Citizens' Opinion (in Finnish) is a survey panel focusing on society and politics. Members of the panel participate in different online surveys a few times each year. The panel is administered by Åbo Akademi University's Social Science Research Institute and is part of the Finnish Research Infrastructure for Public Opinion (FIRIPO) funded by the Academy of Finland. The recruiting of members for the panel began in 2019, and the panel currently has thousands of participants. The Citizens' Opinion panel offers possibilities to track developments in public opinion over time and makes it possible to react swiftly to current events and launch quick surveys that examine public opinion with a representative sample.
The study surveyed Finnish citizens' opinions and views on elections, voting, and COVID-19 measures. The data includes the first, third, and fourth rounds of four survey rounds. The data was collected as part of the Citizen Opinion Panel, which is part of The Finnish Research Infrastructure for Public Opinion (FIRIPO).
The first round of the survey examined respondents' societal participation over the past four years. This was followed by a question about respondents' opinions on postponing the 2021 municipal elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, respondents were asked about their voting behavior in the 2019 parliamentary elections. At the end of the first survey round, respondents' voting intentions for the 2021 municipal elections were assessed.
The third round of the survey examined respondents' voting behavior in the 2021 municipal elections. It inquired whether respondents voted in advance and which party's candidate they voted for.
The fourth round of the survey mapped out voting intentions for the actual voting day of the 2021 municipal elections. First, respondents were asked whether they intended to vote and which party's candidate they intended to vote for. Finally, the reasons why respondents might not vote in the elections were explored.
The background variables included are the respondent's age group, gender, educational level, native language, and region.
The sample consists of over 4,000 participants in the Citizen Opinion Panel, most of whom were recruited using probability sampling. Some of the participants were recruited using non-probability sampling, for example via social media.