German Internet Panel, Wave 11 (May 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: Personal trust; life satisfaction (scalometer); happiness scale; frequency of social contacts in general and compared to peers; frequency of selected activities in the last year (voluntary work, participation in a training course, participation in activities of clubs, political organisations or citizens´ initiatives, reading books, magazines or newspapers, solving crossword or number puzzles, card games); perceived personal esteem by loved ones; satisfaction with the current national economic situation and with the work of the federal government (scalometer); demand for government measures to reduce income disparities; assessment of the current general economic situation in Germany compared with 12 months ago and expected development in one year (business expectation); assessment of the current financial situation of the household compared to 12 months ago and expected development in one year; difficulties to make ends meet; employment status (ILO); sufficient qualification for more demanding work; training needs for the current job; qualification corresponds to requirements in the workplace; responsibility of selected institutions for the economic situation in the country (European Union, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Federal Government, banks); probability to vote for the parties CDU, CSU, SPD, Die Linke, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, FDP and Alternative für Deutschland (AfD); opinion on European unification; agreement on the Federal Government´s achievements; agreement on last year´s EU policy; probability of participation in the European elections; assessment of the country´s EU membership; concerns about: financial difficulties, declining living standards, jobs, paying off bank loans and mortgage rates; opinion on German financial support for other EU member states in financial difficulties; opinion on obligatory adaptation of immigrants to German culture; policy should not interfere in the economy; demand for harsher penalties for criminals; demand for redistribution of income and wealth in favour of ordinary people; dealing with the issue of personal impact on the environment; lifestyle correspondence with demands for personal commitment to the environment; assessment of personal lifestyle as environmentally friendly; major environmental problems in Germany (air pollution, chemicals and pesticides, water scarcity, water pollution, nuclear waste, household waste disposal, climate change, genetically modified food, depletion of raw materials and natural resources); extent of concern about climate change; personal behaviour and lifestyle contribute to climate change; willingness to spend more on environmentally friendly products; expectation of a major environmental catastrophe in the near future; perceived exaggeration of the environmental crisis; no longer able to influence climate change; no worries about the far-off effects of climate change; willingness to change the environment only if compatible with personal lifestyle; personal commitment to the environment is not worthwhile if others do not do the same; German efforts to combat climate change are being destroyed by the actions of other countries.

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.