Different approaches to a general problem

A general problem when collecting survey data is the underrepresentation of migrants. The two-day methods workshop entitled “(Under)Representation of Migrants in Surveys and Panel Studies”, which was organised by FReDA on 31 March and 1 April 2022, therefore attracted considerable interest. Around 100 people from research and policy participated and 20 different research groups and institutes presented their experiences with large population surveys, but also with specific studies about groups with a migration background. The background and approaches of the respective surveys were highlighted, the strategies for a representative participation of the focused population groups were explained, and the implementation successes were discussed.

We recorded the presentations from the workshop, which are available below in German. You can read a summary of the event here.

Block 1: Experiences of large population surveys

Pablo Christmann, Tobias Gummer & Martin Bujard: Experiences with FReDA

Michael Bergmann (MEA): Experiences with SHARE

Anja Petschel & Isabel Wolf (German Federal Statistical Agency, Hesse Statistical Office): Experiences with the Microcensus

Block 2: Backgrounds and Access

Nina Rother (BAMF): Possible sampling frames and field approaches for the survey of persons with a migration background

Block 3: Challenges with the representation of migrants

Discussion in groups and in plenum

Block 4: Perspectives of survey institutes

Jana Brix, Ulrich Schneekloth & Günter Steinacker (Kantar): Appropriate survey designs - Survey with People with a migration background – experiences and discussion

Michael Ruland (infas): Representation of migrants in surveys

Block 5: Experiences of specific migrant surveys

Steffen Pötzschke (GESIS): The use of Facebook and Instagram to recruit participants for migrant surveys

Lenore Sauer (BiB). Experiences with TransFAR

Anja Stichs (BAMF): Experiences from the MLD Study

Carmen Koschollek (RKI): Experiences from the IMIRA Project

Block 6: Experiences of specific migrant surveys

Achim Goerres & Jonas Elis (University of Duisburg-Essen): How do you mobilise voters with a migration background in a large city during a lockdown? Experiences with the panel survey Immigrant German Election Study II

Sabrina Mayer (DeZIM): The DeZIM.panel – An offline recruited online access panel for integration and migration research

Block 7: Solution strategies for the representation of migrants

Plenum discussion

Virtual Whiteboard

Parallel to the presentations and discussions, participants had the opportunity to submit their ideas of the specific challenges and solutions to improve the representation of people with a migration background in surveys. The contributions, questions and impulses were discussed. Here you can see some of the contributions to the whiteboard.

The full whiteboard of the method workshop can be downloaded here.