Study: MZ 2010
Additional Programs
- Housing situation (Sampling Fraction: 1% )
Ad-hoc-module EU Labour Force Survey
- Reconciliation between work and family life (Sampling Fraction: 0.1% )
Changes In Questionnaire
- In the 2010 Microcensus, changes were made to the degree of differentiation with which countries and nationalities are measured and the way they are coded. During the interview and in the self-administered questionnaire countries are now recorded using a letter code; numerical coding is carried out later. In contrast to the self-administered questionnaire, all countries are now covered in the computer assisted personal interview (CAPI). These changes affect all variables relating to countries and nationalities (for example "Place of work: Country", "First nationality", and "Nationality: Extended migrant status")
- To improve the measurement of ILO labour force status, in particular, the fieldwork and questions regarding labour market participation have undergone changes since the 2005 round of the Microcensus. The 2010 round saw the introduction of some new questions – for example, regarding paid and unpaid overtime and "Seeking work: Waiting for a reply from the Federal Employment Agency /other public employment office, paid employment" (bezahlte und unbezahlte Überstunden and "Arbeitsuche: Warten auf Antwort der Agentur für Arbeit/ sonst. Behörde d. Arbeitsvermittlung, Arbeitnehmertätigkeit"). Some questions are worded differently than in 2009 or have different response categories – for example, "Wish to work more hours" ("Wunsch nach mehr Überstunden").
- Other changes relate to educational particulars
- In the case of the highest level of general school education successfully completed, "Polytechnische Oberschule der DDR mit Abschluss der 8. oder 9. Klasse" (successful completion of 8th or 9th grade at a Polytechnische Oberschule in the GDR) and "Polytechnische Oberschule der DDR mit Abschluss der 10. Klasse" (successful completion of 10th grade at a Polytechnische Oberschule in the GDR) are two separate categories.
- In the case of the level of vocational education successfully completed, "Abschluss einer Berufsakademie" (successful completion of a Berufsakademie degree programme) is a separate category in 2010 whereas up to 2009 it was in the collective category "Meister-/Technikerausbildung oder gleichwertiger Fachschulabschluss ..." (Training as a master craftsperson or technician or an equivalent Fachschule leaving certificate …).
- It should be noted that, compared to 2006, some new questions were asked in 2010 and some new response categories were used. Moreover, the variable EF502 contained the basic rent (Grundmiete), whereas in 2006 it contained the Bruttokaltmiete (gross rent without heating and other ancillary costs).
Methodical Notes
- In 2010, the data collection mode, the federal state, the nationality, and the household size were used to estimate the response probabilities (1st stage) when constructing the extrapolation factor EF956 for the variables in the ad hoc module. Because the target population comprised persons aged between 15 and 64, person factors rather than household factors were estimated.
- As in the 2009 SUF, missing values were differentiated retrospectively by individual reason or sup-population and shown with specific negative values. The only exceptions are a number of multiple-response variables, where 0/1 coding was used.
- When the filtering was checked, some irregular missing values were detected. The cases in question were recoded as "No answer".
Year Specific Documentation
- Microcensus Scientific Use File 2010 Documentation and Data Preparation [in German] [.pdf]
Cross-sectional Data
Sampling Units
Districts
Achieved Sample Size
489630
Units Of Observation
- Persons (in private households and collective dwellings)
- Households
- Dwellings
Units Of Analysis
- Persons
- Living arrangements
- Families
- Households
- Dwellings
Start Date
01-01-2010
End Date
31-12-2010
Participation Mandatory
Yes
Interview Mode
- 74.3 % CAPI
- 3.5 % CATI
- 22.2 % Self-administered
Percentage Of Proxy Interviews
24.12 %
Design Weight: Target
Dwelling, Household, Persons
Design Weight: Method
The Microcensus is a single-stage, stratified cluster sample with a uniform sampling fraction for all strata. As a rule, the sampling fraction is 1 %; it applies to all sampling units (dwellings, households, persons).
Because the selection probability of the Scientific Use File (SUF) basically remains constant at 70%, design weights can be created on the basis of the inverse of the sampling fraction of the Microcensus (1 %) and the Scientific Use File (70 %): w = 1 / (0.01 * 0.7).
Non-response Weight: Method
In the Microcensus, as in all surveys, the sampling plan cannot be realised fully. Hence, undercoverage occurs in the form of non-response on the part of the households to be surveyed. Because households and their members are obliged by law to provide information for the Microcensus, non-response is due mainly to the fact that households could not be reached during the survey. Cases of non-response are corrected using the information that is available about the non-responding households.
Since 2005, the compensation factors are no longer calculated by dividing target figures by actual figures but rather by means of generalised regression estimation (calibration technique). At regional level, the following characteristics, or combinations of characteristics, are taken into account for private households: rotation quarter and new-construction stratum (federal state), 19 compensation classes (see above; regional adjustment stratum), and total private households (regional subgroup). For collective dwellings: number of persons in collective dwellings (regional subgroup).
Coverage Adjustment Weight: Method
In contrast to compensation, adjustment is carried out at person level.
Since 2005, adjustment has no longer been carried out at the level of disjointed adjustment strata but rather on a quarterly basis at different regional levels; data from the Central Register of Foreign Nationals (Ausländerzentralregister) are also used. Moreover, the same extrapolation factors are available for all members of a household. The extrapolation terms and regional units are: age groups x sex; nationality groups x sex; population group (temporary career volunteers and regular soldiers including members of the Federal Police and the Bereitschaftspolizei (riot police), persons doing military service, civilian population) (federal state); nationality groups x sex (administrative district); total population (regional adjustment stratum).
Final Weighting: Method
For the final weight a two-stage procedure is employed: In a first step the net sample of the successfully interviewed households is adjusted to the gross sample of all households to be interviewed (compensation). In a second step this gross sample is benchmarked to the update of the current population figures (adjustment). The final weights result from a combination of this two-stage procedure of compensation and adjustment. They are derived from the original data, are already multiplied with the inverse of the selection probability and extrapolated to 1000 of the population.
From 2005 onwards, in addition to the standard weighting factors for annual averages there also exist weighting factors for the quarterly samples, for the ad hoc modules and structural variables of the EU-LFS. Moreover, there are special weighting factors for supplementary programmes of the Microcensus (e.g., on the housing situation).
See [.pdf] (in German)