FSD2006 European Election Study 2004: Finland
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European Election Study Group
Mattila, Mikko (University of Helsinki. Department of Political Science)
Raunio, Tapio (University of Tampere. Department of Political Science and International Relations)
Abstract
The data is Finland's contribution to the fourth data collection round of the European Election Study (ESS). The survey which was collected immediately after the 2004 European Parliament elections (13 June 2004) charts opinions on the European Union and elections.
Firstly, respondents were asked what are the most important problems in Finland, which of them is the single most important, which political party would be best at dealing with it and at which level (regional, national or EU) it is/should be mainly dealt with. Frequency of watching television news programmes and reading newspapers, and the preferred newspaper and TV news programme were surveyed. Respondents were also asked how often they watched programmes or read about the European election and talked to friends and attended public meetings in relation to the elections during the four weeks preceding the election. Interest in the election campaign was examined.
Respondents' voting behaviour was charted with questions about preferred political party in the European Parliament elections, the 2003 Finnish Parliament elections and future parliamentary elections. Probability of voting various political parties was investigated. One theme covered respondents' trust in various matters, for example, people from various countries, the Finnish Parliament and government and the European Parliament, Commission and Council of Ministers. Respondents' were asked to place themselves and different political parties on the left-right axis. Views on the general economic situation in Finland and other EU citizens' entitlement to Finnish social security and their right to vote in Finnish municipal elections were examined. Respondents were also asked whether employers should give priority to Finns over citizens from other Member States when jobs are scarce in Finland. Opinions on the European integration were investigated by asking respondents what they think about Finland's EU membership and whether the unification should be pushed further. In conclusion, respondents were asked are they proud to be citizens of the European Union, are they satisfied with the way democracy works in Finland and the EU, do they approve of Finnish government's actions and which political party they feel closest to.
Background variables included respondent's age, gender, year and country of birth, age of ending full-time education, year of coming to Finland, trade union membership, current economic activity, employment sector, self-designated social class, municipality type, province of residence, religion, attendance in religious services, number of household members aged over 18, and monthly income of household.
Keywords
elections; European Parliament elections; European Union; identity; integration; mass media; political attitudes; political behaviour; political institutions; political parties; trust; voting
Topic Classification
political studies (FSD Topics Classification)
elections; international politics and organisations; mass political behaviour and attitudes/opinions (CESSDA Topics Classification)
Restrictions
Variable identifying municpality has been removed from the data. Question number 25 was not included in the Finnish questionnaire.
Access to the data granted for scientific and teaching purposes. FSD's access application procedure.
Data Collector
TNS Gallup Finland
Collection Date
14.6.2004 - 23.6.2004
Nation
Finland
Geographical Coverage
Finland
Analysis Unit
Individual
Universe
People aged 18 and over living in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands and persons in institutional care)
Sampling Procedure
Quota sampling based on age, gender and place of residence.
Collection Mode
Telephone interview
Research Instrument
Structured questionnaire
Time Method
Cross-sectional study
Collection Size
Data: SPSS portable file. Data available also in other file formats. Responses to open-ended questions are available in a separate text file (only in Finnish).
Number of cases and variables
900 cases and 139 variables
Data version
1.0 (27.9.2004)
Other Material
See downloadable files at the top of the page
Internet site of the European Election Studies
Questionnaire: pdf file in Finnish
Data Appraisal and Notes
Open-ended answers are stored both in the original and classified form in the data file. In the SPSS file, the part which exceeded 255 characters in the open-ended answer of question 13 has been left out.
Citation Requirement
The source must be acknowledged in any publication based wholly or in part on the data. The bibliographic citation may be in the form required by the publication, or in the form suggested by the archive.
Bibliographical Citation
European Election Study Group & Mattila, Mikko: European Election Study 2004: Finland [computer file]. FSD2006, version 1.0 (2004-09-27). Espoo: TNS Gallup Finland [data collection], 2004. Tampere: Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor], 2004.
Depositing Requirements
The archive must be informed of all publications where the data have been used.
Disclaimer
The depositor and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the secondary use of the data.
Related Publications
Mattila, Mikko & Tapio Raunio (2005). Kuka edustaa EU:n vastustajia? Euroopan parlamentin vaalit 2004. Politiikka 47(1), 28-41.
