Getting Started

For those who are just starting to work with SOEP data, we offer the following introductory-level tools and services:

1. watch our modular SOEP-Core tutorials. You’ll find a “Basic Introduction to the SOEP” on our SOEPtutorials start page.
2. Companions are your online guides to working with SOEP data. We offer one Companion for our main study, SOEP-Core, and one for our innovation study, SOEP-IS. Each describes the structure of the study and data and allows you to search for questionnaire modules by topic. The SOEPcompanion also offers concrete instructions and examples of data analysis with code snippets, making it a practical guide and online reference work.
3. Our SOEPcampus program is a series of introductory workshops offered at various locations at regular intervals. SOEPcampus workshops include lectures as well as hands-on exercises that allow participants to work together and get to know the data. Workshops are also offered on special topics such as the analysis of migration or spell data. In our calendar of events, you will find dates, prerequisites, and further information.

4. In the online forum for SOEP and other RDCs "Forum4MICA" you can search for already written solutions to your questions, or alternatively ask new questions if there are no contributions yet.

   It also offers you the opportunity to get in contact and exchange information with other users.

   Registration & use of the forum is, of course, free of charge.

Things are always changing, so we provide the following tools and services to keep you up to date:

1. Companions are your online guides to working with SOEP data. We offer one Companion for our main study, SOEP-Core, and one for our innovation study, SOEP-IS. Each describes the structure of the study and data and allows you to search for questionnaire modules by topic. The SOEPcompanion also offers concrete instructions and examples of data analysis with code snippets, making it a practical guide and online reference work.
2. As a Stata or R user, you can use SOEPhelp to directly access information on SOEP-Core data sets and variables in your statistical software.
3. In our modular SOEPtutorials, you can learn more about various topics in a matter of minutes. Instructors are welcome to use our tutorials in their courses.

4. In the online forum for SOEP and other RDCs "Forum4MICA" you can search for already written solutions to your questions, or alternatively ask new questions if there are no contributions yet.

   It also offers you the opportunity to get in contact and exchange information with other users.

   Registration & use of the forum is, of course, free of charge.

For a topic search we recommend the following:

1. Search our literature database SOEPlit by topic for publications based on SOEP data.
2. See the SOEPcompanion chapter "Topics of SOEP-Core" for more on the topics covered in the SOEP and the intervals at which specific questionnaire modules are repeated. The chapter includes links to our web-based information system Paneldata.org, where you will find detailed information about the marginal distribution of variables.
3. Check paneldata.org to find all the SOEP-Core variables sorted by key topics.
4. Watch our SOEPtutorial "Introduction to SOEP" for a brief introduction to the main topics of the SOEP study.