SOEPnewsletter July 2024

Data Release: The first Scientific Use File of the IAB-BiB/FReDA-BAMF-SOEP Survey “Refugees from Ukraine in Germany” is now available

The new published data set „IAB-BiB/FReDA-BAMF-SOEP, Version UKR, 2022-2023“ includes survey data and generated indicators of 11,754 Ukrainian refugees between the ages of 18 and 70, who took part in a comprehensive social science survey between August and October 2022. A second survey wave with 6,835 respondents was conducted between January and March 2023. 

To generate the random sample for the project, Germany’s Central Register of Foreign Nationals was used to identify 100 German municipalities where large numbers of Ukrainian refugees were registered. Ukrainian refugees in these municipalities were selected randomly and invited to participate in the survey. The fieldwork for the study was conducted by the Institute for Applied Social Sciences (infas) using an online questionnaire. Respondents were also given the option of completing the questionnaire on paper.

All registered data users can order the latest data immediately via our online order form. Also, the latest data edition v39 is now available for pre-order.

The IAB-BiB/FReDA-BAMF-SOEP Survey "Refugees from Ukraine in Germany" was established by five partner organizations: the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) of the Federal Employment Agency (BA), the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB), the Family Research and Demographic Analysis (FReDA) project, the Research Center of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ) and the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at DIW Berlin. It builds on the “IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees,” which has been running since 2016, and the Family Research and Demographic Analysis (FReDA) project.

 

Open (Meta-)Data Format: The SOEP Scientific Use Files are now available

The Scientific Use Files of the SOEP are now available in the newly developed Open Data Format (opendf). This format was developed in KonsortSWD project. It is a non-proprietary, platform-independent and metadata-enriched data format that complies with the FAIR principles for the administration and management of scientific data. It was specifically developed for survey data and can be enriched with multilingual metadata. In the course of the project, software packages for R and Stata were developed to enable data users to read and write datasets in opendf in R and Stata and to access the metadata stored in the data. Instructions for using the SOEP data in opendf can be found here.

40th anniversary of SOEP

On July 3, we celebrated the 40th SOEP anniversary together with around 120 guests at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities – you can find visual impressions here (in German).

One aspect in particular stood out from the speeches of the well-wishers: especially in times of high political and social uncertainty, the SOEP is an important pillar for gaining knowledge about our society. Its “treasure trove of data,” said Martina Brockmeier, President of the Leibniz Association, will become even more valuable in the future. The speakers also praised the SOEP's innovative strength and its efforts to always be “at the cutting edge,” as Jutta Mata (Chair of the SOEP Survey Committee) and others put it. We are proud of the SOEP’s success story, its range and high relevance for society, politics, and the media. 

In addition to guests from the circle of donors, representatives of the founding generation of SOEP, the DIW Board of Trustees, the survey institute, friends of SOEP, SOEP board members, and DIW Berlin colleagues were present. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our companions, supporters and, of course, the SOEP team, without whose energy and passion neither the elaborate implementation of the study nor the maintenance of such a high scientific standard would be possible. Our thanks also go above all to the respondents, without whom the study would not have been so successful!

We also thank the Association of Friends of DIW Berlin (VdF) and infas (Institute for Applied Social Sciences) for their generous financial support of the event.

News

New DFG-Project “Surveying Panel Participants’ Network Members: Integration of Egocentric Data Collection and Respondent-Driven Sampling”

The fact that individuals are embedded in social contexts is something that many large-scale, cross-thematic social science surveys already attempt to do justice to – so far research has only been partially successful. The aim of this study, which was launched at the beginning of June (project managers are Carina Cornesse, and Sabine Zinn), is to supplement and improve the existing data collection strategies – survey designs for multiple actors (MA) and questionnaire modules for egocentric networks (ECN) – with Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS). For this purpose, the 2025 data collection wave of the German Social Cohesion Panel (SCP) will be extended to include an RDS procedure. The resulting network data will be analyzed together with the panel data.

Learn more about this network sampling strategy and the project objectives on the project page.

