sami (Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Tampere)
• Salin, Urpu (Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Espoo)
• Holappa, Kimmo (Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Helsinki)

Abstract

The survey charted Finnish perceptions of the image and services of parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The study was conducted as a collaboration between the Church Research Institute and NayaDaya. FSD holdings contain a related dataset FSD3350 Parish Image and Knowledge Survey 2018, which includes some of the same questions.

First, the respondents were asked to describe a specific parish, which was determined by their municipality of residence, with one adjective. Two questions examined the feelings that the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the respondents' own parish evoked in them (e.g. sadness, disappointment, pride, admiration). The general impression the respondents had of their parish (positive, neutral or negative) was surveyed, and the respondents were also presented with word pairs and asked which alternative they thought described the parish best (e.g. from very liberal to very conservative and very close to very distant). Next, the significance of various parish services for the respondents was examined, for example, whether it was important to them that the parish took care of the disadvantaged, supported through different crises, and organised activities for children and youth. The respondents were also asked to evaluate how well the parish had succeeded in the same matters.

Next, the respondents were asked what they thought were the most important matters the parish should focus on when organising activities. Questions also charted whether the respondents had come across the parish in some way in the past year (e.g. on social media, at events, as a volunteer). The respondents were then asked how often they participated in activities organised by the parish, how often they prayed and whether their latest experience with services or events organised by the church had been positive or negative. The sources of the respondents' information on the parish, such as the local parish newspaper, national media (radio, TV, newspapers), or friends and acquaintances, were surveyed. If the participants were familiar with the local parish newspaper, they were asked how often they read the newspaper and how interesting they thought various themes of the newspaper were (e.g. local topics and events, international and multicultural topics, well-being and health, or topics relating to the Christian message).

Finally, the respondents' views on parish activities and services during the COVID-19 pandemic were surveyed. The respondents were asked how important they thought various activities were during the pandemic (e.g. providing mental and spiritual support, food aid, or online worship services) and whether they had personally used any services provided by the parish during the coronavirus crisis. Opinions on how well the parishes had succeeded in supporting people during the pandemic were also examined.

Background variables included the respondent's age, gender, municipality of residence, parish, occupation group, level of education, and church membership.

Keywords

COVID-19; bacterial and virus diseases; beliefs; church; religiosity; religious attendance; religious behaviour; religious institutions

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Religion and values (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

• Norstat Finland

Data Producers

• Church Council. Communications
• Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Helsinki
• Federation of the Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Espoo
• Church in Kouvola
• Church in Seinäjoki
• Church in Kuopio
• Federation of the Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Lahti
• Jyväskylä Parish
• Federation of the Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Oulu
• Federation of the Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Turku and Kaarina
• Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Tampere
• Church in Vantaa
• Rovaniemi Parish

Time Period Covered

2021

Collection Dates

2021-02-15 – 2021-03-12

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland, Espoo, Helsinki, Kouvola, Kuopio, Lahti, Jyväskylä, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Seinäjoki, Tampere, Turku, Kaarina, Vantaa

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Finnish population aged over 18 years residing in 12 municipalities or parish union areas (Espoo, Helsinki, Kouvola, Kuopio, Lahti, Jyväskylä, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Seinäjoki, Tampere, Turku (and Kaarina), Vantaa)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Simple random

The random sample was drawn from among the Norstat Finland consumer panel. The aim was to include 500 respondents from all other municipalities and 1,000 respondents from Helsinki. The final sample size was 6,795 respondents.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

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

Related Datasets

FSD3350 Parish Image and Knowledge Survey 2018

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

To prevent identification of respondents, the researcher removed variable q19 containing feedback, open-ended responses of the type "Other, please specify", and other open-ended responses where the respondent described memories of a parish or mentioned a person who they thought of or knew in connection to a parish (q23_2c, q23_1c, q23_2a, q23_10c) from the data. Additionally, open-ended responses where the respondent described places that were important to them (q23_1b, q23_2b, q23_5c, q23_10a) were removed at FSD. Other identifiers were coarsened or removed from open-ended variables (q4, q23_10b, q23_8c). In the municipality variable, Turku and Kaarina were combined into one category. Changes made at FSD are marked with [square brackets].

Due to technical issues, question group q10 could not be archived. FSD did not receive all responses to open-ended questions.

Weighting

The data contain four different weight variables that weight the data according to distributions of age, gender, region of residence and membership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The first weight variable [weight] weights the data to be representative of Finland's population not including the population's membership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The second weight variable [weight2] weights the data to be representative of the population of specific regions (the regions included in this study) not including membership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The third weight variable [weight3] weights the data to be representative of Finland's population including membership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The fourth and final weight variable [weight4] weights the data to be representative of the population of the regions in this study including membership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

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

Kallioinen, Sami (Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Tampere) & Salin, Urpu (Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Espoo) & Holappa, Kimmo (Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Helsinki): Parish Image and Knowledge Survey 2021 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2022-11-11). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3586

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

Kirkon tutkimuskeskus (2021) Seurakuntien tunnettuuskysely 2021. Raportti. Kirkon tutkimuskeskus.