German Ageing Survey

Summary

The DEAS is the best data source to describe and analyse attitudes towards ageing in Germany. Individual images of ageing have been assessed in all waves. However, public attitudes towards ageing have so far only been assessed explicitly in 2008. Moreover, the DEAS assessed if individuals have experienced ageism in 2008 as well. Due to the cohort-sequential design and interdisciplinary focus, the DEAS allows analysis of how attitudes toward one’s own ageing affect other life domains and which factors influence attitudes towards own ageing. There are also some weaknesses. Although the DEAS assesses participants over the age of 85 and participants living in care facilities, the sample is not representative for very old age (85 years and older) and persons living in institutions, therefore, images of ageing and changes in images of ageing within these sub-populations cannot be investigated without loss of 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 is still 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
There are around 20 comparable variables available within each wave. More aspects with regard to attitudes towards one’s own ageing (up to 45 variables) are assessed at each wave, but may not be reassessed. The variables cover individual views on ageing, images of ageing in society, subjective age, attitudes towards retirement and ageism. Individual views on ageing are assessed domain-specifically and allow differentiation between expecting losses or gains in different life domains with ageing.

Linkage

Standardisation
The dataset contains various internationally harmonised standards (e.g. ISCED-97 (International Standard Classification of Education), ISCO-88 (International Standard Classification of Occupation)). With some exceptions, the instruments in regard to attitudes towards aging are self-developed validated scales. One of the best-established scales on attitudes towards ageing (PGCMS, Lawton, 1975) is available in 2008.

Possibility of linkage among databases
Only regional linkage on 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 a 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 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.