 

New DFG-Project “Video-interviewing as part of a targeted multi-mode design in household panel surveys (CALVI)”

To ensure continuous participation in, and data quality of, surveys, the survey landscape must adapt to the changing social reality, especially with regard to mobility and digitalization. This research project aims to determine under what circumstances, to what extent, and with which specific demographic subgroups video interviews (CALVI) can and should be conducted. This includes investigating potential non-response biases that may occur when CALVI is used for first-time respondents and/or for established panel members.

The project (project managers are Carina Cornesse, Markus M. Grabka, and Sabine Zinn), which started June 1st, has two objectives: 1) To test and optimize the feasibility of CALVI in a mixed-mode household panel survey, the SOEP Innovation Panel (SOEP-IS). 2) To develop a targeted multi-mode survey strategy that includes CALVI alongside CAPI and CAWI to maximize response rates and data quality within a fixed financial budget. Further information on the study can be found here.

 

New VolkswagenStiftung-Project “DECIPHE – Demographic Change and the Intergenerational Persistence in Homeownership in Europe”

DECIPHE is the first project to comprehensively investigate whether and how profoundly demographic changes in Europe affect the intergenerational persistence of home ownership. Differences between countries, regions, and birth cohorts are taken into account. The comparative research design focuses on four key countries - Germany, Hungary, Spain and the United Kingdom - and draws on existing longitudinal data in combination with newly collected survey data, including survey experiments, and a new contextual database.

The empirical results will feed into a microsimulation model of demographic conditions of intergenerational persistence to predict future scenarios. Here you can find more information about the study, which also started on June 1^st under the project management of Philipp Lersch, and Sabine Zinn.

 

Combatting pandemics together: funding for pioneering “Leibniz Lab” with SOEP participation

The new Leibniz Lab “Pandemic Preparedness: One Health, One Future” links excellent inter- and transdisciplinary research from 41 Leibniz institutes. For the first time in Germany, pathogen-oriented sciences (virology, bacteriology, mycology, and immunology) are collaborating with other life sciences such as ecology, health technologies, health economics, and educational research.

The Socio-Economic Panel is involved in the Leibniz-Lab through Sabine Zinn (Acting Director of the SOEP and Head of the Survey Methodology and Management Department). The starting point of the sub-project for which she is responsible is the fact that there is currently no comprehensive health database in Germany that could serve as a basis for policy advice during a pandemic. This is where the SOEP comes in: SOEP access routes and linkage methods with existing, decentralized health datasets will be investigated. “SOEP has broad expertise in the field of statistical methods and many years of experience in linking data from various external data sources,” explains Sabine Zinn. “We want to make our contribution to ensuring that future pandemics can be countered efficiently and effectively.”

The “Leibniz Lab” is a new funding instrument of the Leibniz Association and will be funded for three years with three million euros. The aim is to pool research in these areas in order to prepare, to prevent, and to respond better to future pandemics and to make the knowledge gained available to policymakers in the form of evidence-based recommendations for action.

^{Press release of the Leibniz-Gemeinschaft (in German)}

 

SOEP RegioHub successful in “Leibniz ScienceCampus” competition

The Leibniz Association announced funding for seven ScienceCampuses, including the existing campus “SOEP RegioHub” (“Regional Development Dynamics and their Social, Economic and Political Consequences”). This cooperation between SOEP and Bielefeld University will be funded for a further four years.

Leibniz ScienceCampuses serve the strategic networking of Leibniz institutes with universities and other cooperation partners. In the case of the SOEP RegioHub campus, researchers from both institutions are investigating the question of what consequences regional disparities have for social cohesion. How do structural, demographic, and economic disparities influence people’s political attitudes and behavior? In addition, the role of local media in shaping public opinion will be analyzed in the second funding phase. The spokesperson for the Leibniz ScienceCampus SOEP RegioHub is Jan Goebel, Head of the SOEP Data Operation and Research Data Centre.

^{Press release of the Leibniz-Gemeinschaft (in German)} 

 

New SOEP Research Group „Life Course and Inequality”

We are excited to announce that Philipp Lersch is heading the new SOEP research group “Life Course and Inequality“ since the beginning of May. It examines how social inequalities develop across and between the life courses of individuals within diverse and changing societal contexts. Working at the intersection of sociology, demography, and economics, the group primarily focuses on economic wealth and labor market inequalities. The group predominantly utilizes international longitudinal data from household surveys and public registers, analyzing these data with a theory-driven approach and employing modern quantitative methods. Philipp Lersch has been awarded the highly prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant from the EU and the research group will support him over the next five years in implementing his ERC research program.

