With a one-year delay due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the field study of the second cycle of PIAAC successfully started on May 31, 2021. PIAAC - The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies - is an OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) study that examines basic adult competencies in an international comparison. The study is being conducted simultaneously in 33 countries. In Germany, GESIS is leading the study, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The survey institute Kantar has been commissioned to conduct the interviews.
In the second cycle of PIAAC, reading and everyday mathematical competencies as well as adaptive problem solving are measured among 16- to 65-year-olds. The interview consists of two parts: a questionnaire that collects general information about the person (e.g., education, occupation, use of competencies in everyday life and work) and the competency measurement, in which the interviewee works on tasks independently on a tablet.
The field study is realized - due to the pandemic - with a reduced quota sample of at least 250 face-to-face interviews under strict hygiene conditions. The start of the field study was preceded by two four-day virtual interviewer training sessions, during which 32 interviewers received intensive training on the study design, the field work and the hygiene measures to be observed.
The findings of the field study form an important basis for the selection of the survey instruments and the evaluation of all procedures for the data collection in the main PIAAC study, which will take place over a period of eight months in 2022/23. The results of the second cycle of PIAAC are expected to be published in late 2024.