SOEP Research: Survey Methodology and Data Science

Does Having Daughters Affect Political Preferences? Using Meta-Analytic Tools on Many Surveys

This study investigates whether having daughters impacts political preferences and whether this effect varies across European countries. We estimate effect sizes for 39 countries in the European Social Survey (n = 156,236) and aggregate estimates using random-effects meta-analysis, following a preregistered analysis plan. We find significant evidence that having daughters increases the preference for ...

Comparing Panel Retention among Ukrainian and Other Refugees in a German Probability-Based Panel: Evidence from a Decomposition Analysis

Despite the rise in global refugee migration, probability panels surveying refugees remain rare. The German IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees, conducted annually since 2016, provides valuable panel data for research. In 2023, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a sample of Ukrainian refugees was added, along with a refreshment sample of refugees from other countries. This paper examines household-, ...

Diffusion of Cumulative Advantage? How Wealth and Health Trajectories Co-Evolve Across the Life Course among Older Adults

Objectives Cumulative advantage is a central concept in life course research. Prior research has primarily focused on one outcome domain, overlooking the possibility that cumulative advantage could extend into other domains–what we refer to as diffusion of cumulative advantage. We build on and extend cumulative inequality theory to conceptualize diffusion and apply it to wealth and health, two domains ...

Introducing Open Data Format: A Platform-Independent, Non-Proprietary, Metadata-Enriched, Multilingual Data Format for Tabular Data

This paper introduces the Open Data Format (ODF), a non-proprietary, metadata-enriched, and zipcompressed data format for tabular data alongside statistical software packages. It embeds structured, multilingual metadata directly within the data file, using the well-established DDI-Codebook standard (DDI Alliance, 2014), and enables access to both data and documentation within common statistical environments. ...

SOEP Annual Report 2025

Dealing with Censored Earnings in Register Data

Earnings are often top-coded (right-censored) in administrative registers. The censoring threshold in the case of Germany is the limit value for social security contributions, leading to a substantial fraction of censoring: For example, about 12%of male workers inWest Germany are affected, rising to above 30% for highly educated prime-aged workers. This missing right tail of the earnings distribution ...

Filling in the Blanks: Augmenting Survey Data Imputation with an External Prior

Multiple imputation of missing values in survey data analysis is a state-of-the-art technique. Typically, methods like multivariate imputation by chained equations (mice, van Buuren 2018) are employed, replacing missing values on a variable-by-variable basis. Generally, the information used for imputation comes from the survey dataset being analysed. Valid analysis results are achieved when the...

Publishing Fine-Grained Standardized Metadata: Lessons Learned from Three Research Data Centers

FAIRness of research data, meaning that data are managed according to the principles of being Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable, has become a ubiquitous requirement in research data policies as well as in general guidelines for research data management. Meeting this requirement largely depends on the availability of rich and standardized DDI metadata—based on the Data Documentation ...

Measurement error models on anonymized georeferenced data

Georeferenced data are often anonymized for data protection reasons. This is done either by aggregating the data into larger spatial units (e.g., higher-level administrative units or grids with larger cell sizes) or by using stochastic methods to deliberately overlay the original coordinates. These methods significantly distort the data and associated variables, making further modeling steps...

Methodological Challenges in Cross-Cohort Comparisons of Educational Achievement

Comparisons of educational achievement across cohorts are frequently used to examine changes in educational performance and to evaluate the impact of societal or educational events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. However, drawing causal inferences from observational data without strong experimental control remains challenging, as often no single clear methodological approach is universally...