Events

CfP: Workshop “Life-course Inequality Dynamics”

Our open workshop will take place October 24-25, 2024, at DIW Berlin, and is part of the project Life-Course Inequality Dynamics, funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR, French National Research Agency). It seeks to bring together scholars whose research focuses, from a lifecycle perspective, on inequalities in, and fluctuations of, economic resources and their drivers.

Keynote Speakers are Cecilia García Peñalosa, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, and Giacomo Corneo, Freie Universität Berlin.

We invite submissions that deal with any aspect of inequality dynamics over the lifecycle. There is no participation fee. Travel expenses are not covered.

If you would like to participate in the workshop and / or present your own research, please send your application to: LINDY@diw.de.

If you want to present, please be sure to submit an extended abstract or full paper. The submission deadline is August 25, 2024.

 

SOEPcampus: Learn to use SOEP over lunch

In October, the SOEP will hold another online workshop, “Learn to use SOEP over lunch”, with Sandra Bohmann, offering a brief introduction to SOEP data. The workshop will take place almost every Tuesday — from 12 to 1:30 pm on October 16, 23, and 30. The workshop offers an introduction to the SOEP’s survey topics, analytical potentials, data structure, sample selection, and weighting strategy, as well as an overview of available documentation.

To register and receive access codes, please contact Janina Britzke with your name and institutional affiliation. The workshop is free of charge and will be in English. Further information can be found here.

 

Results of the 2023 SOEP User Survey

The annual SOEP user survey took place at the end of 2023, with 837 participants, 65.5 percent of whom took part for the first time. The shortened questionnaire with 31 questions enabled quicker completion, averaging 8.5 minutes.

Stata and R remain the preferred statistical programs for SOEP users, although the proportion of R users has risen sharply since 2019. New users, in particular, show an increased affinity for R, while long-time users continue to prefer Stata.

Overall satisfaction with the SOEP data remained stable at a high level of 7.8 out of 10 points. The reliability, comparability, and large sample size of the data were particularly praised. At the same time, there was feedback indicating potential for improvement in user-friendliness and documentation, although these aspects were each rated 0.3 points better than in the previous year (figure 1).

^{Figure 1: Average satisfaction of respondents with individual aspects of data quality}

SOEP-IS also achieved high satisfaction ratings. A growing number of users are working with the innovation modules, with ratings for accessibility, data quality, and documentation having risen significantly since 2018.

There is more good news to report from the Research Data Center and Survey Management: Following the completion of the conversion processes associated with the switch to infas, the final data for the 2023 survey year can be released significantly earlier than in previous years. The field start for the 2024 survey year and the development of the questionnaires for 2025 will also begin much earlier than in previous years. This progress makes us confident that we will be able to get the data to users faster in the future.

We would like to thank all participants in the 2023 SOEP user survey and invite you to view further results on our website.

G.G. Wagner Memorial Service

On January 28, 2024, Gert G. Wagner died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 71. Together with the Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung (MPIB) and the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (BBAW), DIW Berlin honored Gert G. Wagner with a memorial service on May 30.

On this day, many of his friends and acquaintances, like Jutta Allmendinger and Edelgard Bulmahn, came to DIW Berlin and later to the Leibniz Hall of the BBAW to reflect on his achievements and to honor him as a person and as a committed scientist, promoter of research-based infrastructures, and an intelligent advocate of knowledge transfer.

Publications

SOEP publishes Annual Report 2023 – scope and successes of the longest-running household survey – high-caliber research projects launched

What is the state of poverty and social cohesion in Germany? What about the integration of Ukrainian refugees? How has people's mental health developed over the last 20 years? In 2023, researchers from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) once again used its long-term panel data to conduct research on a wide range of topics relating to social change in Germany.

In the 2023 annual report, SOEP looks back on an eventful year, from first-class publications to the successful acquisition of innovative third-party funding projects, in particular an ERC Consolidator Grant from the European Commission in the area of wealth research (SOEP researcher Philipp Lersch). Readers also learn more about SOEP in the media, the people behind SOEP, and the implementation of the study.

