Corona Cannot Stop FReDA

Corona also had an impact on FReDA: The originally planned face-to-face surveys with interviewers could not be carried out due to the pandemic and the resulting hygiene measures put into place. Therefore, we adapted the survey modes to the situation and offered a Corona-compliant participation option. The participants were invited to complete an online survey (CAWI) and fill out the questionnaire themselves. If participants did not want to or were not able to do so, we offered a paper survey as an alternative option (PAPI).

The survey was able to start at the beginning of April. In the recruitment wave W1R, around 108,000 people were contacted in two rounds and invited to participate in the study. Those contacted were randomly selected from the local registration offices, were between the ages of 18 and 49 at the time of contact and live in Germany. The first round of invitations to participate were sent on 7 April 2021 and the second round on 14 April 2021.

Survey with High Rate of Return

Until now (as of 17 June 2021), around 37,200 completed interviews have been returned to FReDA. This equals a preliminary return rate of 34.4%. Around 29,800 people filled out the online survey, which is 26.3% of those contacted. In addition, around 1,014 people did not fully complete the online survey, but rather, started the survey or only partially completed it. Approximately 7,400 people filled out the paper questionnaire, which is 6.8% of those contacted.

53.2% of those contacted did not respond. Around 8,750 people (8.1%) were not available at their registered address and around 1% did not want to participate.

70.4% of individuals who accepted our invitation have already said they would participate in a future survey and want to participate in the FReDA long-term panel study (26,500 panelists).

FReDA includes Young People

When differentiating the response rate by age group, there is a high response rate by young people. 19.8% of the submitted questionnaires were completed by those in the 18-24 age group. The proportion of this group in the registration offices’ sample (EWO) is 19.4%. In the age group of 25-29-year-olds, it was 15.1% (EWO: 15.7%). This means that more than one-third of the data comes from people under the age of 30. Thus, it is apparent that young people will be not underrepresented in FReDA, which is often the case.

It is also mentionable that there is a high return rate among women. 53.9% of the questionnaires are completed by women, likely due to a greater interest in the topics covered in the study.

In Focus: Families and Partnerships

It is estimated that it will take around ten minutes to complete the questionnaires in the recruitment wave. In the questionnaire, different topics are addressed, but it centres around the areas of family and partnership.