Overview of the GLES and its Study Design

What characterizes this study?

Cross-sectional surveys are an essential part of election studies worldwide. For the 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021 federal elections, one cross-sectional survey was conducted before the election and one after the election. The surveys conducted for the 2009, 2013 and 2017 elections were face-to-face Computer Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI). Since the survey for the 2021 federal election, the GLES Cross-Section has been conducted as a mixed-mode survey online (CAWI) and in paper (PAPI). These surveys are based on a multi-level, stratified random sample and take about an hour to complete. For the upcoming federal election in 2025, the pre-election cross-section will be combined with the rolling cross-section (RCS).

What can be analyzed?

The GLES Cross-Section surveys can be used to analyze classical questions of electoral and voter research. In addition to a longitudinal and international comparative perspective, the GLES takes up innovative and current approaches in international electoral and attitudinal research by including new questionnaire elements such as scales on political attitudes, emotions, and personality traits.

Can the dataset be linked with other (GLES) studies?

The Post-Election Questionnaire contains the current question module of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) and thus allows the analysis of international comparative issues in electoral research. In addition, the German CSES studies from 1998 (ZA3073), 2002 (ZA4216) and 2005 (ZA4559) can be used to conduct comparative analyses of electoral behavior over time. Moreover, some questions are asked in both the GLES Cross-Section survey and the GLES Candidate Study. This makes it possible to compare the attitudes and behavior of voters and candidates and to examine the importance of local campaigns for voting behavior.

For which elections is this study available?

GLES Cross-Section surveys are available for the federal elections in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021. In addition, GESIS has archived at least one election study for every federal election since 1949. The data can be accessed via the GESIS-Search or via the FDZ Wahlen.

Are further surveys planned?

For the 2025 federal election, there will only be one post-election cross-sectional survey, which will be similar in scope (approx. one hour of interviews) and mode (CAWI & PAPI) to the 2021 post-election cross-section and will also be based on a register sample.

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What kind of data is collected?

Rolling cross-section studies (RCS studies for short) are a standard instrument for recording short-term changes in political attitudes, opinions and behavioral intentions during an election campaign. In this type of study, the aim is to conduct a predefined number of interviews each day within a certain period of time. The RCS design is intended to ensure that the realized daily samples are comparable and that people who are interviewed early during the election campaign do not differ systematically from people who are interviewed later. In the GLES, the field period of the RCS studies typically extends over around 60 days before the election, during which between 100 and 130 interviews are targeted each day. In the previous studies, a total of between 6,000 and 7,650 interviews were conducted. The pre-election survey in the RCS design is supplemented by a re-interview of the people involved after the election date. The GLES RCS studies were conducted by telephone for the 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021 federal elections. For the 2025 federal election, the RCS study will be conducted as an online study for the first time.

What can be analyzed?

The Rolling Cross-Section allows the analysis of aggregated changes on a daily basis. Thus, the design enables to capture campaign-induced changes in public opinion. Voters' reactions to events during the campaign can be captured directly, and the decay or stability of these effects can be revealed. Since the GLES RCS studies are combined with a post-election panel survey, it is also possible to examine intra-individual changes between the two waves.

Can the dataset be linked with other (GLES) studies?

The GLES RCS studies can be directly linked to day-specific contextual data as well as to the daily GLES Campaign Media Content Analyses (conducted until 2017).

For which elections is this study available?

GLES RCS studies are available for the federal elections in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021. The previous study on the 2005 federal election (ZA4991) is also accessible via the GESIS search.

Are further surveys planned?

An RCS study will also be conducted by the GLES for the 2025 federal election. In this survey, the question programs of the previous RCS study and the previous pre-election cross-sectional survey will be merged and supplemented by various new questions.

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What can be analyzed?

The GLES Panel aims to investigate intra-individual changes in political attitudes and behaviors among eligible voters during German federal election campaigns and between elections. By combining multiple closely timed surveys conducted before and during election campaigns with long-term follow-ups after and between elections, the GLES Panel employs a complex survey design. Its comprehensive and flexible questionnaire, adapted to current developments, establishes the GLES Panel as a unique and innovative tool in the study of elections in Germany.

