German Ageing Survey (DEAS): User Manual SUF DEAS 2020, Version 1.0 (March 2021)

Abstract

The German Ageing Survey (DEAS), funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ), is a nationwide representative cross-sectional and longitudinal survey of the German middle-aged and older population. The German Centre of Gerontology in Berlin (DZA) is responsible for the conduct and ongoing development of thestudy. The primary goal of the DEAS survey program is to provide a representative national database containing information describing the living conditions and to study the diversity within the older section of the population, the process of ageing as it affects individuals and processes of social change as they relate to old age and ageing. The DEAS covers a wide range of topics. The data obtained provide information on socioeconomic and demographic attributes as well as household composition, housing, family structure, social networks, psychological resources, attitudes as well as and physical and mental health. The comprehensive examination of people over 40 provides micro data for use both in social and behavioral scientific research and in reporting on social developments. The data thus provides a source of information for decision-makers, the general public and for scientific research. Microdata of the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) are available free of charge to scientific researchers for non-profitable purposes. The Research Data Centre (FDZ-DZA) provides access and support to scholars interested in using DEAS data for their research. Data and documentations from completed DEAS waves are available by the FDZ-DZA (https://www.dza.de/en/research/fdz). However, for reasons of data protection, signing a data distribution contract is required before data can be obtained. The DEAS applies a cohort-sequential design, which allows the users to analyze societal trends and individual trajectories (embedded inside societal trends) and to disentangle age effects from cohort effects. The first DEAS survey wave took place in 1996. Further waves followed in 2002, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017 and an additional shortened paper-and-pencil questionnaire was carried out in the summer of 2020. An initially planned face-to-face interview with panel participants and a new basic sample in 2020 could not take place due to the Corona pandemic.The seventh wave of DEAS was organized in June and July 2020 with panel participants in form of a smaller written-postal survey. The main survey started in December 2020 with an extensive telephone survey of the panel participants, supplemented by a written drop-off for self-completion. A newly drawn basic sample was dispensed of. The field phase of the main survey is expected to end in mid-April 2021. The focus of the DEAS survey, which took place between June 8th and July 22nd, centered around the affect the first wave of the COVID19 pandemic had on the everyday life and the living situations of people in their second half of life. The collection of data was, just as in the prewaves, conducted by infas - Institut für angewandte Sozialwissenschaft GmbH, Bonn.