Study title

Social Networks of Children and their Parents in the Turku Region 2018

Dataset ID Number

FSD3594

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3594

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Tuominen, Minna (University of Turku. Department of Social Research)

Abstract

The survey charted the well-being and social relationships of sixth-graders and their parents/guardians living in the Turku region. Themes of the survey included, among others, leisure time activities and hobbies, friendships, home and family, and views on life and other people.

The survey for sixth-graders contained questions on, for example, how they spent their leisure time, how many hobbies they had, and how satisfied they were with their life. Questions also examined how many friends the sixth-graders had, how often they met with their friends, whether they ever felt lonely, and how happy they thought they were. The sixth-graders' home environment and family were surveyed with questions about household composition, languages spoken at home, worries about money, and major life changes (e.g. moving, parents' divorce). Views on life and other people were charted by asking the respondents whether they agreed or disagreed with various statements on giving and receiving help, how much they trusted other people, and whether they had a positive or negative attitude towards different groups of people. Questions also focused on moral issues (e.g. whether the respondents thought lying to one's friends was acceptable for one's own gain) as well as opinions on immigration and sexual minorities. The sixth-graders could complete the questionnaire on paper or online. The respondents completed the questionnaire during class and were supervised by their teacher or the researcher. The teachers were given separate instructions if they supervised the class.

In the survey for the parents/guardians of the sixth-graders, questions first examined family composition and living arrangements of the sixth-grader. The respondents were also asked how they spent their leisure time, how satisfied they were with their life, and how often they met their friends, relatives or colleagues outside of work. Views on and trust in other people were surveyed, and the respondents were asked about giving and receiving help. Finally, various attitudinal statements were presented. The parents/guardians responded to the questionnaire online.

Background variables included the sixth-grader's age and gender, and the parent's/guardian's year of birth, gender, level of education, economic activity and occupational status, languages spoken at home (categorised), household income, and number of parents/guardians and children in the household (categorised).

Keywords

adolescents; family life; friends; happiness; leisure time; parents; schoolchildren; social interaction; trust

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• General health and well-being (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Youth (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (D) available only by permission from the data depositor/creator.

Data Collector

• Tuominen, Minna (University of Turku. Department of Social Research)

Funders

• Finnish Cultural Foundation
• University of Turku. Sociology

Time Period Covered

2018

Collection Dates

2018-03-01 – 2018-06-10

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Turku, Raisio, Kaarina, Parainen

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Sixth-graders and their parents/guardians living in Turku, Raisio, Kaarina and Parainen

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Availability

The data were collected in two phases, starting from the sixth-graders and followed by their parents/guardians. The invitation to participate in the study was sent to all primary school principals in Turku, Raisio, Kaarina and Parainen (n: 62). 21 schools agreed to participate in the study.

Next, all parents/guardians of sixth-graders in the participating schools were sent a Wilma message about the study, and their consent for their child's participation was requested. In total, 494 parents/guardians consented to their child's participation in the study. 460 of these sixth-graders consented to participate and completed the survey. In the next phase, all parents/guardians of the participating sixth-graders were sent a Wilma message with a separate invite to respond to their own survey. 174 parents/guardians responded to the survey.

The responses of the sixth-graders and their parents/guardians were combined into the same observation units in the data. There are a total of 468 observation units: 460 sixth-graders (294 without responses from their parents/guardians and 166 whose responses have been combined with their parents'/guardians' responses) and 174 parents/guardians (8 without responses from their sixth-grader and 166 with combined responses).

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

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 variables in the data were named so that the questions aimed at parents/guardians begin with 'p_'. Variable p_Q29 denoting job title does not include value labels as the ISCO classification used in the variable was not specified to FSD.

To prevent identification of respondents, the researcher removed the following variables from the data: gender of other guardian (question two in the survey for parents) and background information of the sixth-grader that contained specific names and school information (questions 4-6 in the parents' survey and questions 4-8 in the sixth-graders' survey). Additionally, the following variables were categorised at FSD: p_q9 the sixth-grader's living arrangements, q24 number of children in the household as responded by the sixth-grader, q25 number of adults in the household as responded by the sixth-grader, p_q11 number of children in the household as responded by the parent, and pq26a, q26b, p_q12a and p_q12b languages spoken at home. Variable Q23 denoting where the sixth-grader lived if not with their parents was also removed from the data.

The researcher removed all responses to question Q13 (who the respondents liked to spend time with during leisure time) because most of the sixth-graders who filled out the paper questionnaire had chosen more than one response option. The values of variable Q39 delivered by the researcher do not match the corresponding question in the questionnaire.

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

Tuominen, Minna (University of Turku): Social Networks of Children and their Parents in the Turku Region 2018 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2023-01-25). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3594

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

Tuominen, M., & Tikkanen, J. (2021). Adolescent Social Capital - An Intergenerational Resource? doi: 10.31235/osf.io/agkjv