German Internet Panel, Wave 10 (March 2014)

The German Internet Panel (GIP) is an infrastructure project. The GIP serves to collect data about individual attitudes and preferences which are relevant for political and economic decision-making processes.

Experimental variations in the instruments were used. The questionnaire contains numerous randomizations (order of questions or answer categories) as well as a cross-questionnaire experiment.

Topics: Party preference (Sunday question); perception of CDU/CSU as closed or divided (scalometer); greatest problem-solving competence of the parties CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP, Bündnis90/Die Grünen and Die Linke in selected policy areas (labour market, foreign policy, education and research, citizen participation, energy supply, European integration, family, health system, equality, internal security, personal rights, pension system, national debt, tax system, environmental and climate protection, transport, defence, currency, economy, immigration and integration); political knowledge: assignment of the parties CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP, Bündnis90/Die Grünen and Die Linke to the federal government or the opposition; assessment of the importance of the above-mentioned policy fields for the federal government; left-right rating of the current government coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD as well as possible government coalitions of CDU/CSU and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen or from SPD, Die Linke and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (Skalometer); opinion on the assertiveness of the SPD in the coalition negotiations after the Bundestag elections (not at all, according to its share of seats, very strong, scalometer); opinion on the responsibility of the state for health care (scalometer); demand for a reform of the health care system; demand for more or less expenditure by the state and the statutory health insurance for the health system; most and least preferred measure for financing the health care system; willingness to participate in the family doctor model; opinion on the electronic health card; preference for individual practices or medical care centres; self-assessment of the state of health; responsibility of the state for an appropriate standard of living in old age; demand for reform of the pension system; preferred level of government expenditure on pensions compared to current expenditure; in the wake of demographic change, the least and most preferred proposal for financing statutory pensions (statutory pension should retain its current level, even if this means higher contribution rates, statutory pension and contribution rates should be maintained at their current level, instead raising the retirement age, government should increase general taxes to maintain the statutory pension at its current level, reduction of statutory pension benefits in line with demographic developments); certainty regarding the financing preference made; attitude towards the distribution of pensions; minimum pension: preference for solidarity pension or life expectancy pension; opinion on raising the retirement age to 67; labour market policy: state responsibility for an adequate standard of living for the unemployed; demand for reform of social security for the unemployed; preferred level of state expenditure on unemployment benefits; preferred proposal on the level of earned income and unemployment benefits for the first year; attitude towards unemployment benefit II; assessment of the Hartz IV reform (basic insurance for job seekers); advocacy or rejection of a statutory minimum wage; certainty of this decision; convictions with regard to social justice (equal shares for all as the fairest form of income distribution, fair to retain one´s own earnings, even if some are richer than others, people should get what they need to live on, even if the better earners have to pay from their income to do so); demand for measures by the state to reduce income differences; intention to vote and party preference in the European elections.

Demography: sex; citizenship; year of birth (categorised); highest school leaving certificate; highest professional qualification; marital status; household size; employment status; private internet use; federal state.

Additionally coded was: interview date; questionnaire evaluation; assessment of the survey as a whole; unique ID, household ID and person ID within the household.