"Living in Germany," as the study is officially called, was launched for the 40th time in 2023. The participants were asked about their living and working conditions, their satisfaction and health as well as their income. In addition, the second wave of the study among Ukrainian refugees (SUARE, funded by the German Research Foundation) provided new insights into their integration in Germany.

Migration is one of the main research areas of the SOEP at DIW Berlin, alongside inequality and distribution, health and well-being, and survey methodology. In 2023, the SOEP team worked on a total of 39 third-party funded projects with numerous renowned cooperation partners. In addition, around 15,000 researchers worldwide made use of this wealth of data, publishing around 450 research articles based on SOEP data.

The report is available free of charge as a PDF. You can request a printed version by mail.

 

Public health: socioeconomic factors determine how well we cope with pandemic-induced stress

How does pandemic stress affect people’s lives and which groups in particular? Researchers including Markus M. Grabka use data from the RKI-SOEP-2 study to shed light on the life domains of family, partnership, own financial situation, psychological well-being, leisure activity, social life, and work/school situation. Do all socioeconomic groups in the working-age population cope in a similar way? The results: PIPS (pandemic-induced psychosocial stress) generally has the strongest impact on the areas of social life and leisure activity. Inequalities can be observed along the lines of certain socioeconomic groups: gender and age (higher stress levels in women and younger people), between low vs. high income, as well as between low vs. high education groups (lower education and, respectively, lower income leading to higher PIPS levels). Thus, support measures during pandemics should specifically target these groups.

^{Beese, F. / Wachtler, B. / Grabka, M.M. / Blume, M. / Kersjes, C. / et al. (2024). Socioeconomic Inequalities in Pandemic-induced Psychosocial Stress in Different Life Domains among the Working-Age Population. BMC Public Health 24 (2024), 1421. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-18874-3.}

 

Do broken family structures or low financial resources increase educational inequalities?

This paper investigates in what way family trajectories affect children’s math and reading skills and to what extent the parents’ educational level plays a role. The researchers, among others SOEP team member Jascha Dräger, compare SOEP data with longitudinal data from England, France, and the United States. They show that children of less educated mothers are less likely to live continuously with their two biological parents. Children who no longer live with both parents have lower math and reading scores, both at the end of primary and lower secondary school. However, in a life course perspective including children’s initial skills, family trajectories only play a marginal role for the level of math and reading skills, especially in Germany and France. The educational gap can be explained better with financial resource distribution. To close this gap, countries should consider supporting family incomes, especially during periods of family transition. 

^{Solaz, A. / Panico, L. / Sheridan, A. / Schneider, T. / Dräger, J. / et al. (2024). Does Family Structure Account for Child Achievement Gaps by Parental Education? Findings for England, France, Germany and the United States. Population and Development Review 50 (2), 461-512. DOI: 10.1111/padr.12623.}

 

New social dynamics questionnaire

How quickly are our needs for social contact satisfied? This is the starting point for a theoretical paper by Michael D. Krämer, David Richter, and his co-authors. Drawing on a survey conducted in spring 2020, they establish a new framework to investigate individual differences in social dynamics along the lines of family-friends interdependence, social deprivation, and social oversatiation. Their self-report questionnaire used to measure social dynamics across relationships and time proved to render valid results.

^{Wrzus, C. / Roos, Y. / Krämer, M.D. / Richter, D. (2024). Individual Differences in Short-term Social Dynamics : Theoretical Perspective and Empirical Development of the Social Dynamics Scale. Current Psychology 43, 20899-20919. DOI: 10.1007/s12144-024-05868-y.}

 

Analyzing multiple life events and their effects on satisfaction

How to best analyze central life events and their effects over the life course? The authors of this paper (including Michael D. Krämer, and David Richter) decide to compare three different models while investigating the effect of life events on life satisfaction. They demonstrate strengths and weaknesses when conducting a multi-event analysis. Among others, their preferred model shows that the events of new partner, cohabitation, marriage, and childbirth have positive effects on life satisfaction, while separation, unemployment, and death of a partner or child have negative effects.

