Study title

Finns and Democracy 2020

Dataset ID Number

FSD3779

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3779
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3779

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Rapeli, Lauri (Åbo Akademi University)

Abstract

The survey charted Finnish people's attitudes and views on politics and democracy. In addition, the survey examined citizens' political participation and awareness through a series of questions on political knowledge. The study is part of the Future of Democracy research unit funded by the Åbo Akademi University Foundation. Some of the same questions are also asked in the archived dataset: FSD2499 Knowledge of Politics and Society 2008.

First, respondents were asked how well they think they know politics and social issues. They were also asked about their trust in people and institutions. This was followed by questions on political parties and voting behaviour. The questionnaire then moved on to explore political opinions and their background. First, respondents were asked how satisfied they were with the functioning of democracy in Finland. Next, they were asked how much they agreed or disagreed with various political statements. They were then asked about their experience of political issues at school and about their own parents' political involvement in their childhood. This was followed by a discussion of social media. Respondents were asked how often they use social media and for what political purposes. They were also asked about other forms of social participation.

Finally, respondents were asked about their general knowledge of politics and the Finnish political system by asking, for example, to which party the constitution assigns state power and which political parties were represented in the government at the time. Further questions were asked, for example, who is currently Prime Minister and which party he or she represents. In addition, questions on parliamentarism, and the activation model were used to measure respondents' factual knowledge. Questions were also asked about the annual expenditure of the Finnish government, the budget and central government income taxation.

Background variables included the respondent's year of birth, gender, NUTS3 region of residence, education, occupational status, mother tongue, gross annual household income and number of children.

Keywords

attitudes; democracy; ideologies; political attitudes; political behaviour; political participation; political parties; politicians; politics; social issues

Topic Classification

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

• Åbo Akademi University

Time Period Covered

2020

Collection Dates

2020-01 – 2020-12

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Population aged 18 and over in mainland Finland

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Quota

Respondents were recruited through personal invitations based on a random sample of the voting age population. The quotas were based on age, gender and regional distribution of the population aged 18 and over in mainland Finland. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some interviews were conducted remotely, but all interviews were conducted as one-to-one interviews between interviewer and respondent.

Collection Mode

Face-to-face interview: Computer-assisted (CAPI/CAMI)

Web-based interview

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 numbering of questions and answer options in the questionnaire (quF3779) differs for some variables from the numbering of the data. In addition, the order of the Q36 questions differs from the questionnaire.

To prevent identification of respondents, the postcode variable and all open-ended responses to the response option "Other, please specify” were deleted from the data at FSD. In addition, the number of persons living in the household (Q7A and Q7B) were top-coded, and the interview location was categorised.

Weighting

The data contains various weight variables, which are based on factors such as age, region, gender and education, in order to make the sample more representative of the voting age population. The weight variable (Painokerroin) takes into account the following 5 factors: gender, education, age per DEGURBA, NUTS3 region of residence per DEGURBA and mother tongue (Finnish or Swedish) per DEGURBA.

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

Rapeli, Lauri (Åbo Akademi University): Finns and Democracy 2020 [dataset]. Data version 1.0 (2024-03-28). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3779; URN: https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3779

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 Materials

Rapeli, Lauri (2022) Accuracy of Self-Assessments of Political Sophistication. Teoksessa Nørgaard Kristensen, Niels & Denk, Thomas & Olson, Maria & Solhaug, Trond (toim.) Perspectives on Political Awareness: Conceptual, Theoretical and Methodological Issues, 97-114. Springer.

Related Publications

Rapeli, Lauri (2023) Illusion of knowledge: Is the Dunning-Kruger effect in political sophistication more widespread than before? Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2023.2214734

Rapeli, Lauri (2022) Accuracy of Self-Assessments of Political Sophistication. Teoksessa Nørgaard Kristensen, Niels & Denk, Thomas & Olson, Maria & Solhaug, Trond (toim.) Perspectives on Political Awareness: Conceptual, Theoretical and Methodological Issues, 97-114. Springer.