Meet-the-data @educational research

Speakers: Jule Burblies (IQB), Stefan Schipolowski (IQB)

FDZ: RDC at the IQB

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The IQB education trends regularly review the extent to which the competence targets set by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs are being achieved in the individual federal states and in Germany as a whole. In primary education, the corresponding surveys are usually conducted every five years at the end of the fourth grade in the subjects German and mathematics. In secondary level I, skills in language subjects (German, English, French) and in mathematics and natural sciences (biology, chemistry, physics) are assessed every three years at the end of the ninth grade. Since the first survey in 2009, a total of three study cycles have been completed by 2024, enabling cohort trends in the achievement of educational standards to be analyzed in all the subjects and school levels mentioned. In addition to the competency tests, extensive surveys are also conducted among students, their parents, subject teachers in the test subjects, and school administrators. The surveys regularly include sociodemographic data so that disparities in the skills achieved can be examined, for example. In addition, depending on the study, different survey focuses are set, e.g., the recording of social networks or certain teaching characteristics that can be used for in-depth analyses. In this session, participants will be introduced to and given an explanation of the IQB's extensive database on educational trends. The focus will be on the special features of the data.

Speaker: Dr. Daniel Fuß

RDC: Research Data Center LIfBi

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The National Educational Panel Study is the largest long-term education study in Germany. Several initial cohorts are being used to track the skill development and educational trajectories of over 70,000 participants from early childhood to old age. In addition, relevant individuals in the participants' lives, such as parents and educational professionals, are also surveyed. Data from six starting cohorts—collected over a period of more than ten years—are currently available as scientific use files. The NEPS data offer enormous potential for analysis; however, due to their complexity, working with the data requires a considerable amount of effort prior to the actual analysis.

With NEPScomp, the Research Data Center of the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (Research Data Center LIfBi) offers a data product that is particularly suitable for getting started with NEPS data and thus especially for use in student (final) theses and university teaching. NEPScomp is based on the original scientific use files of the six initial cohorts, but reduces the complexity of the data by simplifying the data structure and limiting it to essential content.

The session will present the data set and documentation of NEPScomp and point out similarities and differences to the data of the original Scientific Use Files. Of course, the presentation will also include information on data access and the relevant services offered by the Research Data Center LIfBi.

Speakers: Dr. Kristina Hauschildt (DZHW), Dr. Andreas Daniel (DZHW)

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The EUROSTUDENT project provides a comprehensive cross-national comparison of data on the social situation and mobility of students in European higher education. The target group of the EUROSTUDENT survey includes all students who are enrolled in a national study program in the participating countries at the time of the survey. By collecting data on a wide range of topics, EUROSTUDENT is able to provide internationally comparable indicators on most aspects of student life. The focus is on the social background, study conditions, and experiences of students, as well as their living conditions. The EUROSTUDENT data can be used to distinguish between different groups of students according to study-related characteristics, sociodemographic characteristics, and living conditions (e.g., extent of employment, dependence on income sources). In this way, the EUROSTUDENT data provide a differentiated and comprehensive understanding of gender equality issues and questions relating to the social dimension of higher education in Europe.

Two EUROSTUDENT Scientific Use Files are available at the FDZ-DZHW:

EUROSTUDENT VII (2018–2021) (Version 3.2.0)

This Scientific Use File covers 17 countries.

EUROSTUDENT 8 (2021–2024)

The first version contains 18 countries.

Speaker: Verena Ortmanns

RDC: DIE - Leibniz Institute for Lifelong Learning

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The Adult Education Statistics is a provider-based dataset that captures the supply side of organized continuing education in Germany. Conducted annually as a longitudinal study by the DIE (German Institute for Adult Education) in cooperation with the German Adult Education Association, it currently covers 845 German adult education centers (Volkshochschulen alias VHS). The survey maintains a consistently high response rate (98% in 2022). Data are available at the federal state level starting from 1962 and at the institutional level from 1987 onward.

The Adult Education Statistics collects data on institutional characteristics, staff and financial information, and—most importantly—detailed information on educational offerings. Each VHS reports the number of events held, the type and format of courses, total teaching hours, and participant enrollments. Between 2020 and 2022, a COVID-19 supplemental survey was added to capture pandemic-related impacts on adult education centers.

