Study title

Tackling Biases and Bubbles in Participation: COVID-19 Survey 2020

Dataset ID Number

FSD3649

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3649

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Kantola, Anu (University of Helsinki)
• Saikkonen, Paula (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare)
• Vesa, Juho (University of Helsinki)
• Wass, Hanna (University of Helsinki)

Abstract

The survey charted Finnish opinions on various policy measures during the coronavirus epidemic. The respondents were with statements on the COVID-19 pandemic, social security, climate policy and possible ways to stimulate the economy and raise employment rates. The data were collected as part of the 'Tackling Biases and Bubbles in Participation' (BIBU) research project, which explores how structural changes in the economy impact policy-making. The BIBU project examines how economic restructuring changes citizens' and decision-makers' political capacities, interests and emotions. The research project is a collaboration between six universities and research institutes, led by Professor Anu Kantola from the University of Helsinki.

First, the respondents' views on various economic policy measures were surveyed with a series of statements. These policy measures included, for example, changes to unemployment benefits, working hours, job alternation leave, terms of employment, and working life in general. In addition to policies related to employment, the survey included statements on education, social security, the COVID-19 pandemic and investment in the future. Views on climate policy were also investigated with a series of statements (e.g. Finland should take a leading role internationally in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Finland's economic competitiveness is more important than addressing climate change).

The respondents' political opinions were surveyed with questions on where they would place themselves on the left-right political scale and which party they would vote for if parliamentary elections were held now. Additionally, the respondents were asked how they would rate their social status in relation to other people, how they felt that their social status had changed during the past five years, how they anticipated their social status would change in the next five years, and what they considered the risk of being made redundant (e.g. due to automation, relocation of production, or financial difficulties of the company) to be in their current job.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's age, gender, municipality and region of residence, level of education, occupational status, economic activity, and gross personal monthly income.

Keywords

COVID-19; bacterial and virus diseases; economic policy; employment; environment policy; occupational life; political action; political attitudes; social security; unemployment benefits

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Economic policy, public expenditure and revenue (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Employment (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Unemployment (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (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

• Taloustutkimus

Funders

• Academy of Finland. The Strategic Research Council (312710)

Time Period Covered

2020

Collection Dates

2020-08-31 – 2020-09-03

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Persons aged 15-79 residing in Finland

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Simple random

Recruitment for the Taloustutkimus online panel is based on random sampling of the population aged 15-79 residing in Finland. At the time of the survey, the panel had around 55,000 members. To join the Taloustutkimus online panel, you must be directly invited. Typically, the recruitment process is as follows: first, Taloustutkimus asks the individual if they are interested in joining the panel, after which a separate e-mail invitation and additional information is sent to the individual, who then has to register for the panel online and fill in a background information form. It is therefore not possible to join the panel unknowingly or accidentally. The panellists received an email inviting them to participate in the study. The invitation to the survey was standardised and the subject of the survey was not disclosed in order to avoid bias in the respondent structure. Taloustutkimus uses monthly compensation lotteries among the panellists who responded to a survey during the current month. To prevent potentially biased responses, Taloustutkimus does not pay panellists for every completed survey.

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

FSD3648 Tackling Biases and Bubbles in Participation: Citizen Survey 2018

FSD3650 Tackling Biases and Bubbles in Participation: Survey for Decision-Makers 2020

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The archived dataset does not include variable k19 which concerns the household's combined income.

To prevent identification of respondents, the variables concerning precise municipality of residence and postal code have been removed from the data at FSD.

Weighting

The weight variable can be used to weight the data by age, gender, and place of residence to match population statistics. The margin of error is around +- two percentage points.

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

Kantola, Anu (University of Helsinki) & Saikkonen, Paula (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare) & Vesa, Juho (University of Helsinki) & Wass, Hanna (University of Helsinki): Tackling Biases and Bubbles in Participation: COVID-19 Survey 2020 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2023-06-06). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3649

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

Kantola, A., Saikkonen, P., Vesa, J., Wass, H., & Ahva, T. D. (2020) Kansalaiset koronakriisin kourissa: Mitä poliittisia toimia kannatetaan? Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. https://bibu.fi/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/BIBU_Policy-brief_Kansalaiset-koronakriisin-kourissa.pdf