Get to know FReDA easily

A very informative introduction to scientific work with panel data, lots of background information specifically on FReDA, plus practical analyses and independent hands-on sessions - this year's FReDA Autumn School once again offered all participants a great opportunity to get to know ‘FReDA - The Family Demographic Panel’ in detail and to try out working with the data sets intensively for themselves. More than 20 researchers attended the three-day workshop offered by FReDA together with the research focus ‘Interdisciplinary Public Policy’ (IPP) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz from 30 September to 2 October 2024.

On the one hand, fundamental questions such as ‘Which research questions can be answered with FReDA?’, ‘What types of analyses are possible with the FReDA design?’ or ‘How (un)complicated is the concrete handling of the data files?’ were explained. Presentations by researchers from the FReDA team, lecturers from Mainz University and the University of Bonn provided exciting input that could be deepened in the subsequent discussion rounds. The workshop also gave participants ample opportunity to work with the datasets themselves and clarify any questions that arose directly. It also became clear what extensive analysis options FReDA offers.

The international field of participants was interdisciplinary: FReDA data is equally exciting for researchers from sociology, psychology, political science and economics. In this context, the workshop also provided an opportunity for interdisciplinary networking.

The programm of the Autumn School 2024 can be found here.

Practical introduction to FReDA

The project will be organising another FReDA Autumn School in 2025. Please make a note of the date: 10-12 September 2025 at JGU in Mainz. The multi-day workshop is primarily aimed at early career researchers, but also at experienced researchers. It explains methodological issues relating to FReDA, introduces the structure of the sample and sub-waves and explains how the data can be used productively for longitudinal analyses or dyadic analyses, for example. In addition to this theoretical background, participants will have ample opportunity to learn how to work with the dataset in hands-on sessions and conduct exemplary analyses with their own research questions. They will receive intensive support from members of the research project. The workshop is organised by FReDA together with the research focus ‘Interdisciplinary Public Policy’ (IPP) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.

The data from the interdisciplinary long-term study FReDA is available to the scientific community free of charge for scientific and non-commercial purposes.

Further information can be found on the FReDA website. There we will also publish the exact programme of the next FReDA Autumn School 2025 and all registration modalities in good time. However, if you wish, you are welcome to make a note of the date now: The next FReDA Autumn School will take place on 10 - 12 September 2025.