Study title

Follow-up on Municipal Elections 2021

Dataset ID Number

FSD3708

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3708
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3708

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Borg, Sami (Tampere University)
• Nurmela, Sakari (Kantar TNS Finland)
• Pehkonen, Juhani (Kantar TNS Finland)

Other Identification/Acknowledgements

• Mykkänen, Antti (Foundation for Municipal Development)
• Pelkonen, Veli (Foundation for Municipal Development)

Abstract

The survey studied voting behaviour in the 2021 municipal elections in Finland. The data were collected just after the elections.

First, a number of questions charted the respondents' use of and attitude towards candidate selectors / voting advice applications. The respondents were also asked whether they had followed election reporting, campaigning and advertising in different media (including the social media such as Facebook). The role of various factors (e.g. consolidation of municipalities, immigration, employment, taxation) in the respondents' decision to vote or not and their choices in the municipal elections was also examined.

Voting behaviour was investigated by asking whether the respondents had voted in the county elections just held and which party they had voted for. Information sources used for the voting choice were studied. Those who had voted were asked why they voted, which factors and issues had influenced their candidate choice, and at which stage they had made their final choice. Those who had not voted were asked at which stage they had made the decision to not vote and which factors (e.g. 'I had trouble finding a suitable party to vote for”, 'I did not have enough information about topics that are important for me in order to make a decision”) had contributed to that decision.

Next, the respondents' trust in different decision-makers (national decision-makers, decision-makers in the European Union, decision-makers in the respondent's municipality) were surveyed. One question focused on the performance of party leaders during the campaign. The respondents were asked whether they had voted in the 2019 parliamentary elections and which party/group the candidate they had voted for was from. Views on the municipal elections and election campaigns were charted with a series of attitudinal statements (e.g. 'The parties did not raise interesting, emotive political issues”, 'It is good that there are people who dare to speak out during elections, even if it offends many people”). Opinions on the preparation of laws in Finland and having multiple municipalities of residence were investigated. The respondents were also asked how shameful or embarrassing they considered various things (e.g. air travel, regularly maxing out one's credit card, appearing drunk in public). Finally, the respondents were asked whether municipalities should take on new duties to replace the duties that are removed as part of the social welfare and healthcare reform and the regional government reform or whether municipalities should improve the efficiency of their operations to match the remaining number of duties. The desirability of several duties (e.g. supporting civic organisations, promoting employment) that municipalities could take on was examined.

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

Keywords

electoral campaigns; electoral candidates; local government elections; political attitudes; political behaviour; political interest; political parties; 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
• Tampere University
• Foundation for Municipal Development

Time Period Covered

2021

Collection Dates

2021-06-18 – 2021-06-23

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 18-79 who were eligible to vote in the 2021 municipal elections (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 1,027 respondents completed the 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

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The archived dataset does not include the questionnaire form.

To prevent identification of respondents, original respondent numbers were deleted from the data at FSD.

Weighting

The data include a weight variable which weights the data to be representative of the population (people aged 18-79 in mainland Finland who are eligible to vote) in terms of socio-demographic factors (gender, age, place of residence).

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 (Tampere University) & Nurmela, Sakari (Kantar TNS Finland) & Pehkonen, Juhani (Kantar TNS Finland): Follow-up on Municipal Elections 2021 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2023-12-20). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3708

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 (2022) Kansanvaltaa koronan varjossa: Tutkimusraportti vuoden 2021 kuntavaaleista. Kunnallisalan kehittämissäätiön Tutkimusjulkaisusarjan julkaisu nro 113. Helsinki: KAKS.