Search

Respondent incentives are widely used to increase response rates, but their effect on nonresponse bias has not been researched as much. To contribute to the research, we analyze an incentive experiment embedded within the third wave of the German household panel survey "Panel Labor Market and Social Security" conducted by the German Institute for Employment Research. Our question is whether attrition bias differs in two incentive plans. In particular, we want to study whether an unconditional €10 cash incentive yields less attrition bias in self-reported labor income and other sociodemographics than a conditional lottery ticket incentive. We find that unconditional cash incentives are more effective than conditional lottery tickets in reducing attrition bias in income and several sociodemographic variables.

Examines the theme of learning outside of the home society through the use of ethnography and the techniques of field study for students living and working in Mexico, Austria, and Germany. Demonstrates through the observations of students how effective the use of field research methods can be in learning about social relations, cultural traditions, and social habits. (Author/VWL)

Despite late modernity and risk society discourses about the decreasing influence of structural factors on educational and occupational attainment, it has also been argued that socio-economic background and gender continue to influence individuals' school-work transitions. Comparing youth apprentices and academic high school students in Canada and Germany, I show how working-class students planning on attending university perceive these plans as far more risky and uncertain than do their peers with highly educated parents. Similarly, working-class youth in apprenticeships are confident about their success in these programs. While conditions of late modernity or risk society may have created tendencies toward individualization, young people continue to draw on social experiences rooted in their habitus. But rather than seeing school-work transitions as either structurally determined or largely individualized, I propose that individuals form dispositions based on a reflexive understanding of their position in the social structure. (Contains 3 tables and 3 notes.)

Describes the research on lifelong learning. Presents results of an empirical study analyzing the interest in further education of selected social environments in a large city (Munich, Germany). Concludes that the age of learners and their educational level strongly influences the concrete process of education and lifetime learning. (CAJ)

Which social characteristics of voters reduce the chances to waste a vote? Surprisingly, little is known about the commonalities and differences of citizens who do (not) make their vote count. In this article, we argue that levels of education and income, gender and age shape the likelihood to waste a vote through two channels: the voting motivation and the ability to correctly assess the viability of candidates. Drawing on data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, we analyse voting behaviour in six elections in Great Britain, Germany and France between 2005 and 2015. Our analyses demonstrate that holding a university degree is not related to effective voting. Differences in cognitive capacities as a consequence of formal education are hence not decisive for voters' ability to assess candidates' viability correctly. Instead, our results show that many of those wasting their ballots are male and young voters who tend to knowingly decide to support candidates unlikely to win. Overall, these findings shed light on wasted votes as one of the factors that might balance and reinforce existing social inequalities in the political process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]