^{Krämer, M.D. / Rohrer, J.M. / Lucas, R.E. / Richter, D. (2024). Life Events and Life Satisfaction: Estimating Effects of Multiple Life Events in Combined Models. European Journal of Personality (online first). DOI: 10.1177/08902070241231017.}

 

How do reception centres affect asylum seekers’ and refugees’ health?

The relationship of housing conditions in the so-called “reception centres” in Germany on the health of asylum seekers and refugees (in short: ASR) is still under-researched. A motivation for Louise Biddle and her co-authors to take a closer look. Through qualitative analysis of interviews with 42 ASR, Biddle et. al. find that the centres have various detrimental effects that should be of concern to public health and migration officials. Most importantly, the centres worsen existing health conditions through excessive overcrowding, insufficient infrastructure, and the inability to meet health-related needs. Material and hygienic conditions, the unpredictability and instability of housing, and limited autonomy are associated with negative effects on health. The centres create stressful living environments for ASR, and frequent transfers further burden their psychosocial health.

^{Rast, E. / Hintermeier, M. / Bozorgmehr, K. / Biddle, L. (2024). Housing and Health: A Multidimensional, Qualitative Analysis of the Experiences of Asylum Seekers and Refugees Living in German Reception Centres. SSM – Qualitative Research in Health 5 (June 2024), 100407. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmqr.2024.100407.}

 

Changes in Germany’s labor market since the Reunification: more work, less hours

In DIW Wochenbericht 16/2024 (in German), Mattis Beckmannshagen and his co-author Annika Sperling trace the development of working hours in Germany since the reunification. They find that while average working hours for individuals have decreased, the volume of work reached a record high in 2023 compared to the values since 1991. Women’s labor market participation has increased, yet the labor market potential of women is not being fully used. The study shows that, on average, women still perform significantly more care work than men and work fewer hours in a job. Possible countermeasures could be reforms to income tax brackets and the splitting of spousal benefits, according to the authors of the study.

^{Infographic for Beckmannshagen, M. (2024): Durchschnittliche Arbeitszeiten in Deutschland sinken, Gesamtarbeitsvolumen auf Rekordhoch. DIW- Wochenbericht 16/2024, 239-246.}

^{Video-Interview (in German) with Mattis Beckmannshagen (DIW). (Audio-)Interview (in German) with Mattis Beckmannshagen (DIW). Selected Media Coverage (in German): ZEIT online und Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (April 17, 2024).}

 

In-depth report on asylum seekers and refugees: From flight experiences to support services in Germany

DIW Wochenbericht 12/2024 (in German) contains various articles on current issues and challenges for refugees and asylum seekers in Germany, building on data from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP survey. Louise Biddle reports on the limited access to health care for asylum seekers. Currently, they are excluded from healthcare services until their asylum application has been processed. In February 2024, maximum waiting times were increased from 18 to 36 months. Biddle shows that people with low educational levels and low German skills have significantly higher waiting times in the 36-month scenario. A universal introduction of the electronic health card could benefit asylum seekers and institutions alike.

^{Infographic for Biddle, L. (2024). Extended Restrictions to Health Care Entitlements for Refugees: Negative Health Consequences Without the Anticipated Savings. DIW Weekly Report 12-2024, 97-10. Video-Interview (in German) with Louise Biddle (DIW).}

Jana Nebelin and Cornelia Kristen analyze flight routes and fatalities. The central Mediterranean route is where most refugees report to have had negative experiences. It is also the most dangerous, which is proven by statistics on fatalities. Asked about the kinds of negative experience during flight, many refugees declined to answer.

^{Infographic for Kristen, C. / Nebelin, J. (2024). Geflüchtete kommen auf gefährlichen Wegen nach Deutschland. DIW-Wochenbericht 12/2024, 181-190. (Audio-)Interview (in German) with Cornelia Kristen (DIW).} 

Ellen Heidinger examines refugees’ use of, and needs for, support services. She finds that there are various obstacles for refugees to use support services, even if they exist: lack of information about the offers, language barriers, lack of knowledge of social norms, as well as discrimination and stigmatization. The higher the level of education and the more work experience someone has already gained in their home country, the more likely they are to make use of the existing support services. To ensure that services are used by all groups of refugees, language and culturally sensitive offers must be expanded.  

