LOGO

SCIENCE GOES PUBLIC! is an innovative format of knowledge transfer in Bremen and Bremerhaven. Topics are presented publicly in 30 minutes in selected pubs and bars to a wide-ranging audience. The SOCIUM Research Centre for Inequality and Social Policy is participating this time with two contributions: Wanda Schwarze-Wippern and Christof Wittmaack will give a talk on "Nur fordern, wenn's foerdert?" at 1st Class Suidice (Friedrich-Ebert-Str. 53-55, 28199 Bremen) on 4 November 2021 at 8:30 pm, Sebastian Jürss will talk on "Da klafft 'ne Gerechtigkeitsluecke einfach auf" at Gondi (Langemarckstr. 249, 28199 Bremen) on 11 November at 8:30 pm.

The junior research group "The 'Activating Welfare State' – A Political and Social History of German Social Policy, 1979-2017" and the research project "GEVOAB - Ideas of Justice held by Recipients of Unemployment Benefit II" are funded by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs within the framework of the Interdisciplinary Social Policy Research Network (FIS).

This year's BARMER Long-Term Care Report was presented today at the Conference Centre of the Federal Press Conference House in Berlin. The Report focuses this year on the analysis of stress and health status among care workers. The working time of 26,000 care workers was lost in the year 2017 due to an above-average disease burden. The Report discusses current long-term care policy with regard to the ongoing care crisis – particularly in the light of additional burdens brought on by the Corona pandemic. The authors – Professor Dr. Heinz Rothgang, Dr. Rolf Müller and Benedikt Preuß – carried out in-depth studies of case numbers, incidences, prevalences and long-term care trajectories. The figures are based primarily on the long-term care statistics for the year 2017 provided by the Federal Office of Statistics as well as routine claims data of the BARMER health insurance fund.

Workload considerably heavier in long-term care

Workloads have increased considerably in many respects for care workers. Around 92 per cent of geriatric care workers report that they often carry out their work standing up (cf. 47 per cent reported in other occupations). Seventy-six per cent of geriatric care workers report having to frequently lift and carry heavy weights (as against 15 per cent in other occupations). Working in forced postures is reported significantly more frequently (45 percent as compared to 11 per cent). Fifty-two per cent of geriatric carers report that they often have to comply with rules relating to minimum performance or stipulated times for carrying out specific tasks (as against 27 per cent in other occupations). Other pressures include frequent deadline and performance pressures (reported by 63 per cent compared to 50 per cent in other occupations); frequently having to work very quickly is reported by 53 per cent (cf. 39 per cent), and 31 per cent of geriatric care workers claim that they frequently reach the limits of their endurance (as against 16 per cent in other occupations). All these burdens are also reported to be stressful more frequently by care workers than by workers in other occupations.

Poorer Health Status among Care Workers

Correspondingly, care workers are found to be altogether in poorer health than workers in other occupations. This correlation is shown by all measurement methods used. Survey results, the analysis of outpatient diagnoses, absence rates, prescriptions and hospitalisation figures all show that care workers are more seriously affected by musculoskeletal, psychic and behavioural disorders. Though in many areas the workload is similar for qualified and for auxiliary geriatric care workers, the health status of auxiliary workers is poorer than among qualified care workers.

Very high absence rates through illness among care workers

Sickness rates stood at 7.2 per cent in 2017 among qualified geriatric care workers, and as high as 8.7 per cent among auxiliary carers; in other occupations, the sickness rate was 5.0 per cent.  The above-average working time lost through sickness is calculated by multiplying the difference in sickness rates by the number of care workers. This surplus work time lost amounts to the working time of well over 24,000 care workers in the year 2017.
On average, within the year 2017 3.9 out of 1,000 geriatric care workers and six out of 1,000 auxiliary workers are granted disability pensions, while the rate among other occupations is three per 1,000. The above-average early retirement rates led to a loss of almost 2,000 care workers in 2017. The aggregate of above-aberage sickness-related absence times and the above-average entry into disability retirement pensions corresponds to the working time of 26,000 care workers lost in 2017 alone.

There is no alternative but to hire more staff

Current employment figures in care work are inadequate to ensure both professional care and salubrious working conditions. The work intensification arising out of this leads to an excessive workload and negative health effects for employees. This situation generates increased absence through sickness, and more people changing occupations, which in turn aggravates the care crisis. The vicious circle is complete when the remaining care workers are burdened with an even greater workload. This vicious circle has to be broken to ensure sustainable, quality-assured care work – and it can only be broken by employing more staff.

