ALLBUS/GGSS 2006 (Allgemeine Bevölkerungsumfrage der Sozialwissenschaften/German General Social Survey 2006)

ALLBUS (GGSS - the German General Social Survey) is a biennial trend survey based on random samples of the German population. Established in 1980, its mission is to monitor attitudes, behavior, and social change in Germany. Each ALLBUS cross-sectional survey consists of one or two main question modules covering changing topics, a range of supplementary questions and a core module providing detailed demographic information. Additionally, data on the interview and the interviewers are provided as well. Key topics generally follow a 10-year replication cycle, many individual indicators and item batteries are replicated at shorter intervals.

Since the mid-1980ies ALLBUS also regularly hosts one or two modules of the ISSP (International Social Survey Programme).

The main topic of ALLBUS/GGSS 2006 is attitudes towards different ethnic groups in Germany (with questions on attitudes towards and contacts with foreigners, acceptance of immigration, perception of discrimination, social distance towards ethnic groups, and anti-Semitism). Other topics are, for example, marriage and family, abortion, political attitudes, and attitudes towards the process of German unification. In addition, the ISSP modules "Work Orientations III" and "Role of Government IV" are included.<br>1. Attitudes towards abortion: abortion because of health risks for
mother or child; abortion because married woman does not want more
children; abortion after rape, due to financial situation or by
single women not wanting to marry; permitting abortion without
restriction.

2. Acceptance of immigration, of ethnic minorities, and of Jews in
Germany: attitude towards the influx of various groups of immigrants;
scale of attitudes towards foreigners; contacts with foreigners within
the family, at work, in the neighborhood, or among friends; perceived
consequences of presence of foreigners in Germany; perception and evaluation
of discriminatory behavior towards foreigners; assumed social evaluation
statements on foreigners; ranking in terms of importance of different
citizenship requirements; opinion on dual citizenship and on equality
before the law for foreigners; support for the teaching of Islam in
public schools; attitude towards ethnically mixed neighborhoods;
estimation of proportion of foreigners in East and West Germany; living
in neighborhoods with high percentage of foreigners; percentage of
foreigners in local county (Kreis); local relationship between
foreigners and Germans; perceived differences in lifestyle; indicators
for social distance to ethnic minorities and foreigners; items on
anti-Semitism; opinion of peers on foreigners.

3. Citizenship and country of origin: first, second, and third
citizenship of respondent and of spouse or partner; number of
citizenships of respondent and of spouse or partner; original
citizenship of respondent and of spouse or partner; country of origin
of respondent and of respondent´s parents and grandparents; country
respondent lived in when young; length of residence in Germany.

4. Self-assessment of personal characteristics: respondent
investigates the qualifications of candidates in elections, sometimes
feels resentful, is a good listener, sometimes ´plays sick´, takes
advantage of others, is willing to admit mistakes, practices what s/he
preaches, is always courteous, is irritated by people asking favors,
has never deliberately hurt others (Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability
Scale).

5. Political attitudes: political interest; postmaterialism
(importance of law and order, fighting rising prices, free expression
of opinions, and influence on governmental decisions); self-placement
on left-right continuum.

6. Attitudes relating to the process of German unification: attitude
towards demand for increased willingness to make sacrifices in the West
and more patience in the East; unification is advantageous, for East
and West respectively; the future in the East depends on the
willingness of eastern Germans to make an effort; strangeness of
citizens in the other part of Germany; pressures to work harder in the
East; attitudes towards the Stasi-past of individuals; evaluation of
socialism as an idea.

7. Other topics: family as a prerequisite for happiness; marriage in
case of steady partnership; desire to have children; social pessimism
and orientation towards the future (anomia); self-assessment of social
class; fair share in standard of living; pride in being a German;
treatment of national socialist past; authoritarianism; assessment of
the present and future economic situation in Germany and of present and
future personal economic situation; telephone; possession of mobile
phone; internet use.$8. ALLBUS-Demography:

Details about the respondent: month and year of birth, age, gender,
citizenship (nationality), number of citizenships, place of residence
(federal state, administrative district, size of municipality, BIK-type
of region), geographical origin, religious denomination, frequency of
church attendance, school education, vocational training, employment
status, details about current and former occupation respectively, fear
of unemployment, affiliation to public service, supervisory functions,
date of termination of full- or part-time employment, working hours per
week (primary and secondary job), status of non-employment, length of
unemployment, respondent´s income, type of dwelling, self-description
of place of residence, overall health, marital status, voting intention
(Sonntagsfrage) and electoral participation.

Details about respondent´s current spouse: age, month and year of
birth, citizenship (nationality), number of citizenships, school
education, vocational training, employment status, details about
current occupation, affiliation to public service, status of
non-employment.

