Maintenance of and Innovation in Long-Term Panel Studies: The Case of the German Socio-Economic Panel (Gsoep)

DIW Discussion Paper No. 276

19 Pages Posted: 18 Apr 2003

See all articles by Jürgen Schupp

Jürgen Schupp

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin); Institute for Sociology, Freie Universität

Gert G. Wagner

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin); Berlin University of Technology; German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP)

Date Written: February 2002

Abstract

The availability of panel data on the basis of micro data has become an indispensable component of the infrastructure of empirically oriented social scientists and economists. This is also a consequence of the fact that, for a panel survey, the quality of both content and methodological analyses increases with each new wave. Especially the number of events which can be analyzed increases (e.g., social and regional mobility, life-course transitions like changing employment, occupational careers, family events and even death). In the USA, the "Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)" has been running since 1968. In principle it was the prototype for the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), which was started in 1984. However, the SOEP has its own features, e.g. the surveying of all adult household members, which made the SOEP itself a role model for all of the other panel studies which followed over the course of time. Survey data comparable to the SOEP which are easily assessable for researchers exist, for example, in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Russia, Hungary, Switzerland, and since 2001 in Australia.

Keywords: Panel analysis, survey research, longitudinal studies

JEL Classification: C42

Suggested Citation

Schupp, Juergen and Wagner, Gert G., Maintenance of and Innovation in Long-Term Panel Studies: The Case of the German Socio-Economic Panel (Gsoep) (February 2002). DIW Discussion Paper No. 276, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=381380 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.381380

Juergen Schupp (Contact Author)

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) ( email )

Mohrenstraße 58
Berlin, D-10117
Germany
+49 30 8 978 9238 (Phone)
+49 30 8 978 9109 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.diw.de/deutsch/das_institut/mitarbeiter/innen/26652.html?uid=jschupp

Institute for Sociology, Freie Universität ( email )

Garystr. 55
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Berlin, D-14195
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/soziologie/mitarbeiter/b_hochschullehrer/schupp.html

Gert G. Wagner

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) ( email )

Mohrenstraße 58
Berlin, 10117
Germany
+49 30 8 978 9290 (Phone)
+49 30 8 978 9200 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.diw.de/programme/jsp/MA.jsp?language=en&uid=gwagner

Berlin University of Technology ( email )

Straße des 17
Berlin, 10623
Germany
+30 8 978 9283 (Phone)

German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) ( email )

DIW Berlin
10108 Berlin, Berlin
Germany
+49 30 8978 9290 (Phone)
+49 30 8978 9109 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.diw/en/soep

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