FSD2049 Young People and Local Democracy 2004: Active Participants
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Ministry of Education. The Advisory Council for Youth Affairs (Nuora)
The Finnish Youth Research Society. The Finnish Youth Research Network
The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities
Abstract
The survey charted perceptions of politics and interest groups among young people who are involved in these groups. Interest groups refer here to groups operating at a local level and trying to promote youth's interests and needs. Respondents' attitude to local government policy and politics were studied with attitudinal statements. Some questions focused on inequality, immigrants and ways and channels of political influence. Respondents were asked to what extent characterisations such as local citizen and member of global community apply to them. They were asked to assess how much power different bodies have, for example, municipal council and the media. Attitudes to organisations and associations and their activities as well as taking measures such as municipal initiatives were studied. Respondents were also asked whether they would vote in the 2004 municipal elections and whether they would like to stand as a candidate in municipal elections. In case respondents themselves were politically active, their trust in, for example, friends, other citizens and international non-governmental organisations was examined.
When asking about respondents' interest groups, questions pertained to the type of the group, way of electing its members, founder of the group and its goal of action. Respondents were also asked to what extent their group uses different ways of action, for example, the right of initiative and Internet sites which enable youth to contact interest groups or influence them. Reasons for joining the group and participation in different training events and seminars were surveyed. Respondents' opinions on the role of adults in the group were charted. They were also asked how much and what sort of things they have learnt in their interest group, for example, political skills and desire to be involved in a political party.
Background variables included respondent's gender, age, educational institution (pupils and students) and economic activity (others).
Keywords
citizen participation; groups; local government policy; political action; political participation; politics; social influence; young people; youth
Topic Classification
political studies; youth studies (FSD Topics Classification)
mass political behaviour, attitudes/opinion; youth (CESSDA Topics Classification)
Restrictions
Answers to open questions in the data are missing. The data includes only the variable of the most important matter of the question 6 ("Priority of matters in the municipality") and year of birth has been replaced with an age variable..
Access to the data granted for scientific and teaching purposes. FSD's access application procedure.
Data Collector
Ministry of Education. The Advisory Council for Youth Affairs (Nuora)
The Finnish Youth Research Society. The Finnish Youth Research Network
The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities
Data Producer
Ministry of Education. The Advisory Council for Youth Affairs (Nuora)
The Finnish Youth Research Society. The Finnish Youth Research Network
The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities
Collection Date
2004
Nation
Finland
Geographical Coverage
Finland
Analysis Unit
Individual
Universe
Young people are who involved in youth councils, or other municipal representative or organisational groups which promote youth's interests and needs.
Sampling Procedure
Sample. The list of youth councils and equivalent institutions was charted with the help of contact persons, Nuoret Vaikuttajat r.y (an umbrella organisation) and basic service surveys organised by the Ministry of Education. There were approximately 200 youth interest groups. Personal information and addresses of about 140 groups were acquired, two to three persons in each of them. 340 young people were reached and 180 questionnaires were returned, but nine of them had to be rejected. Some of the answers were received through other research contacts.
Collection Mode
Postal survey
Research Instrument
Structured questionnaire
Response Rate
53%
Time Method
Cross-sectional study
Collection Size
Data: SPSS portable file. Data available also in other file formats.
Data version
1.0 (11.3.2005)
Related Studies
FSD2048 Young People and Local Democracy 2004
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
Young People and Local Democracy 2004: Active Participants [computer file]. FSD2049, version 1.0 (2005-03-11). Ministry of Education. The Advisory Council for Youth Affairs (Nuora) & The Finnish Youth Research Society. The Finnish Youth Research Network & The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities [producers], 2004. Tampere: Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor], 2005.
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
Nuorten ääni ja kunnantalon heikko kaiku: nuoret kunnallisessa demokratiassa ja paikallisissa vaikuttajaryhmissä (2004). Toim. Kari Paakkunainen. Helsinki: Opetusministeriö & Suomen kuntaliitto & Nuorisotutkimusverkosto & Nuorisoasian neuvottelukunta. Nuorisoasian neuvottelukunta, julkaisuja; 29 & Nuorisotutkimusverkosto/Nuorisotutkimusseura, julkaisuja; 46.
