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The FReDA data set continues to grow: On 2 June 2025, we will publish the complete data set of the third survey wave. This means that the data from the W3A and W3B surveys (including the data from the partner surveys) are now also available to researchers and can be requested via GESIS.
With the release of wave 3, two additional interview dates for anchor individuals (and their partners) have been added to the FReDA dataset. As a result, FReDA now offers current data from seven sub-surveys (W1R, W1A, W1B, W2A, W2B, W3A and W3B) and thus also enables longitudinal analyses. By additionally interviewing the partners, dyadic analyses are also possible.
Detailed information on the data release of the third wave of FReDA can be found in the FReDA Field Report, which you can download here.
Recruitment wave W1R 07.04.2021 - 29.06.2021 Partial wave W1A Anchor 07.07.2021 - 22.09.2021 Partial wave W1A Partner 11.08.2021 - 17.11.2021 Partial wave W1B Anchor 04.11.2021 - 31.03.2022
Partial wave W2A Anchor 04.05.2022 - 07.07.2022 Partial wave W2A Partner 22.05.2022 - 07.09.2022 Partial wave W2B Anchor 12.10.2022 - 31.01.2023 Partial wave W2B Partner 02.11.2022 - 01.03.2023
Partial wave W3A Anchor 03.05.2023 - 11.08.2023 Partial wave W3A Partner 07.06.2023 - 20.09.2023 Partial wave W3B Anchor 12.10.2023 - 19.01.2024 Partial wave W3B Partner 01.11.2023 - 28.02.2024
In wave 3A, 21,891 interviews with anchors were realised. Of the participants, around 43.4 per cent were male and around 56.4 per cent female; just under 0.3 per cent of respondents described themselves as diverse. The average age of the participants was around 35.9 years. The figures for wave 3B are similar: 21,279 interviews were conducted in this sub-wave. Around 43.6 per cent of the questionnaires were completed by men and around 56.2 per cent by women. Just under 0.3 per cent of participants stated that they were diverse. As expected, the average age of the panellists in sub-wave W3B was slightly higher than in the previous wave 3A at 36.4 years.
At 8.4 per cent in W3A and 7.7 per cent in W3B, the proportion of people who completed a paper questionnaire for the sample was significantly lower than the proportion of respondents who opted to participate in CAWI mode. Participation via smartphone was particularly widespread - at 60.4 per cent (W3A) and 62.4 per cent (W3B), this option was chosen by almost two-thirds of panel participants.
The complete data documentation for the current release can be found here.
Up to 560 different items were surveyed in sub-wave W3A, and as many as 585 items in W3B. With its extensive catalogue of questions, the FReDA data set enables representative analyses of the situation and changes in family life, including family forms, family dynamics, fertility, parenthood, socialisation as well as separation and divorce in the context of, for example, the labour market, mobility and health. In addition, some new question modules have been added with the release of wave 3. These include, among others:
With the release of the third wave, the developments and changes in the respondents' family environment can be observed and analysed. We are very excited about future studies, for example with regard to developments in partnerships (e.g. moving in together, marriage, separation), starting a family (e.g. number of children) or career changes. FReDA's extensive data allows for a great deal of differentiation and promises exciting analyses.
In the third wave, you will also find the data from the open modules submitted by researchers to FReDA and surveyed in autumn 2023 (wave 3B). These are questions on four topics:
Please note once again that pairfam has been part of FReDA since 2022. If you have previously conducted research with pairfam data and would like to continue this work, you can easily do so with the FReDA data set. The FReDA questionnaires use many questions and scales that originate from pairfam or are at least compatible with pairfam questions. This enables analyses that combine data from the actual pairfam study (up to 2022) and data from FReDA (from 2022 onwards).
Extensive panel data will therefore continue to be available for analyses, and the time span covered by this panel data will continue to grow steadily. The substantive focus on partnership and family-related issues will remain, and there is also a high degree of overlap in the instruments used in the questionnaire. The multi-actor design focuses on the survey of partners, so that dyadic analyses are possible for the pairfam sample, as well as for other FReDA respondents.
You can find out more about the continuation of pairfam by FReDA here.
With the release of the third wave, FReDA provides the scientific community with a very comprehensive and versatile dataset. You are welcome to gain an impression of this yourself in our FReDA Data Portal. The data portal is freely accessible and invites researchers to explore the panel study in more detail.
The FReDA Data Portal offers a wide range of research options:
Click here to go to the freely accessible FReDA Data Portal.
Researchers can now request the complete data set of the first, second and third survey waves from GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. The data is available to researchers for scientific and non-commercial purposes and access to the data is free of charge.
If you are interested in using the data, you must sign a data usage agreement and verify that you belong to the scientific community. Once the contract has been checked, the data will be made available to you as ‘scientific use files’ from GESIS. If you have any questions about data access, please contact dataservices@gesis.org.
By the way: Students also have the opportunity to work and research with FReDA data as part of their final thesis. They can apply for data access via their lecturer. Once they have concluded a user agreement with GESIS, they will also receive data access to the anonymised dataset published for researchers.
We have compiled a brief overview with the most important information for you here.
You can download the data utilisation agreement here.
If you have any questions about the content of the FReDA data, please contact support.freda@gesis.org.
The pairfam sample is a success story. Principle Investigator Karsten Hank describes what made this panel so special – and looks forward to pairfam's future as part of the FReDA research project.
The funding for the German Family Panel pairfam is coming to an end. The 7th pairfam Interdisciplinary International Conference in Munich provided an opportunity to look back – and forward.
FReDA releases the complete dataset from the first wave of the survey. We trace the process of data collection and summarize the most important facts and figures for you.
How are the data collected in FReDA? You can find detailed information on the study’s samples, contents and survey modes here.
Once again, you have the opportunity to have your own questions included in the FReDA sample. Send us your suggestions - the submission deadline is 26 May 2025.
Every three years, FReDA is part of the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS). This makes international comparative analyses possible.
FReDA continues the surveys of the pairfam study so that these cohorts can also continue to be analysed.
FReDA also asks the partners of all anchor persons to participate in the study. This makes dyadic analyses possible.
Are you interested in using FReDA data in the classroom or to conduct research with the latest findings? Learn how you can request data access – you can find the contact address here.
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