Downloads (all in German only):
BARMER Care Report 2020
Statement by Prof. Rothgang at the Press Conference
PresentatIon given by Prof. Rothgang at the Press Conference

Fridays for Future was successfull where environmental NGOs and climate protests in the 20 years before failed. They have succeeded to alter the issue of climate change from a relatively abstract topic that is negotiated at international conferences to one that mobilizes tens of thousands of people to protest on the streets. In the six months before the Corona pandemic, according to opinion polls, climate change had become the top most important issue in Germany. With Fridays for Future, climate protests have gained unprecedented popular support and political attention.
But who actually participates in this social movement? What motivates people to protest and what are the attitudes and convictions of the protesters? Sebastian Haunss (head of the working group Social Conflicts at SOCIUM) and Moritz Sommer (Institute for Research on Social Movements and Protest) have published the first comprehensive scientific study on this new wave of climat protests. Several surveys among protesters from 2019 create the starting point for the analyses in the book »Fridays for Future – Die Jugend gegen den Klimawandel. Konturen der weltweiten Protestbewegung«.
In twelve chapters, the 28 authors of the book provide insights into decision-making and mobilization structures of local Fridays for Future groups, analyze reactions to the protests in the media, politics and society, and examine the attitudes of adolescents and young adults to climate change issues. The individual chapters offer a broad audience access to the first research findings on Fridays for Future. The book is available in print in bookstores and online as an open access version (https://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-5347-2).

Every four years all scientists active in research in Germany are asked to elect the members of the Review Boards of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). In this year’s election two members of SOCIUM were successful. Olaf Groh-Samberg was elected for the first time as a member for empirical social research. Frank Nullmeier was reelected as a member for political science in the Review Board for Social Sciences.

The Review Boards of the DFG are important institutions in the peer review process for applications for research funding. Potential members are recommended by universities and research institutions (Max-Planck, Leibniz, Frauenhofer etc.) but most importantly by the associations of the different research disciplines. Olaf Groh-Samberg was not only recommended by a dozen universities but also by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie. Frank Nullmeier received support from both German political science associations, the Deutsche Vereinigung für Politikwissenschaft as well as the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Politikwissenschaft. The newly elected Review Boards will commence their work on February 2020.

more Information:
https://www.dfg.de/dfg_profil/gremien/fachkollegien/fk_wahl2019/index.jsp

This year's BARMER Long-Term Care Report was presented today at the Conference Centre of the Federal Press Conference House in Berlin. The analysis of new living arrangements with long-term care provision is the central focus of this year’s Report. It also includes a review of LTC insurance 25 years since its inception. As in previous years, the authors – Professor Dr. Heinz Rothgang and Dr. Rolf Müller – continue to deliver in-depth analyses of case numbers, incidences, prevalences and long-term care trajectories. The data used for the Report are primarily long-term care statistics for the year 2017 and claims data provided by the health insurance fund BARMER.

Downloads:
BARMER Long-Term Care Report 2019 (in German)
Statement prepared by Professor Rothgang for the Press Conference
Presentation given by Professor Rothgang at the Press Conference

The German Data Forum advises the federal government and is involved in optimizing data infrastructures. Having obtained the accreditation, Qualiservice now aims to strengthen the interests of qualitative research at the level of science policy.

The accreditation by the German Data Forum in June 2019 is a testimony for the hitherto achievements of Qualiservice. For being accredited, research data centers (RDCs) must accord to the criteria of the German Data Forum with regard to data protection and quality as well as continuous dialog with the scientific community. As an accredited RDC, Qualiservice will work with the Standing Committee on Research Data Infrastructure of the German Data Forum. About 30 RDCs, mostly handling quantitative data, are working to establish a new research data infrastructure in specific working groups. Being appointed a member, Qualiservice is given the chance to point out the special requirements that access to sensitive research data entails for secondary use.

Since 2018, the German Research Foundation (GRF) has been funding the perpetuation of Qualiservice as a RDC for sensitive data in qualitative research. As a „living archive“ Qualiservice does not only deposit research data passively, but supports researchers in the documentation process of their research. The aim is to make the research materials generated in the projects available to other scholars for secondary research. The opportunity to reuse and compare data from social research for longitudinals independently of the primary study will be of particular interest in the future.

Qualitative research materials provided by Qualiservice represent for example, interviews or observations. They are available in written form as transcripts or protocols, but also as audio files, photos or video files. These documentations usually refer to personal data, since the interviewees and other research subjects allow the researchers to participate in their lifeworld.
In order to protect research participants’ personal data, Qualiservice has set up secure workflows and a Safe Center. Thereby Qualiservice takes measures to curate sensitive data while complying to data protection regulations. A workplace for visiting scholars enables secondary use directly on site. More anonymised data sets are also provided as scientific use files. Access to the data is contractually regulated and can only be obtained for scientific purposes. The organisation of a quality-oriented RDC requires national and international networking. As a result of the close collaboration with infrastructure facilities and researchers a separate GRF-funded section on ethnographic data was set up. Furthermore, Qualiservice participates in a BMBF-funded project group working on tools to ensure data quality und long term referencing , taking educational data as an example.

