German General Social Survey ALLBUScompact 2023

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.

ALLBUScompact is the downloadable version of the ALLBUS scientific-use-file.

The main question module of ALLBUS 2023 is ´Religion and World View.´ Another focus of the survey was the replication of questions from a broad range of topics. This included questions on lifestyle and personality, political attitudes, ethnocentrism and minorities as well as on social inequality.

ALLBUS 2023 was conducted in a mixed-mode design (CAPI (computer-assisted personal interview), MAIL (postal self-completion) and CAWI (computer-assisted web interview)).<br>Social monitoring of trends in attitudes, behavior, and societal change in the Federal Republic of Germany. The main topics in 2023 are:

1.) Lifestyle and personality
2.) Social inequality
3.) Religion and world view
4.) Ethnocentrism and minorities
5.) Political attitudes
6.) Other topics
7.) ALLBUS-Demography
8.) Data on the interview (paradata)
9.) Added value

Topics:

1.) Lifestyle and Personality: Internet use: frequency and type of device; frequency of reading books / e-books; importance of life aspects: family and children, work and occupation, free time and recreation, friends and acquaintances, relatives, religion and church, politics and public life, neighbours; social pessimism and orientation towards the future (anomia), interpersonal trust, overall life satisfaction, self-assessment of overall health.

2.) Social Inequality: Self-assessment of social class, fair share in standard of living, assessment of access to education, perceived prerequisites for success in society, attitudes towards social inequality and the welfare state, evaluation of personal social security; stance on extension or reduction in social services; attitudes towards different ideas of social justice.

3.) Religion and world view:
Individual religiousness and attitudes towards religion:
religious belief and reason for being (religious cosmology, meaning of life), self-assessment of religiousness and spirituality, frequency of meditation, religious indifference, religious experiences in personal life, attitude towards alternative forms of belief and parabelief, belief in God; belief in a life after death; belief in heaven, hell, and miracles; belief in reincarnation; religious fundamentalism.
Religious affiliation, religious rites and practices:
present and former denominational membership or other religious affiliation; leaving the church (reasons and when), frequency of church attendance or of visiting a house of worship, frequency of prayer; wish for religious funeral, married in church or according to religion, importance of religion in parental home, importance of religion in raising own children, baptism of children.
Value orientations:
Values and Life Goals Inventory (VaLiGo): wealth, experiencing community, hedonism, tolerance, tradition, self-reliance, achievement, conformity, stimulation, risk avoidance; individual value orientations (Klages): respect law and order, high standard of living, have power and influence, fantasy and creativity, security, help marginalized social groups, ability to assert oneself, industry and ambition, tolerance, political engagement, hedonism, faith in God, occupational achievement, self-realization; materialism / postmaterialism (Inglehart): importance of law and order, fighting rising prices, free expression of opinions and influence on governmental decisions;
Moral attitudes:
moral assessment of deviant acts; attitude towards techniques of reproductive medicine; attitudes towards assisted suicide.

4.) Ethnocentrism and minorities: Attitude towards the influx of various groups of immigrants, attitudes towards the foreigners living in Germany, contacts with foreigners, pride in being a German, perceived consequences of presence of foreigners in Germany, ranking of citizenship requirements, social distance to ethnic minorities and foreigners, support for the teaching of Islam in public schools; support for the building of mosques in Germany, attitudes towards Islam (Islamophobia), perceived risks and chances with respect to refugees.

5.) Politics: Willingness to engage in different forms of political participation, confidence in public institutions and organizations (public health service, federal constitutional court, federal parliament (Bundestag), city or municipal administration, churches, judiciary, television, newspapers, universities, federal government, the police, political parties, European Commission, European Parliament), political efficacy, participation in the vote as a civic duty, understanding of democracy and satisfaction with democracy in Germany, satisfaction with the performance of the federal government; populism scale: members of parliament must only be bound to the will of the people, politicians talk too much and do too little, ordinary citizens would make better representatives than professional politicians, political compromise is a betrayal of principles, the people should make the important political decisions, the people agree on what needs to happen politically, politicians only care about the rich and powerful; political interest, self-placement on left-right continuum; identification with own community, the federal state, the Federal Republic of Germany and the EU; attitudes relating to the process of German unification: unification was better for East / West, strangeness of citizens in the other part of Germany, attitudes towards the Stasi-past of individuals, evaluation of socialism as an idea; opinion on climate change and its causes, voting intention (Sonntagsfrage).

6.) Other topics: Assessment of the present and future economic situation in Germany, assessment of present and future personal economic situation, attitudes towards working fathers and mothers.

7.) ALLBUS-Demography:
Details about the respondent: year of birth, age, gender, marital status, citizenship (nationality), number of citizenships, geographical origin, school education, vocational training, employment status, details about current or former occupation, affiliation to public service, working hours per week (primary and secondary job), supervisory functions, fear of unemployment, length of unemployment, status of non-employment, date of termination of full-time employment, current or former membership in a trade union, membership in a political party, respondent´s net monthly income.
Place of residence (self-description), duration of residence in Germany, type of dwelling.
Details about respondent´s current spouse: year of birth, age, school education, vocational training, employment status, details about current occupation, affiliation to public service, status of non-employment.
Details about respondent´s steady partner: year of birth, age, school education, vocational training, employment status, details about current occupation, affiliation to public service, status of non-employment, common household with respondent.
Details about respondent´s parents: country of origin, cohabitation with respondent as adolescent, school education of mother and father, vocational training of mother and father, details about both parents´ occupation.
Description of household: size of household, net monthly household income, number of persons older than 17 in household (reduced size of household).
Details about household members: family relation to respondent, gender, 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.

8.) Data on the interview (paradata): Study number, digital object identifier, release, respondent id, mode of data collection, number of contacts, percentage of questions completed, date of beginning and end of interview, duration of interview, presence of other persons during the interview, interference of other persons in the course of the interview, respondent followed interview on screen (CAPI), pauses during completion of survey (MAIL, CAWI), type of device (CAWI)
Details about the interviewer: gender; age; school education; identification number; length of experience as an interviewer.

9.) Added value: Inglehart-Index, International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) 1988 and 2008; Standard International Occupational Prestige Scale (SIOPS, according to Ganzeboom), International Socio-economic Index of Occupational Status (ISEI, according to Ganzeboom), European Socio-Economic Groups (ESeG), International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 1997 and 2011, living arrangement and family situation, per capita income, equivalised income (OECD-modified scale), transformation weight for analyses on household level, east-west design weight.