What is the data collection design?

Since the 2017 federal election campaign, eligible German voters from up to three different samples have been repeatedly surveyed as part of the GLES Panel—before and during election campaigns, after federal elections, and between elections.

Sample A consists of quota-based selections of approximately 36,000 eligible German voters from several non-probabilistic online panels, divided into four subsamples. Participants in the 2017 election campaign surveys were drawn from the main sample A1 (fall 2016), the recontact sample A2 (GLES Campaign Panel 2013), and the refreshment sample A3 (spring 2017) of the GLES Campaign Panel 2017. Sample A was further supplemented by the refreshment sample A4 for the 2021 election campaign, whose participants were recruited in fall 2020. Participants from Sample A were surveyed up to seven times during the 2017 and 2021 federal elections and up to twice in the years between elections using self-administered web-based questionnaires (CAWI).

In contrast to Sample A, Samples B and C are based on random selections from the target population of German citizens aged 16 and older, drawn from the population registers of German municipalities. Sample B comprises 3,412 individuals from the GLES Cross-Section 2017 (ZA6802), who agreed to participate in follow-up surveys on their political attitudes and behaviors as part of the GLES Panel. Sample C includes 5,112 individuals recruited from the GLES Cross-Section 2021 (ZA7702). Active participants in Sample B were surveyed up to three times between 2018 and 2019 using a mixed-mode design with web-based (CAWI) and paper-based questionnaires (PAPI). Since 2020, active participants in Sample B, and since 2022, participants in Sample C, have been surveyed up to twice annually exclusively using web-based questionnaires (CAWI). Data collection for Samples B and C concluded with the survey wave conducted for the 2024 European Parliament election.

What data collection is planned?

For the 2025 federal election, active participants from subsamples A1-A4, along with approximately 10,000 eligible individuals from the new refreshment sample A5, will be surveyed up to five times during the election campaign and after the 2025 federal election. This will enable diverse and in-depth analyses of the impact of political events and election campaigns on changes in political attitudes and decision-making processes.

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What characterizes this study?

Since the 2009 German federal elections, short cross-sectional online surveys (CAWI) have been conducted up to four times a year. Each cross-sectional sample consists of about 1,000 respondents. In addition, surveys of around 500 respondents were conducted for many state elections between 2009 and 2017. They were conducted at the same time as the regular GLES Tracking, preferably before the respective state elections.

What can be analyzed?

GLES Tracking aims to measure short-term aggregate changes between elections by conducting surveys at regular intervals with a constant core survey program. Until 2017, the GLES Tracking also included question modules with a thematic focus. Since 2018, only the core program has been surveyed, supplemented by a few topical items when necessary.

Can the dataset be linked with other (GLES) studies?

The GLES Tracking can be linked to the Long-term Media Content Analysis 2009-2017, which was collected in parallel.

For which elections is this study available?

Between 2009 and 2017, four surveys were typically conducted annually. Since 2018, three surveys have been conducted annually.

Are further surveys planned?

Currently, three surveys are conducted per year. For the 2025 federal election, there will be one survey directly before the election and two further surveys during the course of the year.

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What kind of data is collected?

For the 2009 and 2013 federal elections, a consistent sample of eligible voters was interviewed six times during the election campaign and once after the election. In 2009, 3,771 people were recruited from an online access panel by Respondi for the first wave, and 5,256 people were recruited in 2013. The first wave of the 2017 Campaign Panel started one year before the 2017 German federal election with a significantly larger sample size of around 18,000 people. The interviews of the Short-term Campaign Panel were conducted online (CAWI).
Some respondents in the 2013 and 2017 Short-term Campaign Panels had already participated in the Campaign Panel for the previous German federal election. Since the 2013 federal election, panelists have been invited to take part in annual interim surveys.

What can be analyzed?

The Short-term Campaign Panel can be used to study intra-individual changes in political attitudes and behavior during campaigns and between elections.

Can the dataset be linked with other (GLES) studies?

