German Ageing Survey

Summary

The DEAS can be used to analyse questions on housing and residential environment in old age. The possible linkage of subjective data to registry information on regional context factors (such as population structure in the community, gross-domestic product of community etc.) on the NUTS3 level is a great potential of the DEAS. Further, the survey allows investigating individual changes over time (a period of 15 years), as well as differences in housing and attitudes towards housing and residential environment between cohorts. Moreover, housing needs and expectations can be linked to life transitions such as retirement and widowhood. As there is a huge variety of indicators of different life domains available, underlying mechanisms of changes over time and within age groups can be addressed. The DEAS stands out because of its interdisciplinary approach and cohort-sequential design. There are also some weaknesses. The DEAS do not include information on mobility, which limit the survey to questions concerning housing. Since regional data on mobility can be linked to the data, it is possible to investigate the association between subjective and objective data. Although the DEAS assesses participants over the age of 85 and participants living in care facilities, the sample is not representative of very old age individuals (85 years and older) and people living in retirement or care homes. Therefore, housing and housing needs within these important sub-populations cannot be investigated without loss in data quality. The first wave of the DEAS was limited to participants with German citizenship, since 2002 the inclusion criteria is ability to speak and understand German. Despite the effort to include foreigners and people with migration background, the DEAS still is not representative for this sub-population.

Type of data

Data Source
Survey

Type of Study
Survey same
Crosssection regular
Other: Cohort-sequential design

Data gathering method
Face-to-face
Self administered questionnaire

Access to data

Conditions of access
Available for scientific, non-profit use

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)
anonymised microdata

Formats available
SPSS, STATA

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
Wave 1: Data collected in 1996 (DOI 10.5156/DEAS.1996.M.001) with a sample size of 4, 838 individuals. Wave 2: Data collected in 2002 (DOI 10.5156/DEAS.2002.M.001) with a base sample of 3,084 individuals, a migrant sample of 586 individuals, and a panel sample of 1,524 individuals. Wave 3: Data collected in 2008 (DOI 10.5156/DEAS.2008.M.001) with a base sample of 6,205 individuals and a panel sample of 1,995 individuals. Wave 4: Data collected in 2011 with a panel sample of 4, 855 individuals. Wave 5: Data will be collected in 2014. A new base sample will be drawn and the panel sample will be reassessed.

First year of collection
1996

Stratification if applicable
age (40-54, 55-69, 70-85 years), sex, region (East/West)

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
national, NUTS3-level (Kreise)

Age range
baseline samples: 40-85 years; Panel sample: 40-90 years

Statistical representativeness
Other, please specify

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
The assessment of housing and living situation has been similar in all waves. In 2008 and 2011, questions concerning housing facilities and furnishing, and residential environment were extended. The housing indicators cover: ownership status, housing cost, moving, neighborhood surroundings and residential environment, residential history, type of dwelling, household facilities, and satisfaction with housing (current, past and future expectations). Mobility, besides ownership of a car, is not assessed.

Linkage

Standardisation
The data set contains various internationally harmonised standards (e.g. ISCED-97 (International Standard Classification of Education), ISCO-88 (International Standard Classification of Occupation))., Instruments concerning housing are commonly used or self-developed.

Possibility of linkage among databases
Only regional linkage on a district level via NUTS3-level (Kreise) is possible.

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
Raw data is cleaned by project organisers and checked for inconsistencies; data is further checked by the Research Data Centre, then the scientific use file (SUF) is created.

Breaks
Research group changed between first and second wave (1996: Freie Universität Berlin, since 2002: German Centre of Gerontology). In 1996, interviews were conducted via PAPI, since 2002, however, they have been conducted via CAPI.

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
Due to a change in research group, the documentation for 1996 is incomplete.

Governance

Contact information

Research Data Centre of the German Ageing Survey, German Centre of Gerontology (DZA Berlin)
Manfred-von-Richthofen-Straße 2
12101 Berlin Germany Phone: +49 (0)30 - 260740-0
Email: fdz(at)dza.de
Url: http://www.dza.de/en/fdz/research-data-centre-of-the-german-ageing-survey-fdz-deas/access-to-deas-data.html

Timeliness, transparency
The scientific use file is available about 2 years after data collection.