Currently, the data are primarily used for educational reporting, including the National Education Report, official statistics, and internal monitoring by VHS institutions. Increasingly, they are also being used in academic research.

This session provides an in-depth overview of the Adult Education Statistics, illustrates the dataset’s analytical potential through research examples, and explains how to access the data and available support services.

Speaker: Débora Maehler

RDC: FDZ PIAAC

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The session will provide an overview of data and research based on the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). PIAAC is a population-representative study that aims to examine basic adult skills in an international comparison. Approximately 40 countries have participated in the study to date. The study is conducted every ten years; the first data was collected in 2012 and the next data will be published in 2024. A special feature is that in Germany, PIAAC has been transferred to a panel (PIAAC Longitudinal; 2014, 2015, 2016). The cognitive skills measured in PIAAC include, for example, reading literacy—the ability to understand, use, and interpret written texts—and mathematical literacy—the ability to retrieve, interpret, and use mathematical information. In addition, the data contains comprehensive background information such as education, training, current/recent professional career, or migration-related, family-related, and other personal information (e.g., volunteer work, political effectiveness, health). The PIAAC data enables a comprehensive investigation of the acquisition, maintenance, and consequences of cognitive skills in adulthood.

Speakers: Prof. Maximilian Pfost & Christin Rüdiger

RDC: FDZ at IQB

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BiKS-3-10-Data

BiKS-8-14-Data

BiKS-8-18- Data

Project website

The three studies Educational Processes, Competence Development, and Selection Decisions in Preschool and School Age (BiKS-3-10), Educational Processes, Competence Development, and Selection Decisions in Preschool and School Age (BiKS-8-14), and Educational Trajectories at the End of Secondary Education from a Sociological and Psychological Perspective (BiKSplus 8-18) examined educational transitions in a longitudinal design. This provides panel data sets with a total of twelve measurement points for reuse, which can be used to answer numerous interdisciplinary questions about the educational trajectories of children and young people. 

In this edition of Meet-the-Data @Bildungsforschung, Prof. Dr. Maximilian Pfost from University in Bamberg provides an insight into the BiKS studies, and Christin Rüdiger from the RDC at the IQB answers questions about how to request the data. 

Speaker: Katarina Blask

RDC: RDC at ZPID

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Data Overview

The session will provide an overview of the data from the LOGIC Study. The Munich-based “Longitudinal Study on the Genesis of Individual Competencies” (LOGIC) is a broad-based study that aims to describe the differential development of cognitive competencies and personal characteristics and to explain some individual differences in development through the influence of variable school and teaching conditions. The changing developmental status of intelligence, psychomotor skills, thinking, memory, school knowledge, motivation, some personal characteristics, social skills and preferences, as well as moral judgment and behavior, were recorded on a regular basis.Following the presentation of the study, insights into the data on the development of written language skills, memory, intelligence, and logical thinking are provided and usage scenarios are outlined.

Speaker: Anett Friedrich & Julia Gei

RDC: BIBB-RDC

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Access Data

The BA/BIBB-Applicants survey will be presented in its entirety during the session. The BA/BIBB-Applicant survey is a representative, highly calculable written postal survey of registered applicants for training positions. Every two years, or currently every three years, a sample of all registered applicants is selected and contacted. In the survey, young people are asked to state what they are currently doing, whether they are satisfied with their situation, and what avenues they have explored in their search for a training place. Each survey also focuses on a specific topic (e.g., COVID-19, refugees, career choice behavior) derived from political and social developments. The survey is conducted by the Federal Employment Agency and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training. The data collection and processing are outlined to ensure transparency with regard to the use of the data. 

This is followed by a brief introduction to the existing data sets (starting with the data from 2018). The presentation refers back to the outlined processing steps and aims to illustrate which evaluations are possible and which levels can be recorded.

Speakers: Robert Werth & Dr. Lydia Kleine

RDC: RDC-LIfBi

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Access Data

The presentation focuses on a study unique in Germany that investigates the causes of accidents and injuries in the school context. The GUS study was conducted by the Research Center for Demographic Change at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences; the data, prepared as a scientific use file, is available free of charge from the Research Data Center of the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories. 

