ALLBUS/GGSS (Allgemeine Bevölkerungsumfrage der Sozialwissenschaften/German General Social Survey) - Sensitive Regional Data

This data set contains the following sensitive regional variables (both key numbers and names) which are not included in the regular Use Files available in the GESIS Data Catalogue (DBK) for data protection reasons:
• Administrative district (Regierungsbezirk, since 1980)
• Spatial planning region (Raumordnungsregion, since 1994)
• Urban and rural district/county (Land-/Kreis und kreisfreie Stadt, seit 1994)
• Municipality (Gemeinde, since 1994)
• Post code (Postleitzahl, 1998 & since 2006)
• Uncensored information on the size (2004) and the BIK-type (2004 & 2008) of the respondent´s municipality. For all other years, this data, in uncensored form, is part of the regular Use Files.

The required regional variables of this data set can be merged with the individual cross-sectional ALLBUS studies or ALLBUS cumulations via the identification number of the respondents by FDZ (Research Data Center) ALLBUS.

This sensitive data is subject to a special access restriction and can only be used within the scope of an on-site use in the Secure Data Center in Cologne. Further information and contact persons can be found on our website: http://www.gesis.org/en/sedc.

In order to take into account changes in the territorial status of the regional units (e. g. district reforms, municipality incorporations), the regional variables are offered as time-harmonized variables as of December 31,2015 in addition to the status as of December 31 of the previous year of survey.

If you want to use the regional variables to add additional context characteristics (regional attributes such as unemployment rate or election turnout, for example), you have to send us this data before your visit. In addition, we require a reference and documentation (description of variables) of the data. Note that this context data may be as sensitive as the regional variables if direct assignment is possible. Due to data protection it is problematic if individual characteristics can be assigned to specific regional units – and therefore ultimately to the individual respondents – even without the ALLBUS dataset by means of a table of correspondence. Accordingly, the publication of (descriptive) analysis results based on such contextual data is only possible in a coarsened form.

Please contact the ALLBUS User Service first and send us the filled ALLBUS regional data form (see ´Data & Documents´), specifying exactly which ALLBUS datasets and regional variables you need.
Contact: [e-mail]

As soon as you have clarified with the ALLBUS user service which exact regional features are to be made available for on-site use, the data use agreement for the use of the data at a Secure Data Center guest workstation (Safe Room) in Cologne will be sent to you. Please specify all data sets you need, i.e. both the ´ALLBUS Sensitive Regional Data (ZA5260)´ and the Scientific Use Files to which the regional variables are to be assigned. Furthermore, under ´Specific variables´, please name all the regional variables you need (see ALLBUS regional data form).