Qualiservice is located at the SOCIUM Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy, led by Prof. Dr. Betina Hollstein. In cooperation with PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science and the State and the University Library Bremen (SuUB) Qualiservice is assuring the archiving and dissemination workflows as well as appropriate metadata. Besides, a coordinated archiving and representation of mixed methods studies will be implemented together with GESIS - Leibniz Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Since 2019 QUALISERVICE works in close cooperation with the DFG-funded Specialised Information Service Social and Cultural Anthropology (FID SKA), located at the University Library of the Humboldt University Berlin.

Together with 10 partners Qualiservice participated in the proposal, which has now been approved by the BMBF. The three year project will be coordinated by the GESIS – Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences and connects various actors of the field of eduational research.

The project aims at developing data specific management tools – Domain-Data-Protocols (DDPs) - for the empirical educational research. DDPs are public and referenceable protocols. They describe aspects of data quality, curation and documentation as well as legal and ethical aspects related to a specific datatype. By offering data management suggestions DDPs can guide researchers applying for funding. Beyond DDPs can support research funders in evaluating the applications. Qualiservice Knowing the challenges linked with the specific needs of qualitative research data, Qualiservice will focus on flexible and research oriented solutions. Researchers and funders will be involved from the very beginning.

Since 2018 the German Research Foundation (DFG) supports the implementation of QUALISERVICE as a national data service center for social science qualitative research data. The data service center (FDZ) is located at SOCIUM and is headed by Prof. Dr. Betina Hollstein. Archiving is organized together with PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science and the State and University Library Bremen (SuUB). Besides, a coordinated archiving and representation of mixed methods studies will be created together with GESIS – Leibniz Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Since 2019 QUALISERVICE manages in close cooperation with the University Library of the Humboldt University Berlin the DFG-funded Specialised Information Service Social and Cultural Anthropology (FID SKA).

The grant is part of the Specialised Information Service Social and Cultural Anthropology (FID SKA), managed by the University Library of the Humboldt Universitaet Berlin and QUALISERVICE at Bremen University. One of the aims of FID SKA is to establish QUALISERVICE as a repository also for qualitative ethnographic research data such as audio and video data, field notes and observation protocols offering an adequate solution for the complex archiving requirements of the sometimes highly sensitive research data throughout Germany. Thus, researchers will obtain a reliable source to archive and request ethnological research data for secondary use in research and teaching.

Since 2018 the German Research Foundation (DFG) supports the implementation of QUALISERVICE as a national data service center for social science qualitative research data. Previously QUALISERVICE focused on qualitative interview data. With the new grant the scope will cover the full range of qualitative social science research data.

QUALISERVICE is located at SOCIUM and is headed by Prof. Dr. Betina Hollstein. Archiving is organized together with PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science and the State and University Library Bremen (SuUB). Besides, a coordinated archiving and representation of mixed methods studies will be created together with GESIS – Leibniz Institut für Sozialwissenschaften.

More information:
Specialised Information Service Social and Cultural Anthropology

The German Research Foundation (DFG) approves the implementation of QUALISERVICE as data service center for social science qualitative interview data. Thus, social researchers will obtain a reliable source to archive and request interview data for secondary use in research and teaching. QUALISERVICE is located at SOCIUM and is headed by Prof. Dr. Betina Hollstein.

Archiving will be organized together with PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science and the State and University Library Bremen (SuUB). Besides, a coordinated archiving and representation of mixed methods studies will be created together with GESIS – Leibniz Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. In order to guarantee the sustainability of QUALISERVICE IT related components for the internal data will be managed together with PANGAEA.

Roots of this project go back to the first Bremen social science special collaborative centre (SFB) 186 "Status Passages and Risk in Life Course" (1989-2001). Hundreds of interviews collected in the SFB were initially archived in "Archive for Life Course Research" to save them for future use. In 2011 the "Archive for Life Course Research" became QUALISERVICE which has been supported by DFG between 2011 and 2014 to develop central components of the data service centre. Objective of the current interdisciplinary project is to establish QUALISERVICE as a nationwide data service centre.

The project includes the implementation of a safe center for the confidential research data management and the implementation of long-term archiving, further development of the anonymization tool, the implementation of a service center with online portal, data delivery service and help desk, the implementation of the overall organization as well as measures of quality assurance and dissemination and exchange with the scientific community.

More Information about QUALISERVICE