The Short-term Campaign Panel waves can be linked on a daily basis to the Campaign Media Content Analyses (until 2017).

For which elections is this study available?

Short-term Campaign Panel surveys were conducted for the 2009, 2013, and 2017 German federal elections. Since 2014, participants have been invited to participate in annual interim surveys.

Are further surveys planned?

In 2018, the Short-term Campaign Panel merged into the GLES Panel.

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What kind of data is collected?

A rolling three-wave panel design was used for the long-term panel. All respondents to the GLES Cross-Sections who agreed to participate in future surveys formed the population of a panel. Each panel included a total of three German federal elections. For panel maintenance, short surveys (by telephone, in writing and, from 2014, online) were also conducted annually starting in 2009.

What can be analyzed?

The Long-term Panel makes it possible to analyze intra-individual changes in attitudes and political behavior between successive elections. Both the time span of the individual panels of two full legislative periods and the continuity of the rolling three-wave design, which has been continued since 1994 (ZA4301), represent a special feature also in international comparison.

For which elections is this study available?

As part of the GLES, the Long-term Panel was published for the 2002-2005-2009, 2005-2009-2013, 2009-2013, and 2013-2017 German federal elections.

Are further surveys planned?

Since 2018, participants from the GLES Cross-Section who are willing to be re-interviewed have been interviewed as part of the GLES Panel.

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What kind of data is collected?

The study is a quantitative media content analysis of political reporting in TV news programs and print media during the election campaign. Five TV news programs and the coverage of six German daily newspapers were collected. The topics were coded using the GLES coding scheme, which was also used to code the open questions about the most important problems in Germany in the surveys of eligible voters until 2017.

What can be analyzed?

The Campaign Media Content Analysis allows an analysis of the interplay between media coverage and voter perceptions during election campaigns.

Can the dataset be linked with other (GLES) studies?

The Campaign Media Content Analysis can be linked to the GLES Rolling Cross-Section study and the GLES Campaign Panel on a daily basis.

For which elections is this study available?

Campaign Media Content Analyses are available for the 2009, 2013 and 2017 German federal elections.

Are further surveys planned?

No further Campaign Media Content analyses are planned at this time.

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What kind of data is collected?

The Long-term Media Agenda Analysis is a quantitative media content analysis of the most important weekly political magazines as well as national and regional daily newspapers. The topics were coded using the GLES coding scheme, which was also used to code the open-ended questions on the most important problems in Germany in the surveys of eligible voters until 2017.

What can be analyzed?

The long-term record of key issue conjunctures in Germany can be used in combination with GLES Tracking survey data to examine the influence of relevant events on the political attitudes and voting behavior of the population.

Can the dataset be linked with other (GLES) studies?

The Long-term Media Agenda Analysis can be linked to the GLES Tracking.

For which elections is this study available?

The Long-term Media Agenda Analysis is available for the period from 2009 to 2013.

Are further surveys planned?

No further Long-term Media Agenda Analyses are planned at this time.

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What kind of data is collected?

TV debates between the CDU/CSU and SPD candidates for chancellor have established themselves as the most important campaign events in German federal elections. Within the framework of the GLES, experiments were conducted to analyze these debates. Participants were interviewed before and after the TV debates, a few days after the debates, and immediately after the German federal elections. Using a voting machine, the experimental groups were able to express their opinions directly during the debate. This experimental design was complemented by a content analysis of the TV debate. In 2009, a content analysis of the media coverage of the debate was also conducted.

For the 2017 German federal election, an experiment was also conducted on the TV debate between the top candidates of the CSU, FDP, Greens, Left Party, and AfD ("TV Fünfkampf").

What can be analyzed?

The purpose of this study is to examine the existence and persistence of TV debate effects on political attitudes and voting behavior.

Can the dataset be linked with other (GLES) studies?

The survey, real-time response data, and media content analysis can be analyzed jointly.

For which elections is this study available?

TV Debate Analyses are available for the 2009, 2013 and 2017 German federal elections.

Are further surveys planned?

No further TV Debate Analyses are planned at this time.

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