Study title

Follow-up on Presidential Elections 2018

Dataset ID Number

FSD3706

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3706

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Borg, Sami (University of Tampere. Faculty of Management|University of Tampere. School of Management)
• Nurmela, Sakari (Kantar TNS Finland)
• Pehkonen, Juhani (Kantar TNS Finland)

Abstract

The survey studied voting behaviour in the 2018 presidential elections in Finland. The data were collected just after the elections.

Next, the respondents were asked whether their opinions of each of the presidential candidates had changed during the first round of the elections. Voting behaviour in the presidential elections was investigated by asking which candidate the respondents had voted for in the first round of the elections, which candidate they would have voted for as a second choice, and at which stage they had made their final choice. The respondents' voting behaviour was also charted with a series of attitudinal statements. The respondents were asked which factors had influenced their choice of candidate, from which information sources they had received information concerning their decision, which of the candidates they had considered voting for, and to what extent certain factors (e.g. candidate's party affiliation, information from voting advice applications) had influenced their voting decision.

Views on the power of the president in foreign and security policy, matters concerning the EU, and in domestic policy were charted. The respondents' opinions on politics were surveyed with a series of attitudinal statements (e.g. politicians do not care about the opinions of ordinary people, voting advice applications give a good indication of the values that candidates represent). Voting intentions in three upcoming elections (county elections 2018, parliamentary elections 2019, elections of the European Parliament 2019) were also investigated. Those who had not voted in the presidential elections were asked about their reasons for not voting, when they had decided to not vote in the first round of the presidential elections, and who they would have voted for if they had had to vote.

Finally, the respondents were asked about their internet use, whether they had followed opinion polls before the presidential elections and whether opinion polls had affected their voting behaviour. Views on opinions polls were further examined with a series of attitudinal statements (e.g. opinion polls increase interest in politics and elections, opinion polls are a good source of information for voters).

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, statistical grouping of municipalities, left-right political self-placement, membership in a federation of trade unions, highest education level, household's annual gross income, and economic activity and occupational status.

Keywords

election campaigns; elections; electoral candidates; political attitudes; political behaviour; political interest; presidential candidates; presidential elections; voting; voting advice applications; voting behaviour

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Elections (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Follow-ups on Finnish National and Local Elections (GallupChannel)

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Kantar TNS Finland

Data Producers

• Kantar TNS Finland
• University of Tampere. Faculty of Management|University of Tampere. School of Management

Time Period Covered

2018

Collection Dates

2018-02-02 – 2018-02-07

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 18-74 living in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Multistage

The data were collected from eligible respondents on Kantar TNS's GallupKanava internet panel. Kantar TNS's GallupKanava is used to carry out commissioned surveys. The panel is made up of recruited Finnish citizens aged 15 and older. Self-recruitment is not possible. The size of the panel is approximately 30,000 individuals. The comprehensive structure of the panel ensures suitable respondents for all survey needs and that different types of attitudinal and population groups are represented in the surveys. The sampling was carried out as a 3-stage stratified sample. A total of 1,007 respondents completed the survey.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Self-administered questionnaire: Messaging (SMS/MMS)

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 archived dataset does not include the questionnaire form.

Weighting

The data include a weight variable that weights the data to be representative of the population in terms of socio-demographic factors (gender, age, region).

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

Borg, Sami (University of Tampere) & Nurmela, Sakari (Kantar TNS Finland) & Pehkonen, Juhani (Kantar TNS Finland): Follow-up on Presidential Elections 2018 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2023-08-02). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3706

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

Borg, Sami & Koljonen, Kari (2020). Käyttöliittymä vaaleihin. Tutkimus vaalikoneista kansalaisten, ehdokkaiden ja journalismin näkökulmista. Tampere: Tampere University Press. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-359-026-7