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As our modern world has become increasingly digitalized, various types of data from different data domains are available that can enrich survey data. To link survey data to other sources, consent from the survey respondents is required. This article compares consent to data linkage requests for seven data domains: administrative data, smartphone usage data, bank data, biomarkers, Facebook data, health insurance data, and sensor data. We experimentally explore three factors of interest to survey designers seeking to maximize consent rates: consent question order, consent question wording, and incentives. The results of the study using a German online sample (n = 3,374) show that survey respondents have a relatively high probability of consent to share smartphone usage data, Facebook data, and biomarkers, while they are least likely to share their bank data in a survey. Of the three experimental factors, only the consent question order affected consent rates significantly. Additionally, the study investigated the interactions between the three experimental manipulations and the seven data domains, of which only the interaction between the data domains and the consent question order consistently showed a significant effect.

Although it has long been acknowledged that interviewers play a crucial role in the survey data collection process, there is little research concerning interviewer effects on how respondents perceive the interview. We investigate whether interviewer effects exist regarding how much respondents report having enjoyed the interview and whether these effects can be explained by interviewer characteristics. We use data from wave 9 of the German Family Panel pairfam, combined with data from an interviewer survey conducted prior to this wave. Applying multilevel models, we find large interviewer effects that can be explained only partly by interviewers' sociodemographic characteristics, attitudes, and behavior. Interviewers' gender, intrinsic work motivation, and their attitude toward respondents significantly affect how much respondents enjoy the interview.

The mosquito species Anopheles plumbeus is an aggressive biter and a potential vector of malaria parasites and West Nile virus. It occurs naturally at low population densities, as its larval development is adapted to the specific water qualities found in tree holes. However, probably owing to environmental changes, it has recently been observed in several European countries to use increasingly often artificial breeding habitats that may lead to mass development and severe annoyance to humans living close by. The perception of mosquito nuisance, however, is very subjective, and breeding habitats are not always known, thus impeding targeted surveillance and control. To relate nuisance by An. plumbeus to specific environmental conditions, a questionnaire survey was carried out addressing persons who had submitted specimens of this particular mosquito species to the German citizen science project “Mueckenatlas”, an instrument of passive mosquito surveillance. The questionnaire was intended to find out whether a nuisance situation linked to An. plumbeus had existed, whether mosquito breeding habitats could be identified and whether control measures had been conducted. Despite some efforts, the participants who claimed to suffer from an An. plumbeus nuisance problem had rarely identified the source of the mosquitoes. Once control measures had been performed on abandoned manure pits, however, the nuisance problem disappeared or mosquito abundance was at least significantly reduced. Nevertheless, no significant effect of abandoned manure pits on the probability of an An. plumbeus nuisance could be demonstrated in a multivariate logistic regression model testing various variables. Instead, a significant positive effect of a disused farm nearby was found. The reason is probably that manure pits as the most frequent source of An. plumbeus mass development are often located on disused farms, without most people’s knowledge about their existence. Disused farms are therefore appropriate candidates to consider when it comes to public health issues connected to An. plumbeus such as surveillance of mass development and implementation of control measures.

