Study title

Food Diaries of Finns 2023

Dataset ID Number

FSD3895

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3895
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3895

Data Type

Qualitative

Authors

• Finnish Literature Society. Archive

Abstract

The data consists of diary texts of Finnish people in which they describe their food-related choices and experiences on Friday 21 April 2023. The food diaries provide information on what is part of Finnish food culture and culinary tradition in the 2020s. The food diaries included information on, for instance, what food they bought, made and ate on that day. The food diaries often reflected the current debate around food.

The writings included what the respondent or his or her family ate and drank at different meals on that day, at what time and with whom. Respondents described what ingredients and foods were purchased from the store and the reasons for their choices. Respondents also frequently reported which foods they avoided or preferred as part of their diet, and which foods they prepared themselves on the day of the study. Respondents were also able to point out if they encountered any discussion about food in the media or discussed it with someone during the day. In addition, the respondents described the perceptions, thoughts and feelings that food evoked on the day. In their writings, respondents discussed issues such as food price, quality, health, weight control, ethics of food production, availability of food ingredients, special diets and the importance of food. Finally, respondents often assessed the typicality of that day's meals compared to other days. Respondents were also asked to mention in their text if they took part in the 'What did I eat today?' call for entries in 2013. If they so wished, they could also reflect on whether anything had changed in their eating habits in the last ten years.

Background information included the respondent's gender, year of birth, occupation and place of residence. The data were organised into an easy to use HTML version at FSD.

Keywords

cooking; culture; customs and traditions; dietary habits; everyday life; food; food and nutrition; food preparation; lifestyle and health; shopping; special diets

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Humanities (Fields of Science Classification)
• Consumption and consumer behaviour (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Diet and nutrition (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

• Finnish Literature Society. Archive

Time Period Covered

2023-04-21

Collection Dates

2023-04-21 – 2023-05-12

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Event/Process/Activity

Universe

Open call, not restricted to a specific target population

Time Method

Cross-section ad-hoc follow-up

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Availability

The writing call were posted as an open invitation on the Finnish Literature Society website. Furthermore, a writing invitation was sent to regular SKS contributors, and advertised widely in different media. The text could be delivered using an online form on the SKS website, by e-mail, or by letter. The partners in the data collection were the University of Helsinki, the Talonpoikaiskulttuurisäätiö and the Forum for Culture and Religion (FOKUS).

Collection Mode

Self-administered writings and/or diaries: Web-based

Self-administered writings and/or diaries: E-mail

Research Instrument

Data collection guidelines: Self-administered writings guide

Data Files

408 writings in odt format. Additionally, the data were organised into an easy to use HTML version and a CSV version.

Data File Language

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Swedish, Finnish and multilingual.

Qualitative data are available in their original language only and are not translated.

Data Version

1.0

Related Datasets

FSD3044 Food Diaries of Finns 2013

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

To prevent identification, the names of the authors and other direct identifiers have been removed from the writings at FSD. In addition, some name-like pseudonyms have been removed. The participants' dates of birth were replaced with years of birth and some occupations were changed to a more general level. Identifiers related to any third persons were removed from the data and the names that appeared in the texts were replaced with fictitious names if they occurred more than once. Changes made by the FSD are indicated by [square brackets].

The original dataset contained 428 writings. The data archived in the FSD does not include responses received in analogue form, texts of writers who did not give consent for archiving, or any separate images that may have been sent with the texts. The complete dataset is available from the archive of the Finnish Literature Society (SKS). Additionally, one text was removed from the data during archiving because it appeared twice in the dataset.

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

Finnish Literature Society: Food Diaries of Finns 2023 [dataset]. Data version 1.0 (2024-11-05). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3895; URN: https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3895

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Special Terms and Conditions for Access

The data may contain identifiers that have not been anonymised (e.g. person names, information on place of residence, names of work places and such). When publishing quotations from the data, users need to consider very carefully in each specific case what information needs to be removed or altered according to research ethical guidelines.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

FSD has not been informed of any publications related to the data.