Finnish Local Government 2004: Inhabitants 2004

This survey studies the inhabitants' views on their municipalities, municipal services, and decision-makers. Views were also probed on the different ways of participation and influencing, as well as on the level of political and civic activity. The respondents' opinions on how likely they will live in their current municipality of residence for the rest of their lives were charted. They were also asked whether they considered their municipality a good place to live compared to other municipalities. The respondents were asked to what extent they identified with their neighbourhood, municipality, region, country, the Nordic countries, the EU, and Europe on the whole. Political inclinations were surveyed by asking the respondents to place themselves on the left-right axis and on the hard-soft scale. The survey also charted the respondents' satisfaction with their lives, economic situation, and housing. The respondents were asked to evaluate their own abilities to interact with their municipality and to defend their own interests. The respondents were asked which municipal services (public services) they had used in the last 12 months, how well certain municipal services functioned, and whether the municipality should invest more or less in these services in the future. The respondents were also asked whether they had been elected to any office in their municipality, and whether they would be willing to hold an elected office. Political views and activity were investigated by asking the respondents whether they were going to vote in the 2004 municipal elections, whether they were going to vote for a female or male candidate, which party they were going to vote for, and whether they change the party they vote for between different elections. Relating to voting decision, the respondents were asked to rate the importance of the person, the party, and the fact that the candidate lives in the same municipality. Methods and activity of influencing decision-making were studied by asking the respondents whether they had followed current issues concerning their municipality in the media or visited the web pages of their municipality. Further questions covered whether the respondents had given feedback on public services in their municipality and whether the eventual feedback had been countered. The respondents were asked whether they had used certain methods of influencing decision-making (e.g. taking part in demonstrations, signing petitions, contacting decision-makers). They were also asked to rate the effectiveness of these methods. Membership and participation in non-governmental organisations and associations was also queried. Finally, the respondents gave their views on a set of attitudinal statements related to organising different services and administration. In addition, they were asked to assess how integral certain aspects are to the idea of citizenship (e.g. paying taxes honestly, obeying the law and regulations, sacrificing personal interest for the common good, respecting public property, membership in a political party). Background variables included the respondent's year of birth, gender, number of underage children, education, employment type, employer, and tenure. Background variables not asked in the questionnaire included the respondent's marital status and mother tongue.

本调查旨在探究居民对其所在市镇的看法，包括市镇服务及决策者的评价。同时，调查还触及了不同参与及影响途径的认知，以及对政治与公民活动水平的评估。受访者对未来余生居住于当前市镇的可能性进行了展望，并就与其它市镇相比，其市镇是否为宜居之地进行了考量。受访者还被询问其与邻里、市镇、地区、国家、北欧国家、欧盟及整个欧洲的认同程度。通过让受访者置于左右政治立场轴与强硬-温和尺度上，调查了其政治倾向。调查还记录了受访者对其生活满意度、经济状况及住房状况的满意度。受访者还被询问其与市镇互动及捍卫自身利益的能力评价。受访者还被询问在过去12个月内使用过的市镇服务（公共服务），特定市镇服务的运行情况，以及市镇在未来是否应增加或减少对这些服务的投资。受访者还被询问是否曾在其市镇被选举为任何职务，以及是否愿意担任选举职务。通过询问受访者是否将在2004年市镇选举中投票，以及他们将投票给女性或男性候选人，他们将投票给哪个政党，以及在不同选举中是否改变投票给哪个政党，调查了其政治观点及活动。关于投票决策，受访者被询问个人、政党以及候选人与其市镇同住的事实的重要性评价。通过询问受访者是否关注媒体中有关其市镇当前议题，或访问其市镇网页，研究了影响决策的方法与活动。进一步的问题涵盖了受访者是否就市镇公共服务提供了反馈，以及该反馈是否得到了回应。受访者还被询问是否使用过某些影响决策的方法（例如参加示威、签署请愿书、联系决策者），以及他们对这些方法的成效进行评价。还调查了受访者是否在非政府组织和协会中的成员资格及参与度。最后，受访者就与组织不同服务和行政相关的态度陈述发表了观点。此外，他们还被询问某些方面（例如诚实纳税、遵守法律和法规、为公共利益牺牲个人利益、尊重公共财产、加入政党）对于公民身份理念的重要性评价。背景变量包括受访者的出生年份、性别、未成年子女数量、教育、就业类型、雇主和任期。问卷中未询问的背景变量包括受访者的婚姻状况和母语。