Based on retrospective data from the German Family Survey (DJI Familiensurvey) 2000, we investigate factors associated with the transition from the second to the third child for West German women of the birth cohorts 1944-1979 and contrast them to the determinants of the transition from the first to the second child. Applying event history analysis, we confirm effects of timing and spacing of children and mothers’ labor force participation reported in previous studies. In addition, we find a higher third birth rate for women with two children of the same sex, who might wish to have a child of the opposite sex. Further, we find a higher third birth rate for women with two or more siblings, which we interpret as transmission of family values. Finally, women with a new partner since the first birth as well as women with a new partner since the second birth show higher third birth rates, which might result from a union-confirmation effect of shared children in combination with a two child norm. Zusammenfassung Anhand von Retrospektivdaten des DJI Familiensurvey 2000 untersuchen wir die Einflussfaktoren auf den Übergang vom zweiten zum dritten Kind für westdeutsche Frauen der Geburtskohorten 1944-1979 und stellen sie denen des Übergangs vom ersten zum zweiten Kind gegenüber. Anhand von Ereignisdatenanalysen bestätigen wir die aus früheren Studien bekannten Effekte von Alter und Berufstätigkeit. Wir finden eine höhere Übergangsrate zur dritten Geburt für Frauen mit zwei gleichgeschlechtlichen Kindern, die sich vermutlich noch ein Kind des anderen Geschlechts wünschen. Darüber hinaus finden wir eine höhere Übergangsrate zur dritten Geburt für Frauen, die selbst zwei oder mehr Geschwister haben, was wir als Transmission von Familienwerten interpretieren. Zudem haben Frauen, die seit der Geburt des ersten oder des zweiten Kindes den Partner gewechselt haben, eine höhere Übergangsrate zur dritten Geburt, was unter Umständen auf den Wunsch, die Beziehung durch gemeinsame Kinder zu bestätigen, in Kombination mit einer Zwei- Kind-Norm zurückzuführen ist.

The pairfam study offers the rare opportunity of conducting dyadic analyses of partner and of parent-child relationships. Not only the randomly drawn anchor respondents are surveyed in the study, but also – with the consent of the anchors – their partners, parents and children. However, we must ask whether or in how far the participation of the secondary respondents is selective, thus introducing a nonresponse bias in the dyadic data. This article analyses what factors influence the participation of partners and parents of the anchors on the German Family Panel pairfam. We focus on the question of whether the quality of the relationship between the anchor and partner or anchor and parent influences participation. Among parents there is both an influence of the relationship quality in the narrower sense and an influence of the closeness of the relationship with regard to contact and mutual support. By contrast, relationship quality appears to have a lesser significance for the participation of partners, whereas the degree of institutionalisation in the relationship has a major influence. The article aims to sensitise pairfam users to the possibility of a nonresponse bias in dyadic analyses and provides information on suitable handling of the data.

This paper presents the state of research regarding the question whether there is a causal relationship between women’s employment and fertility and which direction causality takes. Existing macrolevel studies cannot answer this question because of omitted covariates and potential ecological fallacy. Longitudinal analyses at the micro level show a negative effect of current employment on the transition rate to another child. However, it is likely that the reason for this effect is selfselection, instead of a causal relationship. Regarding the impact of fertility on employment, studies at the micro level show a negative causal effect. Nevertheless, the exact quantification of this negative effect remains problematic, which is again due to possible self-selection. Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag stellt den Forschungsstand zur Frage dar, inwieweit in westlichen Industrieländern ein kausaler Zusammenhang zwischen der Erwerbstätigkeit und der Fertilität von Frauen besteht und in welche Richtung die Kausalität verläuft. Vorliegende Makrostudien können die Frage nach dem kausalen Zusammenhang zwischen Erwerbstätigkeit und Fertilität aufgrund fehlender Drittvariablenkontrolle und der Möglichkeit eines ökologischen Fehlschlusses nicht klären. Längsschnittsanalysen auf der Mikroebene zeigen einen negativen Effekt von gegenwärtiger Erwerbstätigkeit auf die Übergangsrate zu einem (weiteren) Kind. Es besteht jedoch der Verdacht, dass es sich bei diesem Effekt nicht um einen Kausaleffekt handelt, sondern um einen Selbstselektionseffekt. Auf Grundlage von Längsschnittsstudien zum Einfluss der Fertilität auf die Erwerbstätigkeit kann hingegen geschlossen werden, dass die Fertilität einen kausalen Effekt auf die Erwerbstätigkeit hat. Problematisch bleibt allerdings – wiederum aufgrund möglicherweise vorliegender Selbstselektion – die genaue Quantifizierung dieses Effekts.