^{Infographic for Heidinger, E. (2024). Bedarf an und Inanspruchnahme von Unterstützung bei Geflüchteten ungleich verteilt. DIW-Wochenbericht 12/2024, 191-198.}

Meeting of Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees met on May 2, 2024, and appointed Christina Boll as a new member of the SOEP Survey Council. Sabine Zinn was appointed as Acting Director of SOEP by the Board of Trustees for another four years.

 

Degrees and dissertations

On April 10, David Kasprowski, still SOEP researcher at that time, successfully completed his dissertation entitled "'Queering' Social Class. On the connection between sexual orientation, gender identity and social class" at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. David submitted and defended the dissertation as part of the Berlin Graduate School of Social Sciences (BGSS). The committee consisted of Ellen Heidinger (SOEP and BGSS), Anette Fasang, Mirjam Fischer, Diederik Boertien (CED Barcelona), and Kathrin Zippel (FU Berlin). David’s exploration using quantitative methods is groundbreaking and vital. Congratulations on the successful defense to David!

 

Appointments

Jan Goebel was appointed in the Scientific Advisory Board of the IOER Research Data Centre (IOER RDC).

 

Awards

Lorenz Meister at Opportunity Insights Lab in Harvard

Lorenz Meister is currently a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University's Opportunity Insights Lab on the invitation of Raj Chetty, where he is investigating the intricacies of social mobility and populism. We are delighted about this prestigious appointment and wish him all the best for his research at Harvard.

 

SOEP departure

Laura Buchinger, research associate at SOEP, left the Institute on April 14 and is now working as a research associate at the Institute of Psychology at HU Berlin.

On April 30, 2024, we also said goodbye to David Kasprowski, doctoral student at SOEP in the field of survey methodology and management.

However, both are still guest researchers at SOEP, so these are not ‘goodbyes’, but rather ‘see you again soon’.

We wish them all the best for the future!

 

Welcome to SOEP

The Survey Methodology and Management Division has gained three new employees:

Mariel McKone Leonard has been working as interim head of SOEP-IS since April 1. Similar to Carina Cornesse, she has the task of managing SOEP-IS, including the coordination and planning of data collection in 2024 alongside data preparation and distribution of 2022 and 2023 results. 

Julia Witton started working as a research assistant in the new DFG project “CALVI” on July 1 and

Felix von Heusinger will join SOEP as a research associate in the new VolkswagenStiftung project “DECIPHE” on August 1.

 

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 Postdoc (f/m/div) for the WEALTHTRAJECT Project. All our job openings can be found on this page.

 

Community News

Honorable mention of the SOEP by election researcher Thorsten Faas

In the Übermedien podcast “Holger ruft an (161)” of June 10, 2024, with the title (in German) of “Wie verwirrend kann so ein Wahlabend sein?,” Holger Klein talks to Thorsten Faas (FU Berlin) about German election reporting. Faas finds it problematic how figures are presented, for example graphics on voter migration. It is difficult when the media constantly switches back and forth, failing to make clear which comparative values they are using. He mentions panel surveys as a transparent source of information and names the SOEP as an instrument that does not directly conduct political research but has been collecting data on socio-economic developments in long-term surveys since 1984, which makes it possible to assess who benefits from specific reforms, who is particularly harmed by crises, as well as to answer questions on life satisfaction, political interest, and party identification.

 

DIW Wochenbericht based on SOEP data

DIW Berlin also regularly uses our SOEP data: An analysis published in the DIW Wochenbericht 25-2024 (only in German) based on current SOEP data describes that higher incomes are associated with higher life expectancy and better mental and physical health. Unlike for men, however, individual income is not linked to life expectancy for women. People with higher household incomes have a lower risk of dying and better health; this applies to both men and women. Consequently, upgrading low pension entitlements does not contradict the equivalence principle of pension insurance.

