Study title

Citizens' Opinion: Municipal and County Election Surveys 2025

Dataset ID Number

FSD4068

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD4068
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd4068

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Finnish Research Infrastructure for Public Opinion (FIRIPO)

Abstract

The survey charted the respondents' opinions and views related to the 2025 municipal and county elections, voting, and public services. The dataset includes data from four rounds of polling with the same respondents. The data were collected as part of the Citizens' Opinion panel, which is part of The Finnish Research Infrastructure for Public Opinion (FIRIPO).

The survey charted respondents' views on the functioning of public services, and they were presented with various statements concerning services and decision-making in municipalities and wellbeing services counties. The survey included statements on democracy, the political system, and the role of citizens. Respondents' views were examined, for example, with regard to the functioning of democracy, the significance of referendums, political trust, and their own political understanding. Respondents were also asked to assess various statements on the functioning of public administration, freedom of expression, the right to protest, and compliance with the law in different situations. The statements and their response options were presented in partly different forms to different respondent groups. For example, a statement concerning election results was presented to some respondents in the form "If elections have been conducted fairly, the result should be respected regardless of the winner", while others were presented with the form "Election results do not need to be respected if the outcome is displeasing".

The respondents' voting behaviour was examined by asking respondents whether they had voted or intended to vote in the municipal and county elections. Those who had voted or intended to vote were asked which party or which party's candidate they voted for or intended to vote for. In addition, the survey explored which factors influenced the choice of party and candidate, or, alternatively, why the respondent decided not to vote.

Background variables included the respondent's age group, gender, level of education, mother tongue, political party preference, and region.

Keywords

attitudes; democracy; elections; local government elections; political attitudes; political behaviour; political parties; political support; politicians; politics; voting; voting behaviour

Topic Classification

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

Series

FIRIPO Citizens' Opinion

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (D) available only by permission from the data depositor/creator.

Data Collector

• Citizens' Opinion

Funders

• Research Council of Finland (345714)

Time Period Covered

2025

Collection Dates

2025-03-13 – 2025-04-29

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged over 18 residing in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Mixed probability and non-probability

The sample comprised the entire Citizen Opinion Panel, excluding residents of Åland. At the start of the first data collection wave, the sample included nearly 7,000 participants. The majority of panel members were recruited using various probability sampling methods.

The data collection was carried out in four waves during the spring of 2025. The variable prefixes W1-W4 in the data indicate which wave each piece of data was collected in. The first survey, W1, was conducted between March 13 and March 31, 2025; the second survey, W2, was conducted between April 2 and April 11, 2025; the third survey, W3, was conducted on election day, April 13, 2025; and the fourth survey, W4, was conducted between April 14 and April 29, 2025.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

W1: 42.7

W2: 40.3

W3: 14.8

W4: 41.9

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

To prevent identification of respondents, the researchers removed the variable concerning the respondents' municipality of residence and the respondents' responses to open-ended questions.

Weighting

The dataset includes weighting variables indicated by the suffixes "weight", "design_weight", and "combined_weight". The weighting variables "weight" adjust responses by gender, age, and level of education to better correspond to the distributions of the Finnish population. The "design_weight" variables weight responses by taking into account each respondent's probability of being recruited into the Citizen panel. The "combined_weight" variables are combinations of the "design_weight" and "weight" variables. The maximum value of all weighting variables has been capped at five.

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 Research Infrastructure for Public Opinion (FIRIPO): Citizens' Opinion: Municipal and County Election Surveys 2025 [dataset]. Data version 1.0 (2026-05-20). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd4068; URN: https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD4068

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 dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

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.