Finnish Local Government Barometer 2010: Inhabitants

The survey studied Finnish citizens' views on municipalities and municipal service provision. One theme pertained to the forthcoming parliamentary elections. First, views were probed on the sufficiency of municipal service provision in different issues, for instance, care for the elderly, health services, public transport, sports facilities, library and cultural services, primary and lower secondary schools. The respondents were presented with a list of services and asked which could be cut down if municipalities had to reduce costs. The services mentioned were educational institutions, child day care, care for the elderly, social assistance, and health care. They were also presented with a list of social problems, such as rising prices, prostitution, racism, crime, income disparity, high taxation, and asked which were the three problems the future parliament and government should focus on. Next, the respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with a number of attitudinal statements relating to the financing of services, cutting down services, democracy, economic and social disparity, minimum income guarantee, public political influence, raising the municipal tax rate etc. Some questions focused on what methods the respondents would find acceptable to ensure the financing and services of municipalities. The methods mentioned included, for instance, raising the municipal tax rate, increasing borrowing, cutting/delaying investments, decreasing the quality of municipal services, lowering wages. The forthcoming parliamentary elections in Finland were covered with questions on what characteristics the parliamentary candidate the respondents would vote for should have and what policies their candidate supported (for instance, cutting public expenditure, harsher punishments for crime, promoting the interests of minorities). Views were probed on the characteristics and policies of different political parties. Finally, the respondents were asked whether they would be willing to go abroad for medical treatment or rehabilitation in the future. Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, economic activity and occupational status, education, employment status, region of residence (NUTS3), major region (NUTS2), degree of urbanity of the municipality, household composition, household gross income, number of persons in the household, which political party R would vote if the parliamentary elections were held at that time, and which party R had voted for in the previous parliamentary elections.

本调查旨在探究芬兰公民对市政及其服务供给的看法。研究主题之一涉及即将到来的议会选举。首先，对市政在不同议题上的服务供给充足性进行了调查，例如，老年护理、医疗服务、公共交通、体育设施、图书馆及文化服务、小学和初中教育。受访者被呈现一系列服务清单，并被询问哪些服务在市政必须削减成本的情况下可以被削减。提及的服务包括教育机构、儿童日托、老年护理、社会福利和医疗服务。同时，受访者还被呈现一系列社会问题，如物价上涨、卖淫、种族主义、犯罪、收入不均、高税率等，并被询问未来议会和政府应重点关注哪些三个问题。随后，受访者被要求对一系列与服务融资、削减服务、民主、经济和社会不平等、最低收入保障、公众政治影响力、提高市政税率等相关的态度陈述表示其同意程度。一些问题聚焦于受访者认为可接受的确保市政融资和服务的方法，提及的方法包括，例如，提高市政税率、增加借贷、削减/推迟投资、降低市政服务质量、降低工资。调查还涵盖了即将到来的芬兰议会选举，包括受访者认为他们应投票的议会候选人的特征及其候选人支持的政策（例如，削减公共支出、对犯罪实施更严厉的惩罚、促进少数族裔的利益）。还对不同政治党的特征和政策进行了调查。最后，受访者被询问他们是否愿意在未来出国就医或康复。背景变量包括受访者的性别、年龄、经济活动及职业状况、教育程度、就业状态、居住地区（NUTS3）、主要地区（NUTS2）、市政城市化程度、家庭构成、家庭总收入、家庭人数、若议会选举在此时举行，受访者将投票给哪个政党R，以及在前一届议会选举中受访者投给了哪个政党。