^{Geyer, J. / Haan, P. / Tréguier, J. (2024). Höheres Haushaltseinkommen geht bei Frauen und Männern mit höherer Lebenserwartung einher. DIW-Wochenbericht 25 / 2024, S. 395-400.}

 

SOEP alumni Jule Adriaans awarded Peter A. Berger Prize by the German Sociological Association

Jule Adriaans was awarded the Peter A. Berger Prize 2024 for her dissertation on “Distributive Justice: Definition, Determinants, and Consequences of the Justice of Earnings.” After Adriaans, a SOEP doctoral candidate (2018-2022), completed her PhD at the University of Bielefeld, she accepted a postdoc position at its Faculty of Sociology. Her work focuses mainly on income inequality and justice, with a comparative European perspective. In “How do my earnings compare? Pay referents and just earnings” (joint with Philipp Simon Eisnecker), which was recently published in the European Sociological Review, she uses SOEP data and combines it with regional earnings data from Federal and State Statistical Offices.

The “Social Inequality and Social Structure Analysis” section of the German Sociological Association awards the Peter A. Berger Section Prize for outstanding dissertations every two years. The award ceremony will take place during the Section's fall conference from September 17-19, 2024, at the University of Cologne.

VfS Annual Conference 2024

The annual conference of the Verein für Socialpolitik (VfS) will take place at TU Berlin September 15 to 18, 2024, under the heading “Upcoming Labor Market Challenges.” The keynotes at the core conference part are focusing on three core subjects: Regional inequalities, the role of women in the labor market, and immigration. Held by leading scholars in the field, the speakers will discuss the latest research and assess different policy approaches. Information on the program and registration can be found here.

 

GESIS Summer School and Fall Seminar in Computational Social Science 2024

Join lecturers and meet participants from all over the world and from many different fields in person and online from July 24 to August 26, 2024, to take part in Europe's leading summer school in survey methodology, research design, and data collection. There is no registration deadline, but places are limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Fall Seminar in Computational Social Science 2024 takes place from August 30 to September 27, 2024, and offers a variety of introductory and advanced courses in computational social science methods in Mannheim and online. It targets researchers who want to collect and analyze data from the web, social media, or digital text archives. All courses are taught in English. For registration, please sign up here!

 

ESRA 2025: Call for Session Proposals
The 11th conference of the European Survey Research Association (ESRA) will take place from July 14-18, 2025, and will be hosted by Utrecht University. The conference theme is “Promises and problems of new and alternative data sources and data formats for survey research. Methodological challenges and substantive conclusions.”
Session abstracts (max. 300 words) can be submitted by September 1, 2024. The full call can be found here.

 

DGOF Best Paper Award 2025: Call for Papers

The German Society for Online Research (DGOF) annually recognizes outstanding scientific contributions in online research (by a researcher or group of researchers).

The award is worth 500 Euro and will be presented at the annual GOR conference. An abstract (and, if available, an open access version) of the award-winning paper will be posted to the DGOF website. Peer-reviewed papers written in German or English and published not earlier than 2023 (online-first publication date counts) can be submitted for the DGOF Best Paper Award 2025 by September 30, 2024. In addition, please send the following material to office@dgof.de (subject line: “DGOF Best Paper Award 2025”). You can find the Call for Papers here.

 

ISQOLS: The 1st Regional ISQOLS Conference-Africa

The first regional ISQUOLS conference in Africa, "Well-being and Happiness in a Democratic World", aims to gather the international community of quality of life and well-being researchers, practitioners, PhD candidates, Post-Docs and policymakers to share and exchange knowledge with researchers from Africa. It will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from October 3-5, 2024. Distinguished keynote speakers are Dr Andrew Clark, Chaired Professor at the Paris School of Economics and Director of the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), and Dr Martijn Burger, Academic Director at EHERO and Professor of Happiness Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam and the Open University of the Netherlands, also serving as Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg and Dr Linda Theron, Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria and Extraordinary Professor: Optentia Research Entity, North-West University.

 

GESIS – 9^th European User Conference: Call for Abstracts

Microdata from Eurostat - SILC, LFS, AES, SES, CIS, CSIS, EHIS, HBS and TUS

This call invites you to submit an abstract to the 9^th User Conference in Mannheim, on March 6-7, 2025, organized by German Microdata Lab, GESIS, in cooperation with Eurostat. Researchers of all disciplines who use European microdata are encouraged to submit an abstract. All social research to be presented must be comparative and be based on data from at least two countries. The deadline for submissions of abstracts is October 13, 2024.

For any further questions, please visit the conference webpage.