FSD2261 Youth and Parliamentary Elections 2007
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Ministry of Education. Advisory Council for Youth Affairs
Abstract
The aim of the survey was to chart the opinions of Finnish youth on elections, various political themes, and power. Views on election themes concerning young people, youth participation in politics, and political thinking were studied with the help of various questions and attitudinal statements. Voting intentions in the upcoming 2007 Parliamentary elections were also queried.
The respondents were asked how interested they were in politics. They were asked to indicate to what extent they agreed with statements relating to political decision-making and voting. They were also asked whether they took part in or wanted to participate in the activities of voluntary organisations, clubs, societies, groups, etc.
Further questions covered how certain the respondents were that they were going to vote/abstain from voting in the forthcoming Parliamentary elections on March. The respondents were also asked which qualities of their candidate appealed to them and to what extent. Opinions on power were surveyed with attitudinal statements. The respondents gave their views on whether the political party or the candidate is more important in the choice of candidate. Party loyalty was investigated by asking whether the respondents supported a particular party, and whether they could change the party they supported between the elections.
The respondents' views on the distribution of power were charted by asking how much power different institutions and bodies have. Opinions on why young people usually have a low turnout in elections, why they don't vote as likely as the older generations, and what should be done to awaken the interest of young people in politics were also examined. Party support was charted by asking the respondents which party they are likely to vote in the Parliamentary elections. The respondents also gave their opinions on the actions of Matti Vanhanen's government and who they would like to see as the next Prime Minister.
Some questions examined whether political values influenced the respondents' choices when purchasing goods, whether the Internet has influenced their political activity and voting behaviour, whether they have used email or the Internet in taking a stand or creating connections, whether they were going to use a candidate selector in choosing their candidate, and whether they were going to visit the candidates' web pages. The respondents' faith in influencing through representative democracy was explored with an open question. The respondents were also presented with a set of attitudinal statements relating to various political themes, questions of security policy, NATO, government and opposition policy, and topical political questions.
Background variables included the respondent's gender, year of birth, mother tongue, municipality of residence, household composition, level of education, economic activity, and type of contract.
Keywords
adolescents; candidates; defence; defence and state security policy; democracy; information sources; national elections; opposition parties; organizations; parliamentary elections; parliamentary systems; political action; political behaviour; political participation; political parties; politicians; public political influence; social influence; social participation; voluntary organizations; voting; voting behaviour; youth
Topic Classification
political studies; youth studies (FSD Topics Classification)
elections; mass political behaviour, attitudes/opinion; youth (CESSDA Topics Classification)
Restrictions
The variable indicating municipality has been recoded to electoral districts.
Access to the data granted for scientific and teaching purposes. FSD's access application procedure.
Data Collector
Ministry of Education. Advisory Council for Youth Affairs
Data Producer
Ministry of Education. Advisory Council for Youth Affairs
Collection Date
September 2006 - October 2006
Nation
Finland
Geographical Coverage
Finland
Analysis Unit
Individual
Universe
People aged between 18 and 29 living in Finland
Sampling Procedure
Simple random sampling. A sample of 1,000 was drawn from the population register.
Limiting the survey to 18-29 year-olds is on one hand based on the age limits used in the previous surveys, and on the other hand on the fact that 15-29 year-olds were considered youth according to the old youth law (cf. according to the new youth law, which took effect at the beginning of 2006, the upper limit is 28 years). The lower limit is set to 18 years, because the survey relates to elections.
Because the response rate was rather low in the first round, 680 follow-up mailings were sent to the nonresponders. 15 young people were not reached. The respondents were motivated by rewards, and the total of 475 questionnaires were returned. Girls responded more frequently than boys: 42% of the respondents were boys.
Collection Mode
Postal survey
Research Instrument
Structured questionnaire
Response Rate
48%
Time Method
Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section
Collection Size
Data: SPSS portable file. Data available also in other file formats.
Number of cases and variables
475 cases and 167 variables
Data version
1.1 (24.2.2009)
Other Material
See downloadable files at the top of the page
Questionnaire: pdf file in Finnish
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
Youth and Parliamentary Elections 2007 [computer file]. FSD2261, version 1.1 (2009-02-24). Helsinki: Ministry of Education. Advisory Council for Youth Affairs [producer], 2007. Tampere: Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor], 2009.
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
Borg, Sami (2012). Nuorten äänestysvalinnat, puoluekiinnittyminen ja edustautuminen. Teoksessa: Nuoret ja ääni - Nuoret eduskuntavaaleissa 2011 (toim. Ronkainen, Jussi), 15-27. Helsinki: Nuorisotutkimusseuran julkisuja; 125.
Schoultz, Vera (2010). Nuorten poliittinen osallistuminen ja sen murros. Teoksessa Ohipuhuttu nuoruus? Nuorten elinolot -vuosikirja (toim. Anu-Hanna Anttila, Kristiina Kuussaari & Tiina Puhakka), 93-104. Helsinki: Nuorisotutkimusverkosto/Nuorisotutkimusseura, Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos THL & Valtion nuorisoasiain neuvottelukunta Nuora.
Sukupolvipolitiikka. Nuoret ja eduskuntavaalit 2007 (2007). Toim. Paakkunainen, Kari. Nuorisotutkimusverkosto/Nuorisotutkimusseura, julkaisuja 72. Nuorisoasiain neuvottelukunta, julkaisuja 36. Helsinki: Opetusministeriö & Nuorisotutkimusverkosto & Nuorisoasiain neuvottelukunta
