Finnish Local Government Barometer 2003: Inhabitants

The survey charted Finnish public opinion on the welfare state, public services, joint municipal authorities, and the enlargement of the European Union. First, the respondents were asked to what extent a number of statements relating to the welfare state coincided with their own views. One topic charted the respondents' issues of concern (e.g. war, international terrorism, outbreak of epidemic diseases, income disparity, crime, personal safety, racism, state of the roads and streets, air pollution) in general and relating to their own municipality. The respondents were asked what steps they would find acceptable for improving the financial situation of their municipality (e.g. hiring foreign employees, cutting staff numbers, lowering wages, postponing investments). Opinions on the likelihood of certain developments happening in the municipality were studied. Attitudes to municipal services and joint municipal authorities (municipal federations) were charted with a set of attitudinal statements relating to the number of municipalities in Finland, forced municipal mergers, staffing levels, competitive tendering of service provision, etc. The respondents were also asked which costs they thought could be cut. One theme pertained to what kind of impact the EU enlargement would have on employment, business conditions, municipal autonomy, the availability of EU subsidies etc. in the region of residence. Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, economic activity, type of neighbourhood, highest education, household gross annual income, number and ages of household members, household composition, province and region (NUTS3) of residence, and which party R would vote for if the parliamentary elections were held at that time.

本调查描绘了芬兰公众对福利国家、公共服务、联合市政当局以及欧盟扩张的看法。首先，受访者被询问一系列关于福利国家的陈述在多大程度上与他们的个人观点相吻合。其中一项内容涉及受访者关注的议题（例如：战争、国际恐怖主义、传染病爆发、收入差距、犯罪、个人安全、种族主义、道路和街道状况、空气污染）总体情况及其所在市政当局的具体情况。受访者还被询问他们认为哪些措施可以接受以改善他们所在市政当局的财政状况（例如：雇佣外国员工、裁减员工人数、降低工资、推迟投资）。调查还研究了受访者对市政当局某些发展可能发生的可能性看法。通过一系列关于芬兰市政数量、强制性市政合并、人员配备水平、服务提供的竞争性招标等态度陈述，描绘了受访者对市政服务和联合市政当局（市政联合会）的态度。受访者还被询问他们认为哪些成本可以削减。其中一个主题关注欧盟扩张对居住地区就业、商业环境、市政自治、欧盟补贴的可获得性等方面可能产生的影响。背景变量包括受访者的性别、年龄、经济活动、邻里类型、最高教育程度、家庭毛年收入、家庭成员数量和年龄、家庭构成、居住省份和地区（NUTS3）以及如果议会选举在那时举行，受访者将投票给哪个政党。