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Detailed Information on the Social Indicators Department
The Department offers a wide variety of scientific infrastructure
and services to scientists and practitioners in the areas of social
monitoring and social
reporting:The System of Social Indicators for the FRG
The System of Social Indicators is designed
to monitor welfare developments and social change in the Federal
Republic of Germany. The System is continuously updated and extended by the staff of the Social Indicators Department. Above all, the German System of Social Indicators
serves as an observational grid that is used to monitor social
developments in this society. It does so by providing data, which allow the regular measurement, description and analysis of the status
quo as well as the development of the objective living conditions and the subjective quality of life of
its citizens. The System includes almost 400 indicators
with a total of more than 3000 time series that are currently arranged into 14 political-
and life domains. The period of observation starts at the beginning of the
1950's and covers the entire time span until up to the present day. Since
most of the times series data are disaggregated according to various
socio-demographic characteristics,
the indicator system also offers information on the social situations of
specific subgroups of the population as well as on the inequality of living conditions
in general.
Digital Information System Social Indicators
The Digital Information System Social Indicators (DISI)
includes the data of the German System of Social Indicators in a PC-based
software package. The newly designed second version of this software is
currently available for Windows 9x/NT operating systems. With its
data-register and query functions, DISI 2.1 makes it easy to access the
System of Social Indicators' large-scale database. It also includes tools
to visualise the data or to export them to other applications. Moreover,
with its bilingual (German/English) design DISI 2.1 is easy to use for an
international public.
European System of Social Indicators
In the context of the EU-financed EuReporting project, the Social Indicators Department
developed the conceptual and structural base of the European
System of Social Indicators. This system of time series, including 20
european countries, the USA and Japan, will be gradually implemented. At
present there are time series from 7 out of projected 13 life-domains
available: 'Population,
Households and Families', 'Housing', 'Education and Vocational Training',
'Labour Market and Working Conditions', 'Income, Standard of Living, and Consumption Patterns',
'Health' and 'Total Life Situation'.
Social Indicators Information Service (ISI)
The "Social
Indicators Information Service" (ISI), which appears twice a year, is the
unit's contribution to regular social reporting. This publication wants to
apprise a well-informed (but not necessarily scientific) public of problems and trends
in the realms of welfare development and social change. In doing so, ISI
presents empirical data on recent topics
of the current socio-political discussion. In addition, ISI reports activities and
results of social indicators research and social reporting. ISI can be
subscribed free of charge.
Welfare Survey
In cooperation with the Inequality and Social Integration Unit of the Social Science Research Center Berlin
(WZB) the
Department is in charge of the
German Welfare
Survey. The Welfare Survey is a representative survey that is designed to
measure and analyse the objective and subjective aspects of welfare and of
quality of life in general. Along with the German
General Social Survey (ALLBUS)
and the German Socio-economic Panel
(GSOEP)
it is among the most important instruments for social monitoring in the
Federal Republic.
Data Report
The Data Report is currently the most important
publication on social reporting in the Federal Republic of Germany. It presents selected data and facts
that focus on specific social problems and are supplied by official
statistics and empirical social research. It thus provides extensive
information on the economic as well as on the social situation in the Federal
Republic of Germany. The first part of the Data Report describes the objective living conditions and their development
using data from official statistics. In contrast to that, the second part
includes analyses on welfare development that are based on
social science data sets, which above all include information on the
subjective perception and assessment of these objective living conditions as
they are perceived by the citizens.
The Data Report is edited by the Federal
Statistical Office in collaboration with the WZB
(Social Science Research Center Berlin) and former ZUMA (Center for Survey Research and
Methodology). Together with the Social Structure and
Social Reporting Unit of the WZB, the
Social Indicators Department is in charge of the second part of the Data Report. The Data Report is
available for a small shipping and handling charge from the Federal Centre for Political Education (Bundeszentrale
für Politische Bildung, German page). A special edition is also available at bookstores. The current edition of the Data Report
is the Data Report
2004. It was published in august 2004. Single copies
can be ordered here.
If you wish to order larger numbers please contact the Federal
Centre for Political Education (German page).
Literature Archive
In our library we collect literature and working materials on social indicator research
and social reporting. All these materials have been documented using an
electronic literature database. The material includes several
thousand documents on social indicators research, especially so-called 'grey
literature' (i.e. unpublished papers, reports etc.). This archive is also
open to external users.
Advisory and Information Services
The department supports and advises scientists and practitioners on
all questions regarding social monitoring, social reporting and social
indicators research. These services include e.g. the search for statistical information,
advice on methodological questions and support in the conception and realisation of quality-of-life
surveys or systems of social reporting.
Workshops and Conferences
The department organises regular workshops
and conferences
on various topics in the area of social monitoring and social reporting.
Expert Evaluations and Expertise
Under certain conditions the department also writes expert evaluations and
expertise on special questions
in the field of social monitoring and social reporting. This kind of
service is usually provided in the context of externally funded projects.
Research
The Social Indicators Department concentrates its research activities on the following
topics:
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Concepts and Methods of Social Indicators Research
-
Welfare Research
-
Analysis of the
Social Structure
-
The Development of Social Change in International Comparison
Publications
of the Social Indicators Department
© GESIS Heinz-Herbert Noll
01/02/08
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