German Survey on Volunteering (FWS)

Summary

The FWS is focused on a variety of volunteering issues associated with institutions such as associations, organisations, churches and others. Some informal volunteering activities are omitted (such as neighbourhood assistance). There are only a few correlates to analyse relations to other factors of the living situation (items on e.g. health status are lacking). The data set is easily available from GESIS at present and soon from the Research Data Centre FDZ-DZA. By transferring the data set to the Research Data Centre FDZ-DZA, handling of the data set and consulting will become even more convenient. So far, the data set is only available in German, which is a disadvantage for its dissemination. At present, it takes about two years after field time to publish the current data set. The FWS is the only survey with an exclusive focus on volunteering and it provides a large number of cases (about 25,000 cases planned for 2014). Further data sets on volunteering (but only with some items on this topic): Cross-sectional data: German Ageing Survey, German Socio-Economic Panel, German Time Budget Survey, Longitudinal data: German Ageing Survey, German Socio-Economic Panel

Type of data

Data Source
Survey

Type of Study
Crosssection regular

Data gathering method
Telephone

Access to data

Conditions of access
Data 1999, 2004, 2009: access via GESIS Data Archive, http://www.gesis.org/en/home/ Soon access will possible via Research Data Centre at www.dza.de (starting in spring 2013).

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

Formats available
SPSS, STATA (planned)

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
Wave 1: Data collected in 1999 with a sample size of 14,922 individuals. Wave 2: Data collected in 2004 with a sample size of 15,000 individuals. Wave 3: Data collected in 2009 with a sample size of 20,005 individuals. Wave 4: Data collection is planned for 2014.

First year of collection
1999

Stratification if applicable
stratified by federal states (NUTS1)

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
NUTS1 (federal states)

Age range
14 years and older

Statistical representativeness
Regional representative, please specify

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
Detailed study on social, civic and cultural engagement and volunteering. The German Survey on Volunteering (FWS) is a representative survey on volunteer work, honorary office and civic engagement of the German population aged 14 and older. The FWS provides a substantial database for the description of volunteering in Germany and allows detailed reporting on participation among population groups and across regions. It is the basic instrument for social accounting on volunteering in Germany.

Linkage

Standardisation
No standards until wave 2009; wave 2014 still in preparation.

Possibility of linkage among databases
No linkage possible

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
Some implausibilities at the moment. Data set is edited and will be released in an updated version at the Research Data Centre FDZ-DZA.

Breaks
Change of responsible research institute in 2011 to proceed with wave 4 (planned for 2014).

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
No major changes

Governance

Contact information
Dr. Julia Simonson/ Deutsches Zentrum für Altersfragen (DZA)
Deutsches Zentrum für Altersfragen (DZA)
Manfred-v.-Richthofen-Str. 2
12101 Berlin Germany Phone: +49 (0)30 - 260740-0
Email: freiwilligensurvey(at)dza.de
Url: http://www.dza.de/en/research/deutscher-freiwilligensurvey-fws.html

Timeliness, transparency
The project report is available about 1 year following data collection and data sets are available 2 years after data collection.