Study title

Citizen's Pulse 1/2024

Dataset ID Number

FSD3851

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3851
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3851

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Statistics Finland
• Prime Minister's Office

Abstract

The Citizens' Pulse surveys examine Finnish attitudes and opinions on current issues. 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 issues that the Finnish government should address.

The first collection round of 2024 surveyed the respondents' satisfaction with the state of democracy in Finland, as well as their 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, and experiences of stress. Additionally, the respondents were asked to evaluate whether an atmosphere of crisis prevailed amongst Finns and whether Finland's NATO membership had impacted their sense of safety.

The respondents' views were investigated on which societal issues (e.g. promotion of climate action, national defence, poverty reduction, effective healthcare, operating conditions of businesses and investment opportunities) the Finnish government should focus on in the near future. Opinions on whether Finland's national debt should be reduced regardless of the resulting cuts in benefits and welfare it would entail for Finnish citizens and whether social security cuts can be considered acceptable if they provide an incentive to take up work and increase employment were also surveyed. The respondents' views on the right to seek asylum in Finland were also charted.

The next set of questions focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and national security in Finland. The respondents were asked how concerned they were about the crisis in Ukraine and its effects, and whether they were concerned that the war might expand beyond Ukraine. The respondents were also asked whether they were concerned that Russia might take military action against Finland or try to interfere with the functioning of Finnish society. Opinions on the economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU and whether Finland should be ready to receive significant numbers of refugees from Ukraine if necessary were charted. The respondents were asked whether Finland's actions on the border with Russia had reinforced their sense security, whether Finland's response to Russian interference has been adequate and timely, and whether the respondents were concerned about Russia's recent actions. Additionally, the respondents were asked whether the uncertainty caused by the crisis in Ukraine had impacted the respondents' consumer behaviour and whether the recent rise in interest rates had created financial difficulties for the respondents' households. 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.

Voting intentions in the 2023 presidental election in Finland were surveyed by asking the respondents whether they intended to vote in the election, whether they intended to vote during the early voting period or on election day, and whether they felt that by voting they could have an impact on matters that were important to them and the people close to them.

Background variables included the language responded in, the respondent's gender, age group, NUTS3 region of residence, highest level of education, household composition, and perceived financial situation of household.

Keywords

communications; dissemination of information; emotional states; health; income; international conflict; national security; political attitudes; presidential elections; 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)
• 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

2024

Collection Dates

2024-01-17 – 2024-01-22

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 2024 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 October and 22 December 2023, and for whom a current telephone number could be found. Persons who responded to Statistic Finland's Labour Force survey during August, September and October as well as persons who responded to the Consumer Confidence Survey during October were not included in the sample. The sample size was 2,805 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

34.8

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 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 December 2023 (4,108,192 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, 4,204, 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 4,108,192/977. 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: Citizen's Pulse 1/2024 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2024-02-16). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3851

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 the Finnish Government.

Related Materials

Kansalaispulssi 1/2024. Tutkimusseloste 24.1.2024. Helsinki: Tilastokeskus. Tietovarannot/Tiedonkeruupalvelut.

Kansalaispulssi 25.1.2024. Kansalaispulssi: 52. kierros. Verkkokysely 17.1.-22.1.2024. 15-74-vuotiaat mannersuomalaiset. [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Valtioneuvosto. VNK Strategiaosasto. https://valtioneuvosto.fi/ajankohtaista/kansalaispulssi/yhteenvedot [viitattu 16.2.2024].

Related Publications

Kansalaispulssi 25.1.2024. Kansalaispulssi: 52. kierros. Verkkokysely 17.1.-22.1.2024. 15-74-vuotiaat mannersuomalaiset. [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Valtioneuvosto. VNK Strategiaosasto. https://valtioneuvosto.fi/ajankohtaista/kansalaispulssi/yhteenvedot [viitattu 16.2.2024].