Services
In addition to its basic functions in data archiving and dissemination, FSD offers a variety of other services for researchers, students, teachers and research funders.
Services for Researchers
There are more than 1,800 datasets in FSD holdings, all of which are available for research purposes.
Data Management Guidelines contain useful information on research planning, data collection and handling agreements during research as well as concrete tips for data management in different stages of the data life cycle.
Aila Data Service contains all datasets in FSD holdings and detailed study descriptions both in Finnish and in English. Aila's search interface allows you to search from study descriptions as well as questions and variables.
Textual Data Collection Tool Penna is a data collection tool maintained by FSD that is specifically designed for collecting textual data. Penna's user interface makes it easy for people to participate in your study and facilitates the archiving of the data. If you wish to organise a data collection on Penna, contact FSD User Services.
Loda is a longitudinal data portal that provides questions and variables from four surveys in the Finnish National Elections Study series (2003-2019). The questions and variables have been translated into English after data collection.
Pohtiva, the Finnish Party Agenda Database, consists of current and past agendas of Finnish political parties, as well as other significant political documents from years 1880-2023. A total of ovar 1500 datasets. Service available in Finnish only but there are also texts in English in the database.
CESSDA ERIC is a research infrastructure consortium for social science data archives across Europe. CESSDA provides free, high-quality data management, discovery, and archiving services to the international research community.
ICPSR offers social science research data from all around the world as well as educational resources for quantitative methods.
Services for Students
FSD offers services and data to aid studying.
Data Management Guidelines contain useful information on research planning, data collection and handling agreements during research as well as concrete tips for e.g. formulating a data management plan.
Aila Data Service contains all datasets in FSD holdings and descriptions of the datasets in Finnish and English. Data for Bachelor's and Master's theses and further research.
Textual Data Collection Tool Penna is a data collection tool maintained by FSD that is specifically designed for collecting textual data. Penna's user interface makes it easy for people to participate in your study and facilitates the archiving of the data. If you wish to organise a data collection on Penna, contact FSD User Services.
Research Methods Guidebook is an online resource for teaching and learning quantitative and qualitative research methods in the social and behavioural sciences. The Guidebook is maintained and developed by FSD. Currently only available in Finnish.
If you cannot find an answer to your question on our website or you need help with e.g. finding comparative international data, our user services are more than happy to help.
Services for Teachers
FSD offers a variety of services to aid teaching of scientific methodology.
Data Management Guidelines contain useful information on research planning, data collection and handling agreements during research as well as concrete tips for e.g. formulating a data management plan.
Aila Data Service contains all datasets in FSD holdings and descriptions of the datasets in Finnish and English. A large share of the datasets on Aila are available for teaching purposes.
Research Methods Guidebook is an online resource for teaching and learning quantitative and qualitative research methods in the social and behavioural sciences. The Guidebook is maintained and developed by FSD. Currently only available in Finnish.
Tietomilli is a visual internet tool created by FSD that allows comparisons and basic analyses of select Finnish opinion survey data. Analyses can be easily performed without statistical software skills, which makes Tietomilli suitable for use in civics teaching. Currently only available in Finnish.
FSD also organises seminars, training events and webinars.
Services for Research Funders
FSD offers visibility to research data in Finland and abroad. FSD archives data and enables data reuse, which increases research impact and exposure.
If you do not yet have open access requirements or recommendations for research data in place, we suggest you establish them as soon as possible. Many research funders require or recommend that data produced with their funding are made available for reuse. Funding applicants as well as funding recipients should be reminded of responsible data sharing.
In fact, it is advisable to require funding applicants to provide a data management plan, which sets out how the collected data will be shared and made available for reuse.