The GUS study is a nationally representative panel survey (excluding Bavaria and Hamburg) that started in 2014 with around 10,000 fifth-grade students and ended in 2020 after six survey waves. For 1,205 individuals, there is a complete record of their biography from fifth to tenth grade. The data primarily includes information on the students' health and accident history, as well as a range of other indicators, e.g., on personality, school, family, and social context, bullying, and sociodemographics. Contextual information from surveys of school administrators and interviewers supplements the data set. 

The session will describe the GUS data in detail and demonstrate its potential for research questions, particularly in sociology, psychology, and education. In addition, the possibilities for data access and support will be presented.

Speaker: Gregor Dutz

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The study “LEO 2018 – Living with Low Literacy” examines the reading and writing skills of adults in Germany. It focuses on the lower levels of reading and writing skills – the so-called alpha levels. The study records the current extent of low literacy among adults. It also focuses on the question of which areas of life low reading and writing skills impair participation opportunities. The study, funded by the BMBF, was conducted as part of the National Decade for Literacy and Basic Education. 

LEO 2018 is based on a representative measurement of the reading and writing skills of German-speaking adults using an assessment. In addition to this assessment, sociodemographic and other background information is collected. Differentiated information on literacy practices and skills is collected for several domains of basic education. These include digital media, health, finance, and politics. The investigation of literacy practices enables a precise description of participation and non-participation in various areas of life and anchors the study in the context of the international discussion on the use of skills and literacy practices. 

The session provides a brief overview of the study's special features and topics, as well as possible starting points for secondary analyses. A scientific file and a public-use file are available for secondary analyses. Detailed documentation of the questionnaire and the data set, as well as an online introduction to data analysis with R, allow for an easy introduction to working with the study data.

Speakers: Dr. Kolja Briedis & Dr. Andreas Daniel

RDC: RDC-DZHW

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Access Data

The session will present the National Academics Panel Study (Nacaps) conducted by the DZHW. This is a longitudinal study funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) on doctoral candidates and doctoral graduates in Germany. The aim of the project is to collect representative cross-sectional and longitudinal data across Germany on the qualification conditions and individual employment and career paths of doctoral candidates and doctoral graduates within and outside academia. The Nacaps study series is designed as a longitudinal study in a multi-cohort panel design. The first four waves of the 2018 cohort are expected to be available for use as a panel data set in 2024. The study focuses on topics such as the type and structure of doctoral programs, motives for pursuing a doctorate, and the supervision situation, as well as working and employment conditions, planned career paths after graduation, international mobility, and personal characteristics of the respondents. The design and thematic focus provide a valuable basis for answering scientific questions in the field of academic careers. In addition, the Nacaps data provide important steering knowledge for national reporting, local management, and numerous other stakeholders.

Speakers: Karen Meyer & Anja Hlawatsch

RDC: RDC Statistics Bavaria

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Access Data

The Research Data Centers of the Federal Statistical Office (RDC) provide researchers with easy and convenient access to microdata from official statistics. The RDC team at the regional RDC location in Fürth is the point of contact for student and examination statistics as well as personnel and job statistics. This data can be used to conduct detailed analyses of the German higher education system, such as the development of student numbers, the effects of the introduction of tuition fees, or key figures on academic success.

Speakers: Prof. Dr. Eckhard Klieme & Dr. Patrick Schreyer

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GTI Study Overview

The TALIS Video Study for Germany, part of the Global Teaching InSights Study (GTI) initiated by the OECD, focuses on investigating teaching and learning processes in mathematics lessons in the area of quadratic equations in lower secondary education. The aim of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics of interaction within mathematics lessons and to describe their quality from a subject-specific and general educational perspective. A key added value of the study is the possibility of linking the video data with a wide range of quantitative survey data, which in turn can be compared internationally with data from England, Japan, Shanghai, and three Latin American countries. 

In this session, participants will be given an insight into the study's extensive database. The central element is the teaching videographies of 46 of the 50 participating German classes, which were made available by the Research Data Centre for Education. The video recordings comprise up to three lessons per class and also include the teaching materials used during the recordings and transcripts of the lessons. The quantitative data sets from the international survey with specific national extensions will also be presented. These data sets include questionnaires, test data, and standardized evaluations of the videos and teaching materials by the study team.