SOEPnewsletter March 2024

Current information from the field

On February 26, 2024, the cover letters for our main SOEP survey were sent to the field. This means that the 2024 survey is starting earlier than in the last three years.  

In addition, two new refreshment samples will be surveyed: In the context of ongoing migration, the new M10 subsample will be used, which includes migrants who have immigrated to Germany from EU countries. 

The planned net number of cases is 3,000 households. In addition, new sub-sample S is being surveyed for the first time. This is a random sample of the general resident population and will comprise 6,000 households.

IAB documentation on improperly conducted interviews is online 

Improperly conducted interviews in 2023 were removed from the survey data of the IAB-BAMF SOEP study of refugees. This affects 87 households with 160 personal interviews. The weighting was adjusted accordingly. You can find the official IAB documentation here (PDF, 312.98 KB).

SOEP-IS: Polygenetic Scores

As part of the study "Genetic Analyses of ‘Trios’ in the SOEP-IS", so-called polygenetic scores of the respondents were created in the SOEP-IS. In genetics, a polygenetic score (PGS) is a number that summarizes the estimated effects of various genetic variants on the phenotype – i.e., the totality of all morphological, physiological, and possibly behavioral characteristics – of a person. SOEP’s PGS data thus provides a valuable resource to study individual differences, inequalities, life-course development, health, and interactions between genetic predispositions and environment.

More information on this study can be found on SOEPcompanion or here.

Data access to these scores requires that interested users draw up a research plan and obtain a positive vote from an ethics committee and send it with the subject "Polygenetic scores" to soepmail@diw.de. After a positive internal review of both documents, the data will be delivered to the users in the regular procedure.

SOEP at In_equality Conference 2024

The In_equalilty Conference 2024 will host an international gathering of researchers interested in exploring the political causes and consequences of inequality across different dimensions and empirical domains. A three-day program from April 10 to 12, 2024, will feature 27 interdisciplinary panels covering various topics from gender, ethnicity, wealth, and educational inequality to language, questions concerning the welfare state, debt, and austerity, as well as climate change. Besides a session by SOEP researcher Cristóbal Moya with the title “Are Workers’ Welfare Contributions Just? The Interplay of Self-Interest and Normative Preferences in Germany” there will be several sessions based on SOEP data. They will live-stream all panel discussions at the Bodenseeforum Konstanz to ensure a hybrid conference experience.

SOEP at the Long Night of the Sciences Berlin 2024

At the Long Night of Sciences 2024, Florian Griese will present his research findings on the effects of the Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act (BEEG) in a poster session entitled "What type of parental leave suits you? Employment histories of expectant parents before and after the 2007 reform:" The BEEG contributes to the promotion of gender equality, but Griese asks, who is affected by the major life changes? Mothers or their partners? And which mothers have benefited most from the reform so far? Mark your calendars for June 22, 2024, and visit Florian Griese between 5 and 7 pm at the Leibniz Association in Berlin, Chausseestraße 111, to talk about his research.

SOEPcampus@DIW Berlin 

On February 8 and 9, 2024, another successful in-person training session took place as part of the SOEPcampus event series at DIW Berlin – more than 30 participants from all over Germany attended the two-day workshop for an introduction to the analysis of SOEP data. In plenary sessions and hands-on sessions, the data users were given the opportunity to learn about the structure and possible uses of the SOEP data, as well as extrapolation and weighting, and then apply them to their own research. In addition to the workshop leader Sandra Bohmann, other SOEP colleagues (Mattis Beckmannshagen, Florian Griese, Barbara Stacherl and Louise Biddle) also supported the event.

Sandra Bohmann at the SOEPcampus@DIW Berlin from February 8 to 9, 2024
© DIW Berlin

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Sandra Bohmann at the SOEPcampus@DIW Berlin from February 8 to 9, 2024
© DIW Berlin

New dates for training courses can be found on our website.

SOEP at the 2nd symposium on the Federal Government's 7th Poverty and Wealth Report

Viola Hilbert and Charlotte Bartels presented the status of their research project "Wealth accumulation in Germany - current trends and drivers" at the 2nd symposium on the Poverty and Wealth Report at the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) on January 29, 2024. The results are expected to be published this spring.

The SOEP data also served as the basis for the presentation by Olaf Groh-Samberg and Wiebke Schulz entitled "Emergence and significance of social situation over the life course (in German)."

Science meets practice – SOEP at GOR Conference 2024

Carina Cornesse took part in a panel discussion at the General Online Research (GOR) conference 2024 on February 23, 2024, in Cologne on the topic "Science meets practice. When is an online sample good for which need? (in German)." In her highly discussed keynote speech, she showed why many online samples are not suitable for the purposes for which they are used. Menno Smid (infas) gave a further keynote speech. The discussion was moderated by Otto Hellwig (bilendi & respondi). Other panelists were Barbara Felderer (GESIS) and Beate Waibl-Flanz (Rewe Market Research). There is a report about it in the industry magazine Planung & Analyse. 

