Study title

Citizens' Pulse 1/2023

Dataset ID Number

FSD3757

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3757
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3757

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Statistics Finland
• Prime Minister's Office

Abstract

The Citizens' Pulse surveys examine Finnish attitudes and opinions in the context of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Main themes in the surveys include the activity and communication of authorities, compliance with regulations, future expectations, trust, and the respondents' own state of mind. This collection round also included questions on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and energy conservation.

The first collection round of 2023 surveyed the respondents' trust in other people and various institutions (e.g. the Finnish Government, the health care system, the media, and the Finnish Defence Forces). The respondents were asked to evaluate how fair or unfair they thought Finnish society was at present, and their state of mind was examined with questions on various matters relating to health, well-being, and their situation in life. The questions covered, for example, the respondents' own mental well-being, whether they were worried about the adequacy of their income, their confidence in their future, experiences of stress and togetherness, and whether they felt their lives were meaningful and safe. Additionally, the respondents were asked to evaluate whether an atmosphere of crisis prevailed amongst Finns.

The next set of questions focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The respondents were asked how concerned they were about the crisis in Ukraine and its effects, whether they were concerned about the possible impact of the war on the Finnish economy and the safety of Finland and Europe, and whether they were concerned that the war might expand beyond Ukraine. Opinions on the economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU, whether Finland should be ready to receive significant numbers of refugees from Ukraine if necessary, and whether the uncertainty caused by the Ukraine crisis had impacted the respondents' consumer behaviour were charted. The respondents were also asked whether they had noticed any cyber security issues or instances where purposefully misleading claims based on misinformation were spread on social media or online over the previous month.

On the topic of energy conservation, the respondents were asked how concerned they were about the changes in energy prices, whether they felt they had enough information about ways to conserve energy in their everyday lives, whether they believed that by taking energy-saving measures they could make a difference in the availability of energy during the coming months, and whether the increased price of electricity had caused financial difficulties for their household. Additionally, the measures the respondents had taken to lower their energy consumption during the past month (e.g. lowered the room temperature at home, driven less, reduced the use of electronic appliances at home, taken shorter showers) were surveyed.

Concern over the coronavirus pandemic and its effects were charted. Compliance with coronavirus restrictions was examined by asking the respondents whether in the past week they had followed the restrictions and recommendations set by authorities for preventing transmission of the virus, including maintaining safe distances, wearing a face mask, and minimising contact with other people. The respondents were also asked how necessary they felt it was to follow measures such as wearing a mask and maintaining safe distances after receiving two or three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age group, NUTS3 region of residence, highest level of education, household composition, perceived financial situation of household, type of accommodation, and type of domestic heating system.

Keywords

COVID-19; bacterial and virus diseases; communications; dissemination of information; emotional states; energy consumption; energy prices; health; income; international conflict; regulations; trust; war; well-being (health)

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Government, political systems and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social conditions and indicators (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Public health (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Conflict, security and peace (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Citizens' Pulse

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (A) openly available for all users without registration (CC BY 4.0).

Data Collector

• Statistics Finland

Time Period Covered

2023

Collection Dates

2023-01-18 – 2023-01-23

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 15-74 residing in mainland Finland

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Stratified

The sample for the first collection round of 2023 was formed of the target persons aged 15 to 74 living in mainland Finland who had responded to Statistics Finland's Labour Force Survey (rounds 3 and 5), Consumer Confidence Survey (round 2), or Finnish Travel Survey between 22 November and 13 December 2022, and for whom a current telephone number could be found. Additionally, the sample was supplemented with persons who had responded to Statistic Finland's Labour Force Survey (round 5) between 19 August and 4 October 2022. The sample size was 2,737 persons.

The persons included in the sample for Citizens' Pulse had expressed their willingness to respond to an additional survey when responding to the three surveys mentioned above. The samples for the Labour Force Survey, Consumer Confidence Survey and Finnish Travel Survey are drawn as stratified random samples from Statistics Finland's population database, which is based on the Central Population Register. The surveys are conducted in the form of telephone or web-based data collection, where the same person is interviewed one to five times.

An invitation to participate in the study and a personal direct link to a Webropol survey were sent to the respondents by text message. The text message also contained a link to the Statistics Finland data collection webpage, where the participants were informed about, for instance, data protection. The data collection page includes a link to the privacy notice. Reminder messages were sent to those who had not yet responded two days after the first text message and on the last day of data collection.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Self-administered questionnaire: Messaging (SMS/MMS)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

45

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

Men responded to the survey less often than women. For age groups, people aged between 20 and 29 responded least often. The response rate was slightly lower for respondents who had completed only primary and lower secondary education than for those who had attained tertiary level education.

The data delivered to FSD did not contain responses to open-ended questions.

Weighting

The data contain a weight variable [paino] which weights the data to correspond to the target population (people aged 15-74 residing in mainland Finland). Statistics Finland based the weight on population information from the middle of November 2022 (4,047,948 persons). The weight variable is an expansion weight which aims to correct for non-response bias. Expansion weights expand the sample to correspond to the population. The sum of the expansion weights equals to the number of people aged 15-74 living in mainland Finland in the population. The mean of the expansion weights, 3,288, indicates how many people in the population each respondent roughly represents. The starting point for the weighting was the creation of a base weight, i.e. the inverse of a sampling unit's inclusion probability. Because there was nonresponse, the original sample size was replaced by the actual sample in the data (=number of respondents) and thus the base weight was 4,047,948/1,231. In calibration, the base weights were altered so that correct population distributions could be produced according to the calibration variables used. The calibration variables included gender, NUTS2 major region, age (10-year grouping), and level of education. The weights were calibrated with the CALMAR2 SAS macro program.

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

Statistics Finland & Prime Minister's Office: Citizens' Pulse 1/2023 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2023-03-17). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3757

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.

Other Material

See downloadable files at the top of the page.

More information can be found on the Citizens' Pulse webpage of Statistics Finland.

Related Materials

Kansalaispulssi 1/2023. Tutkimusseloste 25.1.2023 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Tilastokeskus.Tietovarannot/Tiedonkeruupalvelut. https://www.stat.fi/media/uploads/tup/htpalvelut/kansalaispulssi/kansalaispulssi_01_2023_tutkimusseloste.pdf [viitattu 20.3.2023].

Kansalaispulssi 26.1.2023. Kansalaispulssi: 42. kierros. Verkkokysely 18.1.-23.1.2023. 15-74-vuotiaat mannersuomalaiset. [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Valtioneuvosto. VNK Strategiaosasto. https://valtioneuvosto.fi/ajankohtaista/kansalaispulssi/yhteenvedot [viitattu 20.3.2023].

Related Publications

Kansalaispulssi 1/2023. Tutkimusseloste 25.1.2023 [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Tilastokeskus.Tietovarannot/Tiedonkeruupalvelut. https://www.stat.fi/media/uploads/tup/htpalvelut/kansalaispulssi/kansalaispulssi_01_2023_tutkimusseloste.pdf [viitattu 20.3.2023].

Kansalaispulssi 26.1.2023. Kansalaispulssi: 42. kierros. Verkkokysely 18.1.-23.1.2023. 15-74-vuotiaat mannersuomalaiset. [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Valtioneuvosto. VNK Strategiaosasto. https://valtioneuvosto.fi/ajankohtaista/kansalaispulssi/yhteenvedot [viitattu 20.3.2023].