In 1994 and 2009 the German Council of Sciences and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) evaluated the SOEP service facilities.
2009
In 2009, SOEP's scientific achievements were evaluated by the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat). The results are now in: the SOEP survey and SOEP service received an outstanding overall rating. According to Professor Peter Strohschneider, Head of the Council, "the SOEP data provide the basis for an impressive range of empirical research and thus contribute in an exceptional way to better understanding the lives of people in our society across the entire life course," in the Council's press release of November
16, 2009.
The recommendations of the Council expressly support plans to expand the SOEP to 20,000 households and to introduce an "innovation study" of 5,000 households in addition to the main panel. The Council expects these measures to create a strong impulse for empirically based, interdisciplinary, longitudinal research at the intersection of the social, health, and behavioral sciences. To illustrate the importance of these plans and the future investments they will require, Strohschneider drew the following comparison: "Just as improved space telescopes provide increasingly precise images of the composition and dynamics of distant astronomical bodies, these methodological improvements will allow more detailed study of the composition of our society and of changes in the living conditions of German citizens over time." The evaluation report concludes by saying (p. 101):
"In sum, further investment in the SOEP Study is a promising investment in the future competitiveness of the German social, economic, and behavioral sciences."
The German Council of Research and Humanities emphasizes that the SOEP study must continue focusing on users' desires and suggestions. This confirms what we have invited you to do in the past: let us know how we should develop the SOEP questionnaire and survey program further! We will also work on improving SOEP governance to integrate the ideas and concepts of potential users even better in the future than in the previous 25 years. We need your suggestions in this regard as well.
The SOEP group welcomes your ideas and suggestions!
Please contact Jürgen Schupp (jschupp@diw.de).
Science-Policy Statement on the Status and Future Development of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), Berlin (German-English document) WR Drs 9503-09 (PDF, 332.69 KB)
For more information and statements please refer to our German site
1994
For 1994 there are only German documents, so please refer to our German site