Publications 

People with a lower level of education have a lower risk of infection when working from home

Previous studies have shown that people with socio-economic disadvantages are more likely to be infected with the coronavirus. The authors of this article, including Markus M. Grabka, use data from the RKI-SOEP-2 study to investigate whether this difference is also evident when working from home. Therefore, they compare the infection risk of people with a lower and higher level of education who work from home. The result: working from home significantly reduces the risk of infection for people with a lower level of education - an important finding for pandemic preparedness, according to the researchers.

^{Wachtler, B. / Beese, F. / Demirer, I. / Haller, S. / Pförtner, T.-K. / Wahrendorf, M. / Grabka M.M. / Hoebel, J. (2024). Education and pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infections in the German working population – the mediating role of working from home. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. DOI: 10.5271/sjweh.4144}

Teleworking and life satisfaction during COVID-19: the importance of family structure

The results of a difference-in-differences analysis of SOEP data, carried out by Carsten Schröder and his colleagues and now published in the Journal of Population Economics, show that teleworking had a negative average effect on life satisfaction over the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. This average effect hides considerable heterogeneity, reflecting gender-role asymmetries: lower life satisfaction is found only for unmarried men and for women with school-age children. The negative effect for women with school-age children disappears in 2021, suggesting adaptation to new constraints and/or the adoption of coping strategies.

^{Senik, C. / Clark, A.E. / D’Ambrosio, C. / Lepinteur, A. / Schröder, C. (2024). Teleworking and life satisfaction during COVID-19: the importance of family structure. Journal of Population Economics 37, 8 (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s00148-024-00979-z}

Awards

Julian B. Axenfeld has won the prestigious GOR Best PhD Award 2024

Julian B. Axenfeld presented the results of his PhD thesis "Imputation of missing data from split questionnaire designs in social surveys" at the 26th General Online Research Conference (GOR24) on February 23, 2024, in Cologne, and received the GOR Thesis Award 2024 and prize money of 500€.

From the left: Georg Ahnert (University of Mannheim), Olaf Wenzel (Wenzel Market Research), Julian Axenfeld (SOEP), Markus Weiß (Tivian) at the award ceremony of the GOR Best PhD Award 2024.
© DGOF

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From the left: Georg Ahnert (University of Mannheim), Olaf Wenzel (Wenzel Market Research), Julian Axenfeld (SOEP), Markus Weiß (Tivian) at the award ceremony of the GOR Best PhD Award 2024.
© DGOF

Welcome to SOEP

Char Hilgers is working at SOEP since January 1, 2024, while earning a doctorate on statistical methods.

Guifré Ballesté Santacana is working as a specialist for market and social research at SOEP since January 5, 2024.

Antonia Meier joined the SOEP team on February 1, 2024, as a specialist in market and social research and, alongside Philipp Kaminsky, is now in charge of the SOEPhotline.

Also since February 1, 2024, Tom Hartl is working as a research assistant for the KonsortSWD project at SOEP.

Job Openings at SOEP

We’d like to call your attention to job openings at the SOEP: For example, we are currently looking for a research assistant (f/m/div) for a scientific research position in the field of survey methodology with a focus on empirical social research. All our job openings can be found on on this page.

IAB – 16^th workshop of the panel surveys in German-speaking countries

The 16^th workshop of the panel surveys in German-speaking countries will take place on April 29 and 30, 2024, at the IAB, in Nuremberg. Participation is free of charge but requires registration. Conference language is principally German. Online registration is open until March 10, 2024.

SLLS – Call for Papers: Annual International Conference 2024 "Inequalities Across Life Courses and Generations: Interdisciplinary Perspectives"

Mark your calendars for the 13^th annual conference of the Society for Longitudinal and Lifecourse Studies (SLLS), hosted by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) / Understanding Society, from September 24 to 26, 2024, at the University of Essex. Extended deadline for submissions is March 14, 2024.

IAB and DZHW – Call for Papers: 6th Forum “Higher Education and the Labour Market” (HELM)

The conference organized by the IAB and DZHW with the main topic “The Bologna Process After 25 Years: Continuities, Changes, and Evaluations” will take place on June 19 and 20, 2024, in Hanover. The conference language is English. You can find the complete Call for Papers here (deadline is April 8, 2024).

GESIS – Second International User Conference of the German Family Demography Panel Study FReDA 2024

The second international FReDA User Conference will be held in Mannheim, Germany, on October 7 and 8, 2024. Keynotes will be delivered by Pia Schober (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen) and by Prof. Denis Gerstorf (Humboldt-Universität Berlin). The submission deadline to support.freda@gesis.org is April 21, 2024.

ISQOLS – 22^nd Annual Conference: “Human Happiness and Wellbeing in an Uncertain World”

The International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) is holding its 22^nd conference from June 25 to 28, 2024, at the University Malaysia Sabah, in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. The theme of the conference is “Human Happiness and Wellbeing in an Uncertain World.”