Artikel

The Individual in Context(s): Research Potentials of the Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) in Sociology

The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study is a rich resource for sociologists, mainly because it offers direct measures of respondents’ contexts. The SOEP data provide (i) information retrieved from individuals themselves, (ii) direct information retrieved from their parents, partners, and organizations, (iii) prospectively collected information on past characteristics, and (iv) regional and spatial identifiers allowing researchers to link the data with regional-level characteristics. As the study has been in the field since 1984, the data also reflect variation in institutional and structural settings over time. Regular refreshment samples provide options to identify cohort effects. Together, these features allow multi-layered contextual designs that offer substantive insights into the effects of formal and informal institutions on individual behaviour and living conditions. This article introduces the main types of SOEP-based sociological research designs and discusses their survey methodological origins. It also points to underexplored potentials as well as limitations of the SOEP. Finally, it offers basic suggestions for approaching the data in each of the research designs presented.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Journal: European Sociological Review ; ISSN: 0266-7215 ; Volume: 35 ; Year: 2019 ; Issue: 5 ; Pages: 738-755 ; Oxford: Oxford University Press

Classification
Wirtschaft

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Giesselmann, Marco
Bohmann, Sandra
Goebel, Jan
Krause, Peter
Liebau, Elisabeth
Richter, David
Schacht, Diana
Schröder, Carsten
Schupp, Jürgen
Liebig, Stefan
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Oxford University Press
(where)
Oxford
(when)
2019

DOI
doi:10.1093/esr/jcz029
Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET

Data provider

This object is provided by:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.

Object type

  • Artikel

Associated

  • Giesselmann, Marco
  • Bohmann, Sandra
  • Goebel, Jan
  • Krause, Peter
  • Liebau, Elisabeth
  • Richter, David
  • Schacht, Diana
  • Schröder, Carsten
  • Schupp, Jürgen
  • Liebig, Stefan
  • Oxford University Press

Time of origin

  • 2019

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