Project Details
Projekt
Dynamic Surveys for Dynamic Life Courses
Applicants
Dr. Sebastian Lang; Dr. David Ohlendorf; Dr. Heike Spangenberg
Subject Area
Empirical Social Research
Term
since 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 539649206
The collection of life course data has become an important field of quantitative social research in recent decades. Such retrospectively collected, biographical data enable researchers to consider the occurrence of events as well as their duration, sequence, and timing, and to focus on longer sequences in order to pursue a variety of research questions. Life history calendars (LHCs) have proven useful for collecting life history data. A LHC usually is a calendar-like matrix in which respondents enter dates and periods of past events for several predefined categories (education, employment, parental leave, etc.). Existing LHCs are usually interviewer-based. Due to rising costs and declining response rates, a transition to self-administered surveys, as implemented at the DZHW, is preferable. However, the use of an LHC in a CAWI contains specific challenges. Especially for longer time spans with many episodes, complexity, and survey duration increase, with negative implications for survey load. In addition, recall errors and reduced data quality can be the consequence. One option to address these challenges (response burden, data quality/completeness, response rates) is to further develop the dynamic LHC available at DZHW (consisting of an LHC and looping questions that enrich episodes with additional information) into a web application with permanent access for respondents so that they can report changes in their life course at any time and shortly after their occurrence. The aim of our project is not only to develop such an innovative survey instrument, but also to investigate its possible capabilities, limitations, and effects on data quality, survey load, and response rates. In the second part of this project, the Web App based collection of life history data will therefore be evaluated by means of an experiment with two different samples and two treatment groups as well as one control group each (treatment a: one-year retrospective survey and quarterly reminders for new entries; treatment b: one-year retrospective survey and half-yearly reminders for new entries; control group: two-years retrospective survey). The results and applications from this project can offer a significant contribution to survey methodology within the area of life history data and building upon our preliminary efforts in this research area. Beyond its purely scientific contribution and its application in DZHW panel studies, we intend to share our developed instruments with the broader scientific community aiming to improve the collection of life course data in online surveys in general.
DFG Programme
Infrastructure Priority Programmes
