FSD3622 Finnish Municipal Election Candidates 2021
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Study title
Finnish Municipal Election Candidates 2021
Dataset ID Number
FSD3622
Persistent identifier
urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3622Data Type
Quantitative
Authors
- Sipinen, Josefina (Tampereen yliopisto. Politiikan tutkimus)
- Kestilä-Kekkonen, Elina (Tampereen yliopisto. Politiikan tutkimus)
- Borg, Sami (Tampereen yliopisto. Politiikan tutkimus)
- von Schoulz, Åsa (University of Helsinki)
Abstract
The study charted the background and motives of Finnish, Swedish and foreign language speaking election candidates in the 2021 Finnish municipal elections, as well as the candidates' networks and support for standing for the election.
First, reasons behind the decision to stand for election in the municipal elections (e.g. the will to help others, to acquire useful skills for work, to implement the political values of their party) and what or who (e.g. friends, trade union, employer) had encouraged the candidates to stand for election were charted. The respondents' political opinions and ideology were examined with attitudinal statements regarding the direction of Finland's future, such as lower taxation or more environmentally friendly policies. The respondents were asked whose representative they thought they would be as local councillors (e.g. those who had voted for them or all residents of the municipality), and their satisfaction with democracy in Finland and their municipality was examined as well.
The respondents' political campaign was examined with questions concerning, for example, which activities were part of their campaign (e.g. canvassing, direct mailing, personal advertisements), how much time and money they had spent on the campaign, how the funding had been spent (e.g. for campaign videos or radio/TV advertising), and whether they targeted any specific groups in their campaign. The help and support the respondents received from their family, friends or acquaintances in different aspects of their political campaign (e.g. coordinating schedule and budget, maintaining social media accounts, moral support) was surveyed. Opinions on the effects that the coronavirus pandemic and the postponing of the municipal elections had on the elections were charted. The respondents were also asked whether they had noticed or experienced electoral disruption (e.g. spreading misinformation, data breaches and different data leaks) during the municipal elections.
The respondents were asked whether they had stood for election in various different elections before, whether they had been selected in those elections and how many times. The factors behind them being chosen as a candidate of a party or constituency association (e.g. professional experience, position within the party, extensive local network of acquaintances) were examined. The respondents were also asked whether they currently held or had previously held positions of trust in their municipality of residence or participated in the work of different organisations. Additionally, the support the respondents had received from their party or constituency association, the position of women in the respondents' party or constituency association, and the position of women in the municipal politics of the respondents' municipality were investigated.
Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, age, information on their own and their parents' country of birth, age when moved to Finland, reasons for moving to Finland, mother tongue, Finnish and Swedish language skills, level of education, marital status, household composition, type of municipality of residence, length of residence in the municipality of candidacy, occupational status, left-right political self-placement, income, perceived social class and religious affiliation.
Keywords
COVID-19; election campaign financing; electoral candidates; immigrants; immigration; local goverment elections; political behaviour; political campaigns; political parties; politics
Topic Classification
- Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
- Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
- Elections (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Series
Individual datasetsDistributor
Finnish Social Science Data Archive
Access
The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.
Data Collector
- Tampere University
Funders
- Foundation for Municipal Development
- Svenska kulturfonden
Time Period Covered
2021
Collection Dates
2021-05-18 – 2021-06-12
Nation
Finland
Geographical Coverage
Finland
Analysis/Observation Unit Type
Individual
Universe
Finnish, Swedish and foreign language speaking municipal election candidates 2021
Time Method
Cross-section
Sampling Procedure
After the candidates for the municipal election 2021 were confirmed, their personal identity codes, stored in the candidate register, were given to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency by the Ministry of Justice. Based on the identity codes, the Population Register Centre selected (1) a 6,000 person sample from among the Finnish and Sámi speaking candidates, aiming for at least 1,000 candidates under 30 years of age; (2) all candidates whose mother tongue was registered as Swedish; (3) all candidates whose mother tongue was registered as a language other than Finnish, Swedish or Sámi. The candidates were sent a letter of invitation to participate in the study. A total of 1,184 Finnish or Sámi speaking candidates, 403 Swedish speaking candidates, and 132 foreign-language speaking candates responded to the survey.
Collection Mode
Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)
Research Instrument
Structured questionnaire
Response Rate
Finnish speaking 19.7
Swedish speaking 20.9
Foreign language speaking 14.1
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
FSD3280 Finnish Municipal Election Candidates 2017: Finnish and Swedish Speakers
FSD3281 Finnish Municipal Election Candidates 2017: Foreign Language Speakers
Completeness of Data and Restrictions
To prevent identification of individuals, the researcher has removed all open-ended variables, the variable denoting respondent's country of birth, variable denoting the respondent's candidate number, and variable denoting municipality of candidacy from the data. Additionally, the variable denoting year of birth was categorised by the researcher. The highest classes denoting the number of people and the number of children living in the respondent's household were top-coded at FSD.
Weighting
There is a weight variable (paino) which has been added to the data to account for slight skewness in the response rates of different age groups. In addition, the weight variable has been used to make the relative proportions of Swedish speakers and foreign speakers in the sample correspond to their percentage of all candidates (5.4% Swedish speakers and 2.6% foreign speakers).
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
Sipinen, Josefina (Tampereen yliopisto) & Kestilä-Kekkonen, Elina (Tampereen yliopisto) & Borg, Sami (Tampereen yliopisto) & von Schoulz, Åsa (University of Helsinki): Finnish Municipal Election Candidates 2021 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2023-05-16). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3622
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
Sipinen, Josefina & Laine, Juuso & Kestilä-Kekkonen, Elina & Borg, Sami & von Schoultz, Åsa (2022). Kampanja poikkeusolosuhteissa: Kuntavaaliehdokkaat 2021. Helsinki: KAKS: Kunnallisalan kehittämissäätiö. Tutkimusjulkaisu-sarjan julkaisu nro 115.
Study description in machine readable DDI-C 2.5 format
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