Details about respondent´s steady partner: age, month and year of
birth, citizenship (nationality), number of citizenships, school
education, vocational training, employment status, details about
current occupation, affiliation to public service, status of
non-employment.

Details about respondent´s parents: school education of mother and
father, vocational training of mother and father, details about both
parents´ occupation.

Description of household: size of household, household income, number
of persons older than 17 in household (reduced size of household).

Details about household members: family relation to respondent,
gender, month and year of birth, age, marital status.

Details about children not living in the household: number of
children not living in the household, gender, year of birth, age.

Respondent´s current memberships: current and previous membership in
a trade union, membership in a political party.

9. Data on the interview (paradata): date of interview; beginning and end of
interview; length of interview; reachability of respondent; willingness
to participate; presence of other persons during interview; presence of
spouse, partner or children during interview; presence of other
relatives during interview; interference of other persons in the course
of the interview; willingness to cooperate and reliability of
information from respondent; respondent followed interview on screen;
details about respondent´s residential building and its neighborhood;
evaluation of CASI-survey in ISSP-part; problems with CASI reported by
interviewer; willingness to participate in on-line surveys.

Details about the interviewer: gender; age; school education;
identification number; length of experience as an interviewer.

10. Work Orientations III (ISSP): desired distribution of time for
work and leisure activities; money and motivation for work; relevance
of job characteristics (secure job, high income, good career
opportunities, interesting work, work autonomy, chance to help other
people, social usefulness); preferences regarding employment
(self-employment, in private business, size of company, in public
service); assessment of job security; impact of work on family life;
better job security and working conditions because of trade unions;
preference for full- or part-time work; respondent on parental leave;
preference for less or more work (and pay); characteristics of own job
(secure job, high income, good career opportunities, interesting work,
work autonomy, chance to help other people, social usefulness, allows
development of personal skills); stressful, unhealthy or dangerous
working conditions; autonomy regarding organization of own work; impact
of work on family life and vice versa; usefulness of work experience in
current job and in looking for new job; participation in further
training over past 12 months; quality of relationship between superiors
and employees and between colleagues; job satisfaction; willingness to
work harder; pride in employer; willingness to turn down better paid
job; chance of finding equivalent job; replaceability in current job;
likelihood of looking for a new job in the near future; fear of
unemployment; what respondent is prepared to do to avoid unemployment;
secondary job; respondent has previously been in work for at least 1
year; date of termination of full- or part-time employment; main reason
for terminating employment; desire for work; likelihood of success in
job search; currently looking for work; means used in looking for work;
unemployed respondent further training during last 12 months; main
source of personal income while unemployed; preferred solution for
retirement insurance system; willingness to work past the age of 65;
self-classification on a top-bottom-scale; self-assessment of character
traits (abridged Big Five Inventory measuring extraversion,
agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness to
experience); assessment of CASI-method in ISSP part. 11. Role of
Government IV (ISSP): attitudes towards the observance of laws;
attitudes towards different forms of protest against the government;
opinions on freedom of speech for extremists; attitude towards a
miscarriage of justice; attitudes towards economically oriented
government measures; attitudes towards an increase of expenditures of
the government for environmental protection, health service, police,
the educational system, defense, pensions, unemployment benefit,
culture; assessment of state responsibility for socio-political tasks
(social support for the elderly, students, housing provision, job
creation; economic growth through assistance to industry, price
stability, etc.); assessment of government success in national
security, fighting crime, fighting unemployment, protecting the
environment; attitude towards the curtailing of freedoms in the name of
fighting terrorism; political interest; overall attitude towards
politics and the political system (subjective assessment of political
influence (political efficacy), level of political awareness,
politicians and election promises); assessment of fairness of tax
levels for different income groups; trust in fellow men; magnitude of
personal influence in public life; personal acquaintance with
influential figures; fair treatment by civil servants; personal
relation to civil servants is beneficial; assessment of the extent of
corruption (politicians, civil servants); personal experience with
corruption during the last 5 years; mean number of social contacts;
self-classification on a top-bottom-scale; self-assessment of character
traits (abridged Big Five Inventory measuring extraversion,
agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness to
experience); assessment of CASI-method in ISSP part. Questions on the
conduct of the ISSP-interviews; use of fixed-line telephone, of mobile
phone, and of the internet.

12. Added value: Inglehart-Index; family typology, classification
of private households (according to Porst and Funk); International
Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO 1968, 1988); occupational
prestige (according to Treiman); Standard International Occupational
Prestige Scale (SIOPS, according to Ganzeboom), International
Socio-economic Index of Occupational Status (ISEI, according to
Ganzeboom); magnitude prestige (according to Wegener); occupational
metaclassification (according to Terwey); class position (according to
Goldthorpe); transformation weight for analyses on household level;
east-west design weight.