Focus group set "Fridays for Future" (PLEDGE)

Focus group set „Fridays for Future“ (PLEDGE) This dataset contains transcripts from a set of focus groups conducted with members of Fridays for Future, collected in 2025. The purpose of this dataset is to identify affective practices, group interactions, and emotional grievances in political groups. Authors and Contributors This set of focus groups was designed and conducted by: Prof. Gavin Brent Sullivan (IPU Berlin; ORCID: 0000-0003-0146-5953), Philipp Wunderlich (IPU Berlin; ORCID: 0000-0002-6707-3672), Jonas Rudolph (IPU Berlin; ORCID: 0009-0004-9549-4564). The resulting dataset was collected under the Politics of Grievance and Democratic Governance (PLEDGE) EU-Horizon project, project number 101132560. Data Collection and Methodology The focus group guide was developed between August and December 2024 in collaboration with the PLEDGE consortium partners. A questionnaire to survey sociodemographic in-formation of participants was developed alongside the guide. The focus groups were conducted in person at IPU Berlin. The sample consisted of activists of Fridays for Future (FFF) that were recruited at protest events or via contact with the organization. Since membership in Fridays for Future is not a formal category, we relied on participation in FFF activities and self-identification with the climate justice movement as a rule for inclusion. Audio recordings and 360° video recordings were produced and transcribed. Transcripts generated by large language models (model: whisper large-v2) were de-identified and corrected by human researchers, based on the recordings. An English translation of the German original was produced by large language models (model: gemma3-4b) and likewise corrected by human translators. File Overview The dataset consists of four transcripts as .docx files. Each file contains the transcript of the German original alongside an English translation: FFF1-de-en-final.docx FFF2-de-en-final.docx FFF3-de-en-final.docx FFF4-de-en-final.docx Metadata Overview over the set of focus groups: Focus group FFF1: Date: 27.09.2025; Participants: 8 (6 Female, 2 Male); Duration: 1:36.06h Focus group FFF2: Date: 15.10.2025; Participants: 3 (2 Female, 1 Male); Duration: 1:41.20h Focus group FFF3: Date: 20.10.2025; Participants: 7 (5 Female, 2 Male); Duration: 1:41.30h Focus group FFF4: Date: 22.10.2025; Participants: 5 (4 Female, 1 Male); Duration: 1:37.57h Total participants: 23 (17 Female, 6 Male) Usage Notes The transcript files are in MS Word format (.docx) and can be opened using Microsoft Word or compatible applications. Ethical and Legal Considerations The study follows Horizon Europe ethics requirements, national regulations, and institutional review standards. Ethics approval was granted on 12 March 2025 by the IPU Berlin Ethics Committee under Application No. 2024_06. Access and Licensing Due to the sensitivity of the data, access to the full transcripts is restricted and can only be granted to researchers upon request. While transcripts have been fully anonymized/pseudonymized, the risk of re-identification of political activists cannot be completely ruled out. Access may be granted upon request to researchers for academic/non-commercial purposes. Requests must include a short justification and will be reviewed by the data owner. For access requests, please contact: Prof. Dr. Gavin Sullivan, IPU Berlin ([e-mail]) All rights reserved, Copyright (C) 2026 The Authors Citation Please cite as follows (APA format): Sullivan, G. B., Wunderlich, P., & Rudolph, J. V. (2026). Focus group set “Fridays for Future” (PLEDGE) [Dataset]. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20701208 Contact Information Please contact Prof. Dr. Gavin Sullivan ([e-mail]) if